Looking for a Positive Man

[usedtobeperkytina]

For the campaign, Our Voice, Our Message, Our Lives, we are looking for a 30-50 year-old male who is XMRV positive. This person must be willing to have his photo used in our ads.

The first ad we are planning will likely be in Wall Street Journal or New York Times. This is a male audience and we want to get the message across that it can happen to you, that is the reader.

Tall order I know. If someone knows someone, please have them call me. at 205-680-6890. And I know people say I shouldn't put my number out. But I have had that number, my business number, on my website for years.

You can also e-mail me at editor@claynews.net

Tina

 

[*GG*]

Perhaps I can do this in a few weeks. I should be tested soon and I think it will take a couple of weeks, at least, for a result.

 

[usedtobeperkytina]

Thank you. Let me know.

Tina

 

[Mya Symons]

My husband and I are going to try and get tested as soon as the assay/antibody test is available. If his test is posiive, I can ask him if he'll do it. He also has had prostate problems since he has been sick. Perhaps because he also has had the prostate problems, this could get more men thinking about XMRV. Who knows. If you haven't found anyone in a couple months (because we are not sure when the new test will be available ) and you think my husband would make a good candidate, remind me here please.

 

[usedtobeperkytina]

Thank you both so much. I thought this would be most difficult. You guys are really great.

We are asking everyone to just donate $10. Right now, on the Facebook Cause page, we have over 480 members. If every one of them donated just $10, we would have over $4,000. Right now, we have over $700. I did some other computer work tonight, got it out of the way. Next week, three of us will be working on getting support groups and getting all the members to donate.

Ad samples are in design. Will let you know.

Tina

 

[Stone]

Just a comment about the readership of the WSJ. I've worked in hospitals and doctor's offices all of my professional life B.C. (Before CFS). It seems there's ALWAYS a copy of the WSJ in every doctor's lounge, so it might be valuable to keep this in mind when selecting your 'poster boy'. Docs listen to other doctory-types, but nice looking women also get their attention (forgive me for saying so, I'm just reporting what I've seen). I only have a little experience with advertising, but I have a lot of experience with doctors as a group of people in general. An ad with a doctory-looking guy and his pretty younger wife (who happens to also look quite credible herself and might even look like a female doctory-type), who are both XMRV positive, might work well, too. I dunno, I'm just saying it might be worth consideration, that's all. And yes, there certainly are more female doctors nowadays than there ever have been, although at work, they still think like their male counterparts. Many female doctors wear a kind of ultra-alpha-doc persona at work among colleagues, as they must in many multi-physician settings. These are very broad generalizations, which I usually try to avoid like the plague, but in this context of readership-demographics I made an exception and broke with my usual practice of steering clear of typing large groups of people this way.

 

[muffin]

Major kudos to you Tina for taking on this job. THIS is the type of work that we need to do. I will be sending my money to the FB page today.

Thanks for taking this on and doing a great job. Using a man is the best idea as it debunks the idea that only neurotic, middle-age women get this disease AND that there is indeed a virus involved (most likely).
Great job. Again, thank you for "walking the walk". I love proactive people like you.

Just went and joined and donated. THIS is exactly what we must be doing now. We can't wait for others to do our jobs.

Again and again, Great Job Tina and the others involved. You have my support and my money (what little there is). But you have both now.

 

[leaves]

Kudos Tina! Great idea. What aproach do you want to take? if you scare they audience a bit there may be more pressure on the CDC . If you include our non fatigue symptoms; numb limbs, unrefreshing sleep etc etc it has the additional advantage that people may look at the illness with a different angle, and that undiagnosed people may recognize they have it as well.

 

[usedtobeperkytina]

We have three people working on sample ads. As I stated here, one is of XMRV positive 30-50 year old man.

I am working on a letter to the public format. And someone else came up with a really cool abstract idea. We plan to put the refined samples up and let people vote.

Tina

 

[*GG*]

Thank you. Let me know.

Tina

Will do, I will probably be offline for a while.

I am having Disability testing done tomorrow and the day afterwards and I think it will likely send me into a crash?! But I will try to get onto my computer some.

