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VIDEO: Cycle for Survival Highlights

On Friday, Jen Linn found out she has cancer. For the fifth time. On Sunday, the Cycle for Survival event she started raised $2.2M to cure cancer. Thank you everyone who donated! The event was a truly amazing one. Here is a short video highlight. Visit Cycle for Survival to get involved.

Cycle for Survival Recap & Thanks

I just wanted to thank each and every one of the people below who gave to today's Cycle for Survival event. The day was a remarkable one on so many levels.

First, the energy. From the time I arrived at 7:30 AM until the time I left at 12:30 PM, the energy was electric -- fun, loving, hopeful. Very rarely do you get 2000 sweaty people in one room and everyone to a person is excited to be there. As Seth Meyers quipped, this was definitely the best smelling charity ever in New York! Cycling with many of my closest friends (Jeff Ragovin, Kurt Giehl, Jake Miller, Renny Maslow, Pete Grosz, Seth and others) made it ever more special.

Second, the money. In total, our team raised $11K and the event raised $2.2 million to fund specific research at Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. This is more than double last year's total. Money raised from the past 3 years' events has already funded 3 clinical trials and the team at Sloan-Kettering is working tirelessly to research the deadly disease.

Third, we were reminded why this event is so necessary. The founder and our good friend Jen Linn is a 4-time cancer survivor. She has been cancer free for a year. However, she told the participants today that she found out Friday that her cancer has returned and she is starting on chemo therapy on Tuesday to attack a 4-inch tumor in her stomach.

I've been truly touched by the personal stories that have been shared with me since I decided to lead a team this year. And I look forward to the day when this event is no longer necessary as it's only a matter of time that a cancer cure is a reality.

Love,

Mike

P.S. I have a ton of video and hope to get time to splice something together this week.

P.S.S. Here's the list of donors. Thanks again!

Jeff Ragovin
Kurt Giehl
Renny Maslow
Scott Meldrum 
Michael Sloan 
Seth  Matlins 
Roger Ehrenberg 
Leslie Zirkin 
Andrew H Monfried 
Sam Katz 
Andrew Weissman 
Christopher Dessi 
michael kassan 
Patrick  Stokes 
Karin Klein
Roberta McMorrow
Andrea Harrison
Tina S. Lazerow
Todd Eichler
Stephen McKenna
Gary Treater
Derek Coffer
Gideon stein
Kevin Kane
Susan Lazerow
peter hershberg
Michael Shoemaker
Michael Fitzgerald
Joshua Stylman
Jeffrey Berman
John Petrie
PATRICIA ELLIOTT
Brittany White
Ruth Chang Hess
Elena K Caspar
Deborah Abrons
Andrew H Swan
scott segal
Lyle Berkowitz
Julia McEvoy
Debbie Sorich
Daniel Buczaczer
Brandon Griffiths
Ben Sternberg
John Lazerow
Analisa Rudy
Michael Jaindl
Darrell Lerner
Alison Mittelstadt
Bradley C Walsh
Joseph Medved
Robert Lazerow
Mike Lewinsky
Alan Pearlstein
Michael Hirshland
Joseph Owen
David E Honig
David Luke Taylor
leslie gittess
Alyssa Rapp
Matthew C Jacobson
Phuoc Diec
Michael J DePuy
Stephen Coplan
Jessica Alter
Jacqueline Hampton
Laurisa Milici
Diane Schiff
Cam Balzer
John Ricci
Sheila Colbert
Daniel Kashman
Harlan Cohen
Rob Kelly
Ron Samuelson
Ari Bendersky
Margaret Reed
Abby Lauterbach
Andrew Gothelf
Frederic Guarino
Ana Manrique
Kristin Martone-Levine
Emily Wilson
Tami Holzman
Damian McCabe
Shiv Singh
Nicole Chabre
Michael Weiss

The Council of Dads: The Single Most Inspiring Book I've Ever Read

This morning on my flight to San Francisco I read "The Council of Dads: My Daughters, My Illness, and the Men Who Could Be Me," the latest book by Bruce Feiler that comes out this April. This is the first time in my life I have read a book cover to cover in one sitting and I can unequivocally say that Bruce's book is the single most important and heart-felt and inspiring book I have ever read.

I met Bruce just two weeks ago. We both were invited by Jen and David Linn to help open the Nasdaq exchange in honor of their fundraiser for rare cancers, Cycle for Survival (many of your may recognize the cause as I'm raising money and cycling in the event this year). As we were waiting to press the button, I was fortunate enough to meet Nicole Chismar from Harper Collins, Bruce's publishing company. I jokingly asked if people read books anymore. They're so long too long and have too many words, I said.

