Archive for the ‘Fundraising’ Category

jseng
John
Seng

Want Faster Cures?

Tuesday, December 7th, 2010

This past Friday, Spectrum VP Lissette Capati and I spoke with Cecilia Arradaza, who is Communications Director of FasterCures, to confirm our pro bono support to promote as well as help manage media coverage at the group’s upcoming “Partnering for Cures” summit in New York next week. logo_fastercures

Medical research innovators and investors will convene Partnering for Cures, December 14-15, New York City at the Grand Hyatt Hotel. Right now, we’re estimating more than 600 participant medical research-focused innovators and investors. This is truly a dynamic meeting, an uncommon vortex of everything collaborative in diverse parties pooling their heads, resources and ideas to develop better treatments for diseases with sorely unmet needs. It’ll be crowded, but there’s still some capacity.

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Posted in Disease Awareness, Fundraising
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jseng
John
Seng

Getting Hip To Stopping Diabetes

Tuesday, June 29th, 2010
Photo by Michael Murphy

Photo by Michael Murphy

I spent this past Father’s Day morning riding 20 miles with my son Bobby on our bikes in the National Capital Tour de Cure in Reston, Virginia. No breakfast in bed for me!

Over the past eight years, Spectrum has sponsored our “Spokes Persons” team in the American Diabetes Association‘s annual ride to stop diabetes. Tour de Cure rides take place throughout the U.S. each year.

Diabetes is not a “sexy” or trendy disease. It’s not as socially “hip” as breast cancer, in the sense that hundreds of thousands of people walk or run or ride to raise hundreds of millions of dollars that flow to diabetes research and survivor organizations, as happens with breast cancer. What’s breast cancer got that diabetes doesn’t?

For starters, breast cancer deeply scares people, affects mostly women, tugs at our emotions, and generally gets our attention in a big way when we hear about a friend or family member with a diagnosis. And breast cancer reigns supreme among awareness, advocacy and funding.

Too far down the respect scale, too many of the people afflicted with or at risk of diabetes don’t understand the severity of the illness. There’s a lack of fear due to a lack of education, real appreciation for the devastation diabetes can cause. We are nationally unobsessed with diabetes, unfortunately. (more…)

Posted in Chronic Disease, Disease Awareness, Fundraising
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Spectrum

Spin on Holiday Tradition Supports Children with Special Needs

Tuesday, November 24th, 2009

Glitter, tinsel, ribbon and Elvis… the perfect trimmings for a Christmas tree!

For the past few weeks I have been working with my Spectrum colleagues to create ornaments and coordinate logistics to decorate a Christmas tree for Kennedy Krieger Institute’s 20th Annual Festival of Trees. The Festival, being held at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Baltimore, Md., on November 27, 28 and 29, is the largest holiday event of its kind on the entire East Coast. This year Spectrum is one of the Festival’s corporate sponsors and to show appreciation of our sponsorship, Spectrum had the opportunity to decorate a seven-foot Christmas tree that will be featured in the Festival. (more…)

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Sara
Sajadi

Pretty in Pink (and Denim)! Spectrum Celebrates Denim Day in Honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Thursday, October 8th, 2009

 

spectrum-denim-day

At Spectrum, we all have reasons for being in the field of health communications. Whether those reasons are professional or personal, we come to work every day knowing that what we do impacts a greater good. From diabetes to HIV/AIDS to oncology to health reform–and everywhere in between–it’s important to step back from our work and think about the difference we are making in peoples’ lives, even if those influences aren’t immediately tangible to us.

This month, our client, Genomic Health, relaunched My Breast Cancer Coach, a tool to guide breast cancer patients through their cancer diagnosis and treatment.  To commemorate National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Spectrum is participating in Denim Day to raise awareness and donations for Women’s Cancer Programs of the Entertainment Industry Foundation. Our staff showed up to work today in jeans, a wide array of pink shades from head to toe, pink ribbons and open pockets for the charitable cause. To take it one step further – I’m running in the Baltimore Half Marathon this Saturday, for which I’ve raised over $5,200 for Komen for the Cure.