 

[Mya Symons]

Just a comment about the readership of the WSJ. I've worked in hospitals and doctor's offices all of my professional life B.C. (Before CFS). It seems there's ALWAYS a copy of the WSJ in every doctor's lounge, so it might be valuable to keep this in mind when selecting your 'poster boy'. Docs listen to other doctory-types, but nice looking women also get their attention (forgive me for saying so, I'm just reporting what I've seen). I only have a little experience with advertising, but I have a lot of experience with doctors as a group of people in general. An ad with a doctory-looking guy and his pretty younger wife (who happens to also look quite credible herself and might even look like a female doctory-type), who are both XMRV positive, might work well, too.

My husband is a Manager, but I think Doctors are often prejudice against people who are overweight. They assume we are lazy and don't have ambition. My husband is overweight like a lot of us (including me) because of the lack of energy and because exercise hurts so much. I was thinking after reading what you wrote that you are right, it takes a certain person to get a doctors attention and perhaps the hubby (and I) would not be the right choice. But, if we get desperate I will attempt to convince him to do it. (If after they come out with the Assay/Antibody test, he tests XMRV +. With so many people in our family getting this disease, I doubt that he won't be positive.)

What about a young guy who looks like the average guy his age? Are there any young men who tested positive who would be willing to be the Poster Person?

"We have three people working on sample ads. As I stated here, one is of XMRV positive 30-50 year old man." by Tina. Tina, this means you have already found the guy to do it, correct?

 

[usedtobeperkytina]

no, just that the sample we are working on, one of them, is with the idea of including that.

Tina

 

[Hope123]

It would be nice to get someone who looks like Sam Waterston (the DA on the cancelled series "Law and Order") as he has that trustworthy look about him and usually plays characters with integrity. It's no wonder TD Ameritrade uses him in their financial ads.

(he does a fair amount of charity work in reality; a relative once met him at a charity event and found him to be down to earth in real life as well)

 

[richvank]

Hi, Tina.

I hope you have better success than Diogenes had:

Diogenes Spent His Days Walking The Streets Of Athens, With A Lighted Lantern -- Looking For An Honest Man!
He Never Found One!

Rich

 

[Daffodil]

tina.....what an absolutely wonderful idea! this will really wake people up. how much does an ad in a paper like that cost? i imagine it would be very expensive...? also....won't it be censored by the powers at be??

 

[gracenote]

I've been wanting to say this every time I've seen the title of this thread, but didn't think it was appropriate. After all, I don't want to hijack a great thread for a really great idea. But, because I've shown an immense amount of restraint for nearly one whole week, I am going to say it now.

I, too, am looking for a positive man!

There, I said it.



(Maybe we can share him.)

 

[usedtobeperkytina]

No, Daff. There is this thing called First Amendment.

Not to mention there is a wall between advertising and editorial staff at newspapers. As a general rule, they are kept separate and don't talk to each other. This is to prevent editorial staff from being influenced by advertising interest. So if an ad person gets the ad, they are going to want to earn that commission. But we do need to be very careful to be very accurate. That is my forte, in my work. I will nit pick it for accuracy, don't worry. I can't imagine government trying to censor me. I have fought such a battle before when I owned a newspaper. I won.

I have contacted a newspaper for a price. I don't want to share that now, until I get other prices from other newspapers. But, this is doable.

And by the way, we have reached a milestone. Over $1,000.

I thought it would be very hard to find that XMRV positive man. But, boy, you guys are so willing. Thank you sooo much for being willing to put yourself out that way. I am moved.

Hey, has anyone asked Sam Waterson if he will get tested? (tee hee)

By the way, another campaign was just run by the Rebecca Project. They ran a letter form ad in the Washington Post and San Francisco Chronicle. I hear they got two T.V. news interviews and a newspaper article from it.

But, we are also considering a more traditional ad format.

So, thanks guys. Here is the page if you haven't donated yet: http://www.causes.com/causes/511536?m=7a373890

Tina

 

[Mya Symons]

I've been wanting to say this every time I've seen the title of this thread, but didn't think it was appropriate. After all, I don't want to hijack a great thread for a really great idea. But, because I've shown an immense amount of restraint for nearly one whole week, I am going to say it now.

I, too, am looking for a positive man!

There, I said it.



(Maybe we can share him.)

Tee-Hee--This made me giggle.

 

[*GG*]

Tee-Hee--This made me giggle.

Me to, and I am a man. That was a good one, and it never crossed my mind.

 

[urbantravels]

I'm glad gracenote broke down before I did. I was being SO STRONG, y'all. Why, the jokes about XMRV+ dating services practically write themselves!!