BLOGGERS AND TWITTERERS UNITE FOR COMMON CAUSE AND ATTEMPT AT GUINNESS WORLD RECORD
10.16.2009 – LAS VEGAS – Attendees of the BlogWorld & New Media Expo in Las Vegas will use their powerful roles as social networking pioneers for an historic Guinness World Record attempt — Most Widespread Social Network Message in 24 Hours. The attempt, which will urge those in attendance and hundreds of thousands of their followers across the globe to distribute the message #BeatCancer, will also raise money for non-profit cancer organizations. The attempt will begin Friday, October 16th at 9am PST and end on Saturday, October 17th at 9am PST. The BlogWorld & New Media Expo features keynotes and panels with some of the biggest names in social media. This is a mass effort to show how social media can be used for social good.
Attendees of the conference and people all over the Internet will be asked to send tweets, issue Facebook status updates and blog using #BeatCancer in their posts. These messages will then be tracked and registered by Radian6, the premier social media monitoring service.
“The team at BlogWorld is proud to be part of this record-setting social media event,” said Rick Calvert, CEO of BlogWorld/New Media Expo. “We’re especially excited that we can be the launch point for bringing people together to help fight cancer.”
“We’re always on the lookout for new and exciting ideas, and when approached about a mass social media experiment that plans to rally people to support the fight against cancer were happy to oblige in adjudicating this record attempt,” said Stuart Claxton, Guinness World Records® spokesperson. “This will be the largest social media record attempt to be considered by Guinness World Records and will set a benchmark for social media monitoring moving forward.”
The social media experience is being produced by EVERYWHERE , an Atlanta based social media communications and content company. EVERYWHERE came up with the idea in conversation with CNN anchor, Don Lemon and other members of the EVERYWHERE team. Lemon says “Social media takes the power of an idea to an entirely new level. One minute EVERYWHERE and I are casually mulling over the possibilities of setting a social media record, the next minute it’s a reality that could save lives. Social media for social good. Incredible!” James Andrews, Managing Partner of EVERYWHERE says, “We earn our living in social media, helping big brands be relevant in this space. Because of this, we realized that Twitter and Facebook have the capacity to create change, as we recently saw in Iran. We decided that BlogWorld was the perfect opportunity to launch an effort to get people all over the world to take on a cause that has affected every single family.”
Drew Olanoff, the cancer-fighting blogger, who recently sold his enviable Twitter username “@drew” to Drew Carey to benefit the LiveStrong foundation has joined the cause, saying, “This reminds me of ‘Hands-Across-America’ – but on the Internet.” His social media site dedicated to raising awareness and funds to fight cancer, www.blamedrewscancer.com , is devoting its efforts to the #BeatCancer initiative.
As part of the charity, eBay/PayPal and MillerCoors Brewing Company will donate a penny ($0.01)* for every Twitter message, Facebook update or blog post that includes the phrase #BeatCancer. All money will be donated to non-profit cancer organizations including SU2C (Stand Up to Cancer), Alex’s Lemonade, Bright Pink, and Spirit Jump. All of the non-profits are 501(c)(3) organizations and accredited by The American Cancer Society. A listing of all organizations and a live stream of postings can be found at www.beatcancereverywhere.com.
In addition to the corporate sponsors (eBay/PayPal and MillerCoors Brewing Company), Radian6 is donating its services for tracking and monitoring of the social media postings and mentions. Slash 7, a web design firm, donated time to build the Beat Cancer Everywhere website which will showcase real time tweets and data. Sevans Strategy, a public relations and new media firm, donated media outreach and partnership services.
* eBay/PayPal and MillerCoors Brewing Company will donate a penny ($0.01)*up to a designated amount for every Twitter message, Facebook update or blog post that includes the phrase #BeatCancer.
About Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records is the universally recognized authority on record-breaking achievement. First published in 1955, the annual Guinness World Records book is published in more than 100 countries and 25 languages and is the highest-selling books under copyright of all time with more than 3 million copies sold annually across the globe. Guinness World Records celebrated its 50th anniversary edition in 2004, a year after the sale of its 100 millionth copy. Guinness World Records also annually publishes the Gamer’s Edition; a records book devoted solely to the world of computer gaming and high score record achievements. The Guinness World Records website receives more than 11 million visitors a year. Guinness World Records is part of the Jim Pattison Group, one of Canada’s largest privately owned companies which is a conglomerate of interests, including advertising, broadcasting, grocery stores and automotive retailing.
