Lake Effect
by Brian D. Meeks
Chapter 16 Day 15
As Steve runs, he inspires. There are texts to his phone, messages on his FB page, and comments on the blog, and they all are helping to push him forward.
Amy wrote on the website,
“Steve,
Ran my half in highland park yesterday and it was brutally hot!! Thought of you every step of the way and enlightened some others about your journey. Can’t believe you’re in Michigan already!!! Keep on Truckin!!
Amy”
On his Facebook page Steve posted, “Damen!! What a cooker!! 90 plus degrees and some Iowa Humidity to go with it. Time to see what we’re made of #Livestrong” and Meg Anne commented, “Cheering for you from KC!”, while Kelli Hueter left, “Keep it up Steve! You Rock!!”
On Steve’s Twitter timeline, @RSLPresence wrote, “Steve’s run needs to go viral – for all of us, and everyone we love! Give a hero some support! @RunCannonRun #LIVESTRONG”
@RSLPPresence made a good point, but it is easier said than done. We tweet and post, but the momentum hasn’t taken off. The goal is to raise $250,000 and after 15 days (37.5% of the way), $21,913 has been raised (8.7%).
Almost twenty two thousand dollars is certainly nothing to sneeze at, but that isn’t the goal. Everyone who has been following has been great about cheering on Steve. He loves your text, tweets, and FB comments, but we need some help in the viral department.
Here is how you can help.
- Email a friend the first chapter’s link. http://theruntocurecancer.com/2012/05/28/lake-effect-ch-1/ (Just copy and paste it into an email and then write a little bit about how you feel. Then ask them to give it a read and tell their friends.
- I know you’re on FB, don’t even try denying it. Steve has 1,389 people who “Like” his FB page. If you’re not one of them, then click on this link. https://www.facebook.com/TheRunToCureCancer Heck, you could even include it in the email to your aunt Mildred, the one who makes such good pies. I bet she would “Like” it too. She might even tell her friends down at the beauty salon. We need a tidal wave of beauty salon chatter to really make things happen.
- You know what, once you “Like” his FB page, you are going to see the occasional update about his run, straight from his fingers. You love those! When you see one, we need you to leave a comment, something like, “Steve, You’re the Man!”, “Hey, good job on the running. How is that sexy beast Jarred, doing?”, “I’m a Victoria’s Secret super model and when you’re done running for the day, could you please pass my number on to that guy who is writing the book…Meeks.” You know, motivational stuff. THEN HIT SHARE. You have hundreds of friends and family and that one little click will let them know about the fine work Steve is doing.
- Now, I’m sure that many of you aren’t on Twitter, but some of you are and you can follow Steve @RunCannonRun. Heck, you can follow me too, @ExtremelyAvg. That will give you double the chance of getting Lake Michigan run tweets. Of course, if you follow me, you will also get a lot of tweets of me having lengthy chats with guinea pigs, but they are fun, too. Steve has 154 followers right now. Let’s get that number rolling.
- YouTube is a great way to get things to go viral. Steve has a professionally done video, most of you have already seen, but have you clicked the thumbs up icon on Youtube? This video currently has 1097 views, and only 7 likes. If we could get a sudden burst of traffic for this video and a bunch of thumbs up, then it might go viral. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bc1JcKPgIHU Oh and guess what, when you click the thumbs up, it is going to give you the option to share it on FB, Twitter, and Google+.
- Hit the “Like” button at the bottom. This is the easiest of the six.
Tonight’s post isn’t about running, it isn’t about the day after day pounding his body is taking, it is about how we who are sitting in our air conditioned chairs, cheering, can do more. We’ve reached out to the networks, CBS, ABC, CNN, FOX, NBC, MSNBC, and the AP, among others. The story is impressive, but it isn’t catching fire. We need to light a match to let everyone know about Steve, and his extremely patient buddy in support, Jarred, who are giving so much of themselves, to help those who have fought the good fight.
It is easy to not click, not share, not tweet or post on FB, because most people are still not sure how it all works. Have you ever hit share in FB? Have you even noticed it as an option? Just a simple click is all it takes.
We get a comment or two per day, which is much appreciated, but does it impress the big networks? I’m thinking it doesn’t. If we had fifty comments per day, with stories from those following along, or just a simple, “Keep it up”, it might.
We live in the greatest age the world has ever known. We can with little more than five minutes effort, even if it is scary, spread the word about this amazing thing Steve is doing.
Now, if I may borrow a line from The Blues Brothers, “Let’s put the word to the street.”
Oh and one more thing, Steve Ran 26 miles, what did you do yesterday? Surely, you have time to click and leave a comment. Oh yes, I’m calling you out.
Filed under: Uncategorized
Brian – I’m the “founder” of presence*, the non-profit organization the “RSLPresence” twitter belongs to. (Yeah, I have a lot of time on my hands, especially being down while fighting complications of some pretty nasty thyroid tumors!) (: Thank you for the mention of my tweet. Steve’s journey has inspired me so much in my own fight. I lost a friend last week to ovarian cancer, and the non-profit was started partially for her (L in our username), and in memory of parents of two other friends (the R&S in the username). My goal is to raise money to help either cancer patients, or family members, pay for musical expenses – lessons, instruments, music, whatever! (I’m a professional horn player in addition to a student and someone with too much time to worry on my hands.) The fact that what Steve’s doing is SOOOO MUCH harder than what I’m doing inspires me all the time! (I also used to be an athlete, and cannot wait until I’m healthy enough to hit the road again!) So Steve inspires me in so many ways, I can’t explain. Thank you to BOTH of you, and everyone else involved in the journey, for making something so important a priority in your lives! I am doing all I can to spread the word about this – I hope more people take notice and realize how amazing it is!!!