Video chat with Epilepsy bloggers

This week Living Well With Epilepsy hosted a Google+ Hangout with some amazing people.  The video chat gave me the chance to talk face-to-face with other folks actively involved in getting the word out about epilepsy.

From across the country
The group consisted of bloggers, artists, people with epilepsy, parents, writers, videographers, and photographers. The conversation was made even more interesting by the fact that we came from all over the country including: New Jersey, Indiana, Kentucky, Colorado, Texas and California.

One common thread
We quickly found that our epilepsy experience was as varied our blogging and social media experience. However, we shared a common interest in getting the word out.

As the discussion progressed everyone seemed to relax and have a good time. That's when the great ideas started to fly back and forth.

Thanks to all
I want to take a moment to say thank you to everyone who participated. Click on the photos below to visit the sites/projects created by these amazing people.

Erica Egge - Living in a Brainstorm

Kat Moody - Kat's Cafe

Nathan Jones - A Seizure by Nathan Jones

Bryan Farley - Bryan Farley Photography

Mandy Krzywonski - Epilepsy Blogger

I'm looking forward to our next chance to speak out together. To those of you who didn't have a chance to participate, check out these amazing sites. You can't help but find something interesting along the way.

See you on twitter,
@jessicaksmith

Living Well donates commission to CURE and Epilepsy Foundation

There was excitement as we opened our first commission check for just over $30 at the end of the year. Thanks to your purchases through the Living Well Gear Shop, we were able to make our first contributions to both CURE and the Epilepsy Foundation of America.

To kick off 2012, contributions were made using the money earned via the Living Well Gear Shop. I've made a $25 contribution CURE to help pay for the research that will get us a bit closer to a cure.  A $25 contribution was also made to the Epilepsy Foundation because awareness is still  needed.

It's worth noting that although we receive a very small percentage of the sales from Cafe Press, 100% of the dollars we receive go toward epilepsy awareness and epilepsy research.

To give directly to either of these organizations you can visit the Give Today page.

To check out the Living Well Gear Shop go to http://www.cafepress.com/livingwellwithepilepsy.

Thanks for speaking out!

It's time for the Shorty Awards again.

If you are on twitter and are looking for a way to speak out for a cure, here's a quick and easy way. Tweet a nomination for a Shorty Award.

How does it work? 
Nominations are made by sending a tweet, whether it's through the Shorty Award site or on Twitter. To Nominate Living Well you can use ANY of the sample tweets below:

I nominate @jessicaksmith for a Shorty Award in #health because of the impact she has on #epilepsy awareness.             

I nominate @jessicaksmith for a Shorty Award in #epilepsy because she is speaking out for a cure.

I nominate @jessicaksmith for a Shorty Award in #health because she is speaking out for a cure for #epilepsy.

I nominate @jessicaksmith for a Shorty Award in #epilepsy because she is speaking out for people with #epilepsy.

What are the Shorties?
According to the New York Times, Hollywood has the Oscars. Broadway has the Tony's. Now Twitter has the... Shorty Awards 

The Shorty Awards honor the best people and organizations producing short-form, real-time social media content. Nominations may be made through Twitter. The program recognizes winners in dozens of featured categories, as well as thousands of crowd-sourced categories.

When is it all over?
Nominations will be tweeted throughout January. Then beginning in February, the nominees will be narrowed down to six finalists in each category. Winners will be determined by a combination of popular vote and by the members of the Real-Time Academy of Short Form Arts & Sciences.

Speak out
Don't miss this chance to speak out for a cure. Our voices our louder together so send a tweet and be heard.