First Friday Update - November 6, 2009
Conference preparations are in full swing at Nevus Outreach. We try to learn from our experiences and make each nevus conference better than the last. Conference 2010 will be no exception. The conference mailer went out last week. Let us know if you have not received one.
Hide it from your kids – we’ve already heard one story of huge disappointment that the conference is not NEXT WEEK!
Registration for the conference is "all but" ready. We expect to take that live at the beginning of the week. It's been tricky handling all the free and discounted registration and hotel rooms options. "Free registration and hotel rooms??" This year anyone will be able to earn credit against their registration and hotel room costs by following these simple instructions.
For instance, Carrie and Shannon have already raised enough to cover their daughter Nathalie's registration. Shannon is not just a whiz at Scrabble but qualified to compete in the National Championship. Carrie set about collecting pledges for every game Shannon won at the championships. Shannon did not win the Nationals but he did place 6th Nationally. I hope I remember this when I hear "anyone up for a quick game of Scrabble?" at the next conference!
Then there's Leo - his mama sent out a quick email blast asking folks to donate to Nevus Outreach for Leo's 5th birthday. What a response!
This could be you. Check out the Fundraising Toolbox for ideas, or better yet, come up with something new nobody else has thought of!
In other news, Nevus Outreach, for the first time, has decided to pursue government funding. Is what we do important? Heck yeah. I took a trip to the National Institutes of Health (nih.GOV - !!) this past week, and got started on the "information gathering" stage. Next stop: A 3-10 year Strategic Plan for Nevus Outreach to be designed and built by Board, Staff, Donors and Scientists in January or February.
Let me be the first to tell you we have arrived at the "Wild and Furious" stage.
In the "It's a tough job but someone's got to do it" department, this coming week Megan and I head to Vichy, France. We accepted an invitation from Naevus 2000 France-Europe to address their conference and "tell the nevus success story in America." You gotta love that. The following week we attend an annual nevus gathering in England, as guests of Caring Matters Now (CMN), the British nevus organization. We will meet with their Board and their principal scientist, and of course a big bunch of people and families just like us!
This will result in unprecedented relations between Nevus Outreach and people in Europe who are all thinking some of the same things, and could set the stage for massive growth of our registry and unprecedented cooperation between people affected by giant nevi on a global scale.
I love making broad statements :) no, really. It's a busy time and it's never been better. Thank you all for the things you do to get all this happening. There is nobody more dedicated than you are, and I feel this every day.
I hope you have a great weekend!
Mark Beckwith
Executive Director
Nevus Outreach, Inc.
(918) 331-0595 office
(918) 440-6123 cell
