By Shannon on July 18, 2011
Thursday, July 14 was my last phone call with my friends’ Amanda and Paul at Qwest Small Business services.
I was reluctant, at first, to work with Qwest in exchange for my honest opinion about their services ONLY. Of course, our phones and internet are through Qwest which is why we were offered help with our social networking in the first place. And… they do get free advertising of a sort but that really depends upon how well they do their job (if you think about it). If people don’t read what I am writing, blogging, twittering, posting, etc…, then they won’t know anything about the TLC/Qwest relationship.
The quality of help I received from the Qwest support staff was excellent. I don’t think TLC would be up to 450 followers on Twitter and have 88 Likes on Facebook without my weekly interactions with the Qwest staff. LinkedIn is a tool that I would never have dealt with unless it was “suggested” to me by Paul and Amanda. LinkedIn has provided a wealth of information to me since now I actually understand how it works. The interaction between groups keeps me updated on topics relevant to our business, here, at TLC.
So, after two months of weekly interactions with Qwest, I have nothing negative to report and would recommend their services, with glowing reviews, to anyone who asks.
Posted in Uncategorized |
By Shannon on July 9, 2011
34 Miles With A New Heart
Sean's Story
Sean Crawley is one of Transplant Living Center's dedicated volunteers. In Sean's own words:
"February 24, 2010 was a day that changed my life forever. It was a normal day; I even played basketball that night. The next morning when I was going to work, I could not catch my breath and was that way all day. In the afternoon, I went to see my doctor and was told I had an elevated heart rate and needed a chest x-ray. An hour later, my doctor told me that I had an enlarged heart and needed to go to the hospital for an ultrasound on my heart the next day.
Before I could make it to the hospital, I woke up at 3:00 a.m. and could not breathe. I was admitted to UCH and was told I would need a heart transplant…"
Sean had his heart transplant on May 18, 2010.
On June 5, 2011, Sean completed a 34 mile bike ride as part of the American Transplant Foundation's 2011 Team Transplant, which rode in the Subaru Elephant Rock ride. Sean was the only heart transplant patient riding in the event.
Sean is dedicated to raising donor awareness and is actively helping us with our vision of expanding Transplant Living Centers to meet the housing needs of all transplant patients, their caregivers and families.
Posted in Uncategorized |
By Shannon on July 4, 2011
Since I started this blog with the help of Qwest Business I have had increasing success using all available social networking tools. I am mentioning Qwest because they are helping TLC with social media in exchange for my honest opinion about their services. As I stated in previous posts, all my interactions with the Qwest staff have been informative and enjoyable.
For example, LinkedIn has proven to be a great way to interact with other organizations on the same path as TLC. It has been interesting to note that many non-profits are posting questions (and getting answers) on topics that I have had bouncing around somewhere in my brain.
I have been researching new strategies for interacting with our Board of Directors. It is surprising to me how often issues with non-profit boards are brought up and discussed. The amount of information, ideas, and much-needed education is astonishing to me. Really, I had no idea how much I would gain just by interacting on the LinkedIn network.
On a different note, I was just going over my "Fun Guide To Blogging" provided by Amanda at Qwest and realize that I should be writing "at least 300 words" per blog. Well, that is obviously not happening now but there is still hope!
Posted in Uncategorized |
By Shannon on June 28, 2011
Continuing our efforts to realize Susan Hamelin's vision to grow and expand Transplant Living Centers, we are happy to announce that Ron Pieper has volunteered to join us as Director of Development and Communication.
Ron brings to TLC a wealth of business and management experience, particularly in the areas of building and developing small organizations and interpersonal communications. His background includes senior management in the environmental and organic food industries.
Ron is a Double Lung Transplant Recipient and brings to us a tremendous passion and dedication for what we want to accomplish at TLC. His enthusiasm and energy are highly motivating and we are extremely blessed to have him as part of our team.
Please feel free to contact Ron with any questions, high-fives, favorable comments, or just to thank him for being such a great guy!
Posted in Uncategorized |
By Shannon on June 16, 2011
OK, took a short drive to the candy store/gas station and am now ready to blog about Qwest Business. Yes, I know I could have had a piece of fruit instead.
