Bloggin' from Blog World!

Jay Scott at Blog World 2009

I am writing this from Blog World in Las Vegas. Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation was lucky enough to win a trip to Blog World ( thanks to our devoted supporters who voted for us). It is the largest conference focused on learning about using the internet and social media. We won the trip from Name Your Cause in a contest that focused on getting online votes. I came to Las Vegas expecting to learn a lot from the courses that are being offered. What I had not planned on was meeting so many great people.

The first day of the conference I was invited to sit on a panel and share how ALSF was using social media to help fight childhood cancer. I was inspired beyond belief by the people I sat on the panel with. They included Meaghan from Spirit Jump. Spirit Jump is an organization that lends a helping hand to people who are battling cancer. Read about Meaghan and how she was inspired to start this organization during her own battle with cancer while in law school.

I also met Drew Olanoff from Blame Drew's Cancer. He was diagnosed with cancer this year and decided to let people blame anything they wanted on "his" cancer. He refused to let his cancer get the best of him and has inspired many cancer fighters to do the same. And, I forgot to mention, that he is the centerpiece of getting Drew Carey to raise $1 Million for LiveStrong.

Perhaps the highlight of my trip so far has been meeting Jon Loomer. He came up and introduced himself and we immediately hit it off. His son Michael and my daughter Alex both had neuroblastoma. Thankfully, Michael is now 8 years old and doing great. Michael also has two brothers Ryan and J.J. Although we had never met, Jon and his family live in the Denver area and have been hosting Alex's Lemonade stands for 5 years; his son is featured as a childhood cancer hero on the ALSF web site. It is because of people like Jon, Michael and their family that we are inspired to work so hard to fight childhood cancer. Thanks for inspiring us!

Finally, Alex’s Lemonade Stand is part of an attempt by Blog World to set a Guinness World record for "most shared social message" and we are included in a charity smackdown (of the nicest kind, of course). Be sure to check it out, be a part of it, and donate for ALSF to win!

What a trip so far ! More great stuff to come from Blog World!

Jay Scott, Executive Director of ALSF, aka Alex’s Dad, blogging from Blog World
#beatcancer