Nicole introduced me to a tall man in a sharp, dark suit with sandy blond hair and a cane. We were standing opposite the Nasdaq's gigantic wall of monitors near the windows overlooking Broadway and Times Square. I assumed he worked on Wall Street. Nope. It was Bruce. I asked what he did. He said he was in the book publishing industry. (He failed to mention that he has written 10 books and is a New York Times best seller!). On the way out, Nicole gave me an "Uncorrected Proof" of the book (thank you Nicole and if I were his editor I wouldn't change a word!!!). Be on the lookout April 27 for the book.

About two years ago, Bruce learned that he had a seven-inch tumor in his leg that turned out to be a very rare and serious form of bone cancer. When he got home that afternoon, his twin daughters "came in, running and giggling and looking in the mirror." As the daughters danced, Bruce writes, "I crumbled. I kept imagining all the walks I might not take with them, the ballet recitals I might not see, the art projects I might not mess up, the boyfriends I might not scowl at, the aisles I might not walk down."

These are thoughts I have had many times as I play with my own kids. I'm not supposed to be here. I'm supposed to be dead from a faulty heart and heart valve.

Faced with death, Bruce reached out to 6 men from all phases of his life who he thought could be "his voice" for his daughters after he died. He called this group "The Council of Dads."

"I believe my daughters will have plenty of opportunities," he writes in a letter to the "Dads." "They'll have loving families. They'll have welcoming homes. They'll have each other. But they may not have me. They may not have their dad. Will you help be their dad?"

The beauty of the Council that Bruce went on the create is that each man is truly remarkable in his own way. But each also represents a very ordinary man willing to do anything to help a friend. They are matchless in their insight and emotional bond they share with Bruce. But very common in that I can see glimpses of many of my friends in each of them and I'm sure you'll be able to as well.

There's Jeff Shumlin, the owner of the Putney Student Travel Company, who shared stories of cow tipping in Europe as a college kid with Bruce and tells Bruce he will encourage his daughters to "jump in," live life and get "covered in mud."

There's Max Stier, a fellow Yalie from Iowa whose dad died when he was three. Max tells Bruce, "The most important thing a parent can do, I believe, is water a child profusely with love. I would water your children with love."

There's David Black, Bruce's agent, a short, fiery "modern man" who has become one of his closest friends and is fond of answering the phone "Yo motherfucker." Bruce's flowing description of David is one of the most enjoyable parts of the book and I plan on writing David and asking if I can buy him a beer. Bruce writes about David, "A literary agent is a broker of dreams in a world in which most dreams don't come true. It's this aspect of David - his finesse at handling aspirations and setbacks - that is his greatest skill, and the gift Linda and I most wanted to share with our daughters."

There's Ben Edwards, the childhood friend who has nothing in common with Bruce other than they grew up together. But, as Bruce writes, "He was that friend who was there at the beginning, who regardless of what had happened in between, returned at a moment of possible ending to remind me of where we both started: two squiggly boys in a drainage ditch trying to cultivate arms and legs to hop off into the world."

Then there's Ben "The Second," Ben Sherwood, an old drinking buddy from New York City with a "big resume" - Rhodes Scholarship, multiple Emmys - and an even bigger heart. Ben points out in the book, "What I love about the Council of Dads is that if your girls are too young to hear your voice, you can surround them with voices that will, in their totality of symphony, create sounds of the father."

Lastly, there's Joshua Ramo, a handsome bachelor and former Time magazine foreign correspondent, who insisted Bruce that he would teach his girls "how easy it is to see beauty."

While the descriptions of the Council members and what each wants to share with Bruce's daughters are poignant, enlightening and thought-provoking, it's Bruce's own writing about what it was like to fight the cancer during his "Lost Year" while facing imminent death, all in front of two young daughters, that makes The Council of Dads such an astonishing read.

His treatment included an aggressive chemo regime and a 15-hour surgery right out of a sci fi movie in which doctors removed several bones from his leg and reconstructed it in a titanium-filled procedure only one person has ever survived.

Please be warned that this is not one man's grasp for attention -- "look at me, I survived cancer." It's a journey of the mind and body, family and friends, love and sadness, in which the author stays present with his emotions throughout and recounts them with vivid detail.

"As you can see," Bruce writes, "cancer is not linear. Our lives rock unaccountably - and unpredictably - among moments of hardship, stress, joy, pride, laughter and exhaustion. There is profundity to explore, but also laundry to do."

