Click For ALS - Page 6

GlenBrittle · 08-17-2009, 06:34 PM

http://toronto.twestival.com/

Note their clock for posting is two hours off.

Reading this , they want a person from a local chapter of the charity to contact them.

Linda W - have you seen this. I am too far away to go.

Toronto people - can anyone go ?

Glen

tdamess · 08-17-2009, 06:49 PM

if i am reading this right , do we have to join twitter to vote ?

GlenBrittle · 08-17-2009, 06:57 PM

It looks so. If you join twitter ... just don't join anything or tweet and its all good.

Laurie P · 08-17-2009, 10:18 PM

Hi Folks:

We're talking to the Twestival organizers. There seems to have been some confusion and miscommunication on their end and the vote was not final. We held a conference call with most of the top 10 charities today to come up with a solution. Tonight I spoke with the main Twestival organizer and we're discussing how to best sort this out.

We'll have a call with them again tomorrow and I'll follow up with everyone here.

We rocked the vote - and the Twestival people were quite surprised at how amazing our supporters were. Unfortunately, we're not comfortable resuming yet another vote and going back to our supporters to ask them to do it all over again. So we're hoping we can come up with a solution that allows ALS to remain in the public eye without asking supporters to do more.

Will update you all when we have more info.

Apologize for the delay in my post. It's been a hectic few days and I had no feedback to offer until tonight. I literall just got off the phone with the Twestival Representative.

Thanks again for all your interest and support!

Laurie

BarryG · 08-17-2009, 10:44 PM

Laurie, thanks for keeping us informed. Just the fact that they would be surprised about our support tells me why we need this publicity. Of course we are passionate and support any chance to get the word out, this isn't just some abstract idea to us. This disease which has no cure affects us every minute of every day and it is time that more people knew that.

KeeKer · 08-18-2009, 02:57 AM

This just tells us that more people need to hear about ALS. They don't realize that PALS are vibrant, articulate people whose minds are very much alive! Give PALS a computer and watch them go!!! Don't underestimate them!

Laurie P · 08-19-2009, 08:39 AM

Hi Again... I'm here to post the "official" message about Twestival from ALS Canada. I'm conveying this on behalf of Scott Fortnum, Vice President Development for ALS Canada.

Quote:

ALS Canada would like to thank our many supporters for their votes in the TwestivalTO competition. TwestivalTO has since changed their criteria for choosing a charity and is now requiring a third vote and for users to register their e-mail addresses. ALS Canada has chosen to withdraw from the competition.

If you would like to contact Scott directly, you can reach him at sf@als.ca or feel free to write me at LP@als.ca

Alternatively, you can call either of us at 1-800-267-4257
Scott Fortnum ext. 228
Laurie Pringle ext. 219

FYI - i'm not often in the office, but I provide my cellular number on my office voicemail, so feel free to use that if you'd like (prefer not to post it on the net)

Thanks again to all of you. We truly showed people that we can accomplish amazing things when we work together.

BarryG · 08-19-2009, 11:55 AM

Sure sounds like some third-world country election to me, you don't like the results of the vote? No Problem, just run it again with different rules until you get the result you want. And not to be too regional here but way to go Toronto, and you wonder why Coors put up billboards in Vancouver saying "As cold as someone from Toronto"

thelma313 · 08-19-2009, 12:28 PM

Laurie, thanks for all your hard work. I personally wrote to the festival organizer, Amanda Rose, and her response was very political. She said "... we need to be clear that this process was never going to have a 'winner' as you describe as it was for 'nominations'... so that is why this process is 2 tiered."

I guess the process is now "3 tiered." Of course Ms. Rose never acknowledged that the rules of the contest were never laid out to begin with and were very misleading. I am no fan of Twitter. I think it's a ridiculous narcissistic practice anyway.

The important lesson here is that we all rallied together as a community. When I put the word out to get votes, dozens of people came through and I know it was the same for so many members of the ALS community because we rocked that vote!

Laurie P · 08-19-2009, 12:33 PM

Hi Thelma

Thanks for your kind words - and I agree wholeheartedly! We did rock that vote and we absolutely rallied together. We have seen what we can do as a group and I'm confident we'll have more opportunities to ignite that passion again in the future and see positive outcomes as a result.

Thanks again!

Laurie

BarryG · 08-19-2009, 12:58 PM

Re my earlier Toronto bashing post, present company excepted of course!!

At least they now know who we are and what we can accomplish when we set our minds to something.

GlenBrittle · 08-19-2009, 08:40 PM

I can not believe that they would just roll-over and give up. Too much work ????

Thelma , at least you got a response. I did not.

Laurie, Thank You for telling us what is what.

Glen

tdamess · 08-19-2009, 10:55 PM

i wrote this but dont expect to hear from them---shame on yous for the als contest even if it was just for nomatations als got the most votes and should of been in the finals,the people who die from cancer ,are no better than the ones who die from als, and i dont think a toy or playground is more important than a persons life.you should go for just orphans dieases and help the people who hardley get any funding at all