A day like today proves how passionate we are about health communications – on and off the clock. Let’s all continue to do our part to fight for a cure and improve the health of our mothers, sisters, aunts, friends and coworkers living with breast cancer.

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MollyHippolitus
Molly
Hippolitus

Weekly Digital News

Monday, October 5th, 2009

Two Social Media Projects Implementing Crowdsourcing

What seems like ages ago, Web 1.0 was upon us.  Simple webpage design, no RSS feeds, not even a “Tweet This” icon… it seems unimaginable.  Fortunately, Web 1.0 had a successor: Web 2.0.  

What Web 1.0 lacked in complexity, Web 2.0 has made up for in endless possibilities in facilitating  conversation, collaboration, and participation that knows no geographical boundaries. Web 2.0 offers communications professionals a wealth of opportunities to convey our messages to specific audiences, and, more importantly, interact with our audiences and hear their comments and feedback – good or bad – in a spontaneous, real-time way.

Taking this interaction to a new level, and moving beyond collaboration, is the implementation of crowdsourcing.  The purpose of crowdsourcing  is two-fold, (1) to pool ideas and suggestions straight from the consumer and (2) creating a virtual marketplace of ideas. Think of it as a virtual suggestion box.  The crucial part of any successful crowdsourcing venture, though, is it’s second phase: action.  If you aren’t going to seriously consider the feedback you receive while crowdsourcing, you might as well be throwing your consumers’ ideas in a  garbage can.

One successful example, My Starbucks Idea  was launched by the company as a web platform where customers can share, vote, and discuss their ideas to better the brand.  As Starbucks so politely puts it,mystarbucksidea

 ”What would make your Starbucks experience perfect? We know you’ve got ideas – big ideas, little ideas, maybe even totally revolutionary ideas – and we want to hear them all.”

(more…)

Posted in Community Involvement, Fundraising, New Media, Public Affairs, Uncategorized
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Spectrum

Four Weeks to the 2009 ADA National Capital Tour de Cure

Friday, May 15th, 2009

Still Enough Time to Register You and Your Team and Support Finding a Cure for Diabetes

As 2009 ADA National Capital Tour de Cure sponsor, Spectrum would like to remind you that there is still time to register for this year’s ride. The ride will take place along the W&OD Trail, starting in the DC suburb of Reston, Va., on Sunday, June 14, 2009.

In addition to Spectrum’s “SpokesPersons” team, over 1,500 bike riders from corporations, unions, family and friends, bike clubs, and individual participants will take the challenge with the ADA to find a cure. The 2009 ADA National Capital Tour de Cure welcomes riders of all kinds, whether you’re a novice or avid cyclist. With a Century Ride, Half Metric Century and Family Fun ride (just to name a few), the Tour offers different routes that can meet all levels of experience. Interested teams and individuals can register and fundraise online.

To help you prepare for the ride, the ADA, Spectrum and 2009 ADA National Capital Tour de Cure Television Sponsor DC 50 have teamed up to provide ride participants with the “Biking for a Cause” blog. The blog provides nutrition, fitness and bike safety tips to help riders train and make this year’s ride a fun, safe day for all.

The goal of this year’s National Capital Tour de Cure is to raise over $530,000 to support the ADA’s mission to prevent and cure diabetes and to improve the lives of people affected by diabetes. Donations raised through the Tour will fund research for Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, prevention programs, education programs, and residential and day camps for children affected by diabetes and advocacy initiatives. The 2009 ADA National Capital Tour de Cure Chair, and Spectrum President & CEO John Seng discusses this and much more about the importance of the ride in an interview with DC 50.

If cycling isn’t for you, the ADA could use your support as a volunteer. Contact ADA’s Cassandra Christian at (202) 331-8303 x4518 or at cchristian@diabetes.org for more information about the many fun and rewarding opportunities available.

Colleen Butz, Account Executive

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