Bruce's ability to mix the profound and awe-inspiring with the mundane makes his book accessible and universally actionable to help you live a more balanced and focused life.

Early in his war against cancer, Bruce writes that cancer "is a passport to intimacy. It's an invitation - even a mandate - to enter the most vital, frightening, and sensitive human arenas."

By chronicling in such depth and compassion and pain his own relationship with cancer, Bruce's book serves a passport to understanding and an invitation for each of us to ask ourselves "Who is my Council of Dads?"

Thanks Bruce for a wonderful book that will help guide my life for many years to come. There's no doubt that I'll take many walks for you, and hopefully several with you! In the meantime, I look forward to riding in Cycle for Survival with you Sunday!

 

VIDEO: Sledding in NYC - Dec. 2009

Is there anything better?

A New Year, Same Breakfast Spot

First Sat AM breakfast with the kids!

The Big Apple Circus

Thanks Kass for the front row tix!

Phish MSG Night 3

Productivity is a Drug

Full disclosure: I've never used hard drugs. I'm on coumadin to ensure that blood doesn't clot on my artificial heart valve and repaired ventricals. But I've never used any hard drugs.

So it is with that caveat that I say that productivity is a rush, a bolt of energy, a hard drug. It's addictive. It keeps me coming back for more. And when it's not there, I feel lethargic and a little off.

So this past week was a huge high for me. Personally, I haven't been busier. I spoke at Web 2.0 Expo Wednesday. We had an amazing board meeting on Thursday. We closed several large deals. And I've never been a part of a company that churned more work out in one week than Buddy Media did this week.

Here are just a few of Buddy Media launches this week. It's indicative of the work that's being built on top of the Buddy Media Platform. If there's a company doing more work at a higher level in the social media space than Buddy Media, please point it out in the comments to this post. I'd like to invest in it.

TiVo: We launched the new TiVo Facebook Page, which was built using the out-of-the-box tools of the Buddy Media Platform: http://bit.ly/4H3C3y. (Make sure to scroll down and pick your ideal TV family on the Page!)

Summit Entertainment: In addition to a Facebook Page for the new Twilight movie, New Moon, which will be the #1 grossing movie of the year, Summit put 2 additional Pages on the Buddy Media Platform this week, one for the other Robert Pattinson movie coming out next year for Remember Me (http://bit.ly/6Wo9Tl) and the other for Letters to Juliet (http://bit.ly/7AJKDL). It's always great to see current clients love our platform so much that they put additional properties on it.

Etsy: This is perhaps some of our finest work, blending our Buddy Media Platform with a custom application to provide Etsy sellers an easy way to launch their store on Facebook. Check it out: http://bit.ly/8FFdCZ

AMD: We launched a new Facebook Page for AMD, in partnership with BitePR and a great sweeps program from Wildfire: http://bit.ly/4j7aJ1

Aeropostale: Thanks again to the Buddy Media Platform for a wonderful launch: http://bit.ly/8hTog7

Four Seasons: Check out the new Four Seasons Facebook Page, powered by the Buddy Media Platform: http://bit.ly/4OK7IG. Given winter is almost here in NYC, I'm ready to check out one of their warm-weather properties! I'll chalk that up to research and development.

Scrapblog: Do you want to create an online scrapbook online in minutes? If so, Scrapblog is a cool company you should check out. Instead of visiting their web site, check out their new Facebook Page, which was built on top of the Buddy Media Platform: http://bit.ly/8ls4QW

Yoostar Casting Tour App: Now you can vote for your favorite Yoostar performances with their new casting tour app built by Buddy Media and integrated on the Yoostar Facebook Page: http://bit.ly/7Fsor7

Mixing Bowl Food Personality Quiz: You really are what you eat! What do your culinary likes and dislikes say about you? Take this quiz to find out. Great work by the Buddy Media team: http://bit.ly/6LvT7i

Yes, all of this and more launched this week. I can't wait to see what next week has in store! Big thanks to all the Buddies.

Who loves the Donut Pub on 14th St?

The Boss & The Kids at MSG

My Favorite Building in NYC

Breakfast with the Bear

Phish Festival 8 - Acoustic Set

I just finished a workout listening to yesterday's Phish's accoustic set. Awesome. I've inserted a preview below. You can see the entire set here. If you're a Dead fan, you will LOVE this set.

Acoustic Version: Bouncing_Around_The_Room

Anniversary Party Pics

You can find the first batch of anniversary party pics here.

Central Park, Fall 2009