UnSHAKEable@Thunderclap was tipped on October 21, 2013
Here it was, September 2013, and I came across this site called, Thunderclap. Thunderclap was set up to promote causes or messages on sites that could be voiced around the world. How I found this....I honestly don't remember. What I do remember is this incredible, amazing push, by people I knew, and people I didn't know. A push to help me launch my site, UnSHAKEable. And my greatest supporters, were those who were probably the least aware of my cause......the youth.
I remember reading the introduction to the Thunderclap premise. It worked as such:
-submit a brief introduction to your site
-decide on a specific target amount of supporters for a 30 day window of opportunity
-have it approved by Thunderclap
-begin promoting your site
-if you reached your goal of supporters, the success would be "tipped". (your message would be launched to the audience total of your supporters in one, big, "Thunderclap"
And, so I began. I had this goal in my mind that I would try to educate as many people as I could, about Young Onset Parkinson's. Until Thunderclap, I had no idea where I would even begin to draw an audience
So, what the heck, I decided to submit my idea and see what would happen I really felt that this would be a long shot, as I looked over some of the causes that had already been "tipped", one of which was, #ThinkABLE, with Michael J. Fox. Wow! Big leagues...they had projected 5000 supporters. I reviewed and studied many of the sites that had been pitched and were awaiting their goals, as well as those sites that had reached their goals. So, as a result, I set my goal at an attainable, 100 supporters.
With my goal in hand, I sent off my site for approval from Thunderclap. Within 48 hours I received, "Welcome to Thunderclap, your site, UnSHAKEable, has been approved". I was ecstatic, to say the least. Now I would have 30 days to promote and entice 100 supporters. "GULP"! This may certainly be a difficult task to swallow.
Surely there must be some interest in Young Adult Parkinson's......right?....but where to begin?? Quite honestly, who would share enough interest to actually throw me some support? 100 to be exact. Well, it came from the place that I had least expected it to come from...today's youth.
I sent a quick message to all my Facebook "friends". I know many of them must have been shaking their heads thinking, what the heck is she up to now?? But slowly, a couple of friends and a few family members submitted their names as supporters. I think perhaps my first attempt netted me a total of 9 supporters. Wow....my goal was, WHAT?!?!? I waited a day or two, spiced up my site, UnSHAKEable, and delivered a hopeful message, again, to my Facebook friends. I think I was able to conjure up about 5 more.
Thunderclap had a base site with which you could follow the number of supporters for the hundreds of submissions that they had. The closer a site got to reaching its goal, the closer the site moved up in ranks on their pages. Mine had at this point, ranked about page 67. I sat there thinking to myself, "how badly do you want this? How much would it mean to you to be able to educate people about Young Onset Parkinson's"??? I kicked it into high gear. I was not ashamed to plead, beg, or simply terrorize my Facebook friends. Suddenly, the whole mission took on a life of its own.
Friends were encouraging friends, and family, and complete strangers to support, UnSHAKEable. But what absolutely blew me away, and still brings a tear to my eye, is the force with which the young people I knew, pitched my site to their friends. It was absolutely astounding and so very humbling to see the supporters adding up, and inching closer each day, to that goal of 100.
My two son's girlfriends, and Frank's two daughters, all of which probably averaged 24 years of age, were on a mission to help me with my goal. They sent messages to friends, begged for others to invite their friends, and my goal was inching its way daily! I watched my site climbing up higher and higher on the Thunderclap page status. These young people, whom I had never met, and whom probably had never even heard of Parkinson's Disease, rallied support that was truly, unbelievable!
With one week to go, I needed 23 more supporters. These young people kept recruiting, with 12 days to go.....reached 107 supporters!!!! My message (site) would be launched by Thunderclap. It had been such a truly awesome, yet humbling experience. How many negative messages do we hear about, today's youth? Many. But when I saw the depth and breadth, that they would go to, to support a cause for each other...my faith in our young adult generation was totally renewed and strengthened. To see how they would reach out....to a total stranger...just because a fellow friend, buddy, peer, had asked them to. To throw their hat in the ring for a disease that they had probably never even heard about...well, was just beyond anything I could have imagined!
On October 21, 2013, UnSHAKEable@Thunderclap, was launched to the world. "Tipped" to an audience of 27,938 to be exact. And their friends would tell their friends, and so on, and so on. It was on this day, that I heard a huge Thunderclap ring out a message about Young Onset Parkinson's only through the determination of a few wonderful young people, to support this one crazy lady, who had this crazy idea....that she should share her message with the world. The message that, by being informed, one could remain, UnSHAKEable!!
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