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Q: What is "Be the Match"?
A: "Be the Match" is the the U.S.'s National Bone Marrow Donor program, and has been gracious enough to return to the conference to conduct a third registry drive. The following URLs point to their media campaigns:
Main Site: http://www.marrow.org/
Blog: http://bethematch.typepad.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/BeTheMatch
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/BeTheMatch
Online Sign-up: http://www.marrow.org/JOIN/Join_Now/join_now.html
Q: How many sign ups have we generated at DefCon in the past?
A:For those who are curious as to what has happened over the first two years, we had 95 people register at DC18, and 166 at DC19. Others from our community have signed up online as well, so the total numbers of DC participants who have signed up are certainly higher than these numbers.
Q: Why should I sign up?
A: If you have thought about it but haven't signed up, there are plenty of reasons to do so now. Almost 15,000 people in the U.S. need a transplant, and 70% of them do NOT have a matching family member. Unfortunately, many people go without a match - something we can help avoid by simply joining the registry and being there for someone in need if and when the time comes.
Q: How did this drive come to be at DefCon?
A: To better understand, please check out the following: http://www.bethematchblog.org/tag/joey-stott/
Quick confession - that dorky guy who was the donor in that show is me (Tom Wilhelm), and I have been attending and speaking DefCon since DC14. Turns out that the TV show encouraged more than 9,500 new members to join the Be The Match Registry, and nearly $69,000 was contributed to support the cause: patient assistance, medical research and adding donors to the registry. As the donor in that program, I saw the incredible impact registering for the drive made on a family AND a community. I also learned that the program needed more help to get the word out of the need for donors and support. Over the years, I have also learned that the DefCon community is a very giving community, and I thought that a Be the Match registry drive would be something that might be embraced at DefCon - so far, I have not been proven wrong.
Q: What do I do to sign up?
A: We will be running the BTM registry drive in the contest area Friday - Sunday. Simply stop by, fill out some paperwork, and get your cheeks swabbed. That's it... oh, and if you get the call to be a donor, be willing take the next step and save someone's life. Simple as that!
A: "Be the Match" is the the U.S.'s National Bone Marrow Donor program, and has been gracious enough to return to the conference to conduct a third registry drive. The following URLs point to their media campaigns:
Main Site: http://www.marrow.org/
Blog: http://bethematch.typepad.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/BeTheMatch
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/BeTheMatch
Online Sign-up: http://www.marrow.org/JOIN/Join_Now/join_now.html
Q: How many sign ups have we generated at DefCon in the past?
A:For those who are curious as to what has happened over the first two years, we had 95 people register at DC18, and 166 at DC19. Others from our community have signed up online as well, so the total numbers of DC participants who have signed up are certainly higher than these numbers.
Q: Why should I sign up?
A: If you have thought about it but haven't signed up, there are plenty of reasons to do so now. Almost 15,000 people in the U.S. need a transplant, and 70% of them do NOT have a matching family member. Unfortunately, many people go without a match - something we can help avoid by simply joining the registry and being there for someone in need if and when the time comes.
Q: How did this drive come to be at DefCon?
A: To better understand, please check out the following: http://www.bethematchblog.org/tag/joey-stott/
Quick confession - that dorky guy who was the donor in that show is me (Tom Wilhelm), and I have been attending and speaking DefCon since DC14. Turns out that the TV show encouraged more than 9,500 new members to join the Be The Match Registry, and nearly $69,000 was contributed to support the cause: patient assistance, medical research and adding donors to the registry. As the donor in that program, I saw the incredible impact registering for the drive made on a family AND a community. I also learned that the program needed more help to get the word out of the need for donors and support. Over the years, I have also learned that the DefCon community is a very giving community, and I thought that a Be the Match registry drive would be something that might be embraced at DefCon - so far, I have not been proven wrong.
Q: What do I do to sign up?
A: We will be running the BTM registry drive in the contest area Friday - Sunday. Simply stop by, fill out some paperwork, and get your cheeks swabbed. That's it... oh, and if you get the call to be a donor, be willing take the next step and save someone's life. Simple as that!
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