Yesterday my Qwest friend, Amanda and I looked at TLC's Facebook page and Twitter account. Together we searched for groups similar to ours to "like" and added them to our already popular Facebook page. We discussed the importance of having followers and mentions on Twitter and she explained to me what it means when Tweeters keep us on a special list. It is good to be on a list in when interacting on Twitter. I do know of some not so good lists to be on but this isn't one of them.
As you can tell (I hope), I am getting somewhat better at blogging. I am writing this blog using "WordPress". Both Amanda and Paul from Qwest helped me navigate my way around this program. I can now set up a hyperlink (see above) without typing it out which is what I did on my first blog. It looks much neater this way.
Amanda emailed me AFTER our phone appointment yesterday to let me know how well one of our social networking tasks was working. Thank you Amanda!
Anyway, Qwest Business is offering me all this help, once a week for as long as it takes, and all I have to do is blog about it.
Posted in Uncategorized |
By Shannon on June 10, 2011
You know, I never really expected to get very far in the social media scene. I learned how to type on a manual typewriter so you get the picture. Yes, I have used Facebook for a few years but Twitter? I really can't understand why people would want to know what I am doing every minute of the day (which is what I thought Twitter was used for). I have received some strange "Tweets" since becoming a "Tweeter". Actually, the "unfollow" button has become very useful. I can see the benefit of sharing information with followers who are genuinely interested in TLC and, I have been connected to some useful resources by using Twitter. Still, the amount of junk that filters through is sometimes entertaining but for the most part, boring and a waste of eye exercise.
I have been working with Qwest to set up our social networking services. To be honest, without the help of their customer support team, I would still be trying to figure out how to get our website up and running. They have helped me set up numerous networking accounts, been extremely patient deciphering this new tech language for me, and have saved me an enormous amount of time and frustration trying to get used to using all available online resources. The only effort I have to put into this relationship is sharing my honest opinion about how they have helped. I can write whatever I want about them and at this point, cannot think of one negative experience I have had working with them. They all seem to know what they are doing. Probably because they are much younger than me (I can tell by their voices) and really do know what they are doing.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Transplant Living Centers |
By Shannon on June 8, 2011
The 11th Annual Donor Dash is scheduled for Sunday, July 17 at Washington Park in Denver. The Donor Dash is a 5K walk/run honoring the lives of organ and tissue donors and recipients and recognizing those who are awaiting transplants. Transplant Living Centers will have a booth promoting our unique services. We will also participate in the race as "Team Susan" honoring Susan Hamelin, founder of TLC.
Please consider participating with TLC in the Donor Dash. Join our team, help in our booth or just come and enjoy some great fellowship and beautiful weather.
You can contact me at 303.341.0489 or email shannon@transplantlivingcenters.org.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Transplant Living Centers |
By Shannon on May 27, 2011
Transplant Living Centers (via me) has slowly worked its way onto the social networking scene. Our new website is up and running, and we are now connected to:
Facebook:http://www.facebook.com/TransplantLivingCenters
LinkedIn:http://www.linkedin.com/pub/shannon-tougher/32/bb4/2a6
Twitter:http://twitter.com/#!/TLCresidents
and are actively fundraising on Crowdrise: http://www.crowdrise.com/tlcinc.
Wow. It is taking me awhile to get used to this virtual world even though I realize how necessary it is to stay connected and let people know what we have to offer.
"Transplant Living Centers" was originally known as "The Lung Connection", started by Susan Hamelin in 2003 only months after her own lung transplant. Susan quickly realized the lack of/need for housing for transplant patients and their families who were far from their own homes. Transplant patients are required to stay close to the hospital for at least three months while they recover. As you can imagine, this causes a great hardship for many families. Hotels are generally expensive and do not provide much space. TLC provides patients, their caregivers and families a clean, affordable, comfortable place to recover.
One of our dreams is of expansion… adding additional units, here, in Denver and to other cities that would benefit from the services we offer. Our housing is unique as we offer fully self contained condos with no communal living spaces.
Our units are full now and have been for the past few months. I have received at least 25 calls recently from patients, families and caregivers inquiring if we have any availabilities. I would love to accommodate everyone but of course that isn't possible right now. There is a very real need for our services.
Donations are greatly needed to continue providing this much needed service. As the transplant community continues to grow, we hope to turn the dream of Transplant Living Centers' expansion into a reality.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Transplant Living Centers |
