Monday, August 29, 2011

Obsessive, Multi-Level Fundraising To Defeat ALS - Question 1

This is our question du jour --


Walk A: 500 walkers showed up, $100,000 raised, no media covered

Walk B: 1,000 walkers showed up, $95,000 raised, no media covered

Walk C: 10,000 walkers showed up, $92,000 raised, local press and tv covered
Which was the most successful walk?

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Great Caesar's Ghost (Again)


A week ago an interesting press release was issued regarding ALS research findings which were about to be published in Nature. That press release caught the interest of major news outlets throughout the country. Obviously the media were starved for some good news about ALS and they got it.

Here is an interesting blog regarding the media buzz --


I couldn't agree more with the frustration over optimism being rolled into euphoria because of a finding that can't possibly turn into a tangible benefit until tens of thousands of people with ALS continue to die.

Journalists today clearly like a little help with good ideas and stories. So why don't we make constructive use of that?

There are aspects to ALS that would make compelling media stories that would raise awareness (and therefore raise resources invested in ALS). Why don't we figure out how to tip the press to those in a manner that will help some engaging stories happen in the national media? ALS organizations continue to write materials for a company newsletter rather than tips that will pique major journalists' interest.

Will the news of last week teach anyone how to make more important news next week?