Fixing the world from far away

Magnet #892 - Happy Bunny's Fix the World

Nah, I don't really feel this way. It just cracked me up when I saw it at one of the Comic-Con booths. (Again, SDCC exhibitors, another booth I wouldn't have visited if they hadn't had magnets. IJS.)

My first instinct, now that I have some time to breathe and some free time on my hands, was that I wanted to run down to the Gulf and help in the clean-up efforts. But, I just read somewhere that they really don't want people to travel down there to help out. Which seems odd, but I guess understandable.

So, in the next couple of days, I'll be trying to find some way to be useful from NYC - some way that doesn't include calling people up asking them for money, anyway. I'm sure there have to be some sort of volunteer positions here in town, no?

It's actually kinda funny, a friend of mine Tweeted that BP's looking for some help, with people calling it the worst job in the world. There's a part of me that believes it - I mean, no company's rep has gone from so loved to so reviled so fast. But, there's a part of me that thinks, man, anyone who could possibly bring BP's corporate reputation back to the land of the living will win PR Person of the Universe. Man, what a job.

Good luck with that. And I'll be waiting over here with the cookies.

Awareness. Not just a ribbon. Not just PR.

Magnet #595 - Pink Ribbon

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

You'd think that since I'm in communications, that I'd totally be jaded by all these PR awareness programs. And I am.

Even so, I can never stop myself from being swayed by most awareness campaigns. It's too important not to be swayed in some way, shape or form.

To wit: There's a habit that I picked up from a former colleague whose mother is a breast cancer survivor. I tend to pick up little things pink. Put a pink ribbon on it, put them at the check-out counters. I'm there.

It starts with Papermate's Write for Hope pens and the Unite to Fight pens from Staples checkout. And continues with the Pepperidge Farm Milanos with their Inspiration for the Cure pink packaging, sitting on my dining table at home. And the half dozen pink-lidded Save Lids to Save Lives Yoplaits in my fridge. And of course, this magnet.

Oh, there's more. But, really. It's only October 9. Early days, yet.

Are these awareness campaigns just corporate social responsibility efforts? Absolutely, yes.

Should we do this all year round and not just for special months? If budgets can support it, yes.

Do they make a difference in purchasing decisions? For me, apparently, yes.

Does they raise awareness and make a difference for the charities? Unequivocally, yes.

So, in honor of awareness, and hopefully making a difference, just a few more efforts on my cancer awareness radar listed below.

• Avon Walk for Breast Cancer in NY is this weekend.
  
• Our company's participating in the Light the Night Walk in NY on October 15th.
  
• @earlyshowdave hitched a ride on his (successful, but looked exhausting) No Way Home with a man trying to raise money in memory of his mother, through the Susan G. Komen/Denver chapter.
• And finally, giving my David Tennant the last word, he is also helping raise awareness through the AICR's The Last Word campaign.

I know I'm missing a ton, and I know I'm concentrating only on a few cancers, and I know there are more charities out there to support.

Feel free to post them in the comments.