Our First Rodeo (Part Deux)

Posted by Gabe on September 13, 2011 under Kids are Heroes | 2 Comments to Read

For me at least, preparing for “our first rodeo” was quite stressful. After all, MaryMargaret and I had spoken in front of schools before but we had never experienced anything like this. As we practiced and practiced starting weeks beforehand, we always wondered how it would actually come off. I don’t think either of us dreamed it would come off as it did.

The Grand Ballroom at the Richmond Convention Center

Last Thursday we headed to Richmond for the #DSRPT11 conference as we were invited to speak to a group of 500 business entrepreneurs. The hash tag represents “disruptive thinking” as all the speakers and especially the headliner, Sir Richard Branson, have a reputation of thinking outside the box. As we arrived at the Richmond Convention Center we were a bit taken aback by the size and grandeur of the room. Two giant screens were hung adjacent to the stage and one other larger one above it. When we arrived our slides were on all screens which made it a bit surreal. This was really going to happen. Our speech coach told us that we should see the venue beforehand, learn every aspect of our entrance and get the feel for the whole thing so we knew what to expect. I can’t tell you how important this was to us. We both got miked up and went through the entire presentation to an empty audience. This was critical for us to get through the next day.

We delivered our speech on Friday after lunch. MaryMargaret showed no sign of nerves throughout the entire day until she realized we were on next. “Now I’m nervous!” she said. But she never showed it. I on the other hand had very little sleep the night before and was almost hyperventilating that morning. It wasn’t so much because of nervousness about speaking in front of people, it was more about the fact that the material was so important to me and I wanted to deliver it the right way.  I really didn’t want to mess it up. But when I arrived at the venue I saw how relaxed everyone was and interested in the content of the other speakers. This made me realize that we were really in the right place at the right time.

So then it was our turn. I still had a bit of the jitters but MaryMargaret was flawless. I didn’t really realize that until I watched it back later. We had a bit of a gaffe in the middle which turned out to be funny. I’m not sure if people thought we scripted that or not. I think the biggest surprise we received was the crowd’s reactions. Both the speech and the video we presented sparked several rounds of applause during, and MaryMargaret got a rousing standing ovation at the end. I also heard later that a few tears were shed, including some by my wife who was working the Flip video camera. The results of her efforts are seen below.

So after having completed the speech it was time to finally breathe out and enjoy the rest of the day. Many of you know that I credit Sir Richard Branson when I talk about the genesis of Kids Are Heroes. MaryMargaret is the flame but Sir Richard was at least a big part of the spark. We watched his presentation which included a fascinating look at the upcoming adventures of Virgin Galactic, which is the company he formed to take “ordinary” people into space. Thanks to the WONDERFUL folks at Richmond Unite, the company that hosted this entire event, we did get the opportunity to meet him, not once but twice. We did a “meet and greet” that night and were also invited to a brunch with him the next morning. I finally got to give him the acknowledgment I’ve always wanted to about how his words helped us start the organization. Talk about a surreal experience.

Hero Ethan from VA on left, Sir Richard and MaryMargaret

So I really must thank the folks from Richmond Unite for offering this opportunity to us, as we hope it acts as the launching pad for similar future events. I must also mention again our speech coach Mike Boyd, who helped us gain the confidence we needed and also improved our delivery tenfold.

So, What’s Next?

Posted by Gabe on June 3, 2009 under Kids are Heroes | 5 Comments to Read

It’s been just over a year since MaryMargaret and I created the Kids Are Heroes web site.  Quite a bit has happened since then, especially in the last five months due to my Twitter involvement.  We have over 50 children that we recognize – they hail from as close as a few houses down our street to as far away as Texas, California and Alberta, Canada.  Every once in a while I will do a web search on “kidsareheroes.com” as I did this morning only to discover many more sites referencing us – some I knew about and others I did not.  I did find an independent review of us that was done without our knowledge and/or participation by Dana from Common Sense Media.  I think it accurately depicts us a a grass roots movement with a lot of potential once funded.

Speaking of which, this month is particularly exciting for us as our pitch is now airborne (all throughout the month of June) on all Virgin Atlantic flights thanks to Richard Branson (@richardbranson) and his Pitch TV concept.  We entered this contest in April and have the great fortune of winning and being featured first on the debut of his PitchTV show.  We can only dream of the possibilities that may unfold from this opportunity.

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Richard Branson’s Premiere PitchTV Show

That certainly doesn’t mean we can sit and wait by the phone.  That is not an activity that sits well with me, anyway.  Although the idea of the pitch is to connect with a person or group that has the ability to fund our idea so we can take it to a global level, there is no guarantee this will happen right away or even at all.  So for us it is business as usual.  We will continue to speak at events and schools when invited, try to uncover and recognize new heroes, help kids and parents get started and of course tweet about it on Twitter along the way.  We ask all of you to continue to spread the word about what we are doing and sooner or later this will become my life’s work as is my goal.

I really would like to thank the folks that have supported us up to this point.  There are so many of you who have been doing just that – if it weren’t for you we would never have had a chance at winning the PitchTV contest.  John Haydon (@johnhaydon) has been very generous as of late in creating innovative posts about our efforts.  I must acknowledge again the support from @SocialPMChick for writing a very nice post about us, as well as @LoobaLee for generating a contest around voting for us. @GinaRau has run several posts focusing on our heroes.  @Jyl_MomIF invited us to be guest tweeters for their GNO party which was a lot of fun.  @Tumblondad interviewed us for our first podcast a few months ago.   Then there is @MickeyGomez who reached out to me so that her volunteer organization can help us.  I certainly cannot forget about my very own sister and biggest fan Maureen (@moelib) who has been “too busy” for Twitter as of late but is always very supportive on her Facebook page.  There are so many more of you that are “religious retweeters” of our posts on Twitter (and Facebook) and I truly thank each and every one of you.  The word about Kids Are Heroes is indeed spreading at a very rapid rate I am confident that only more great things will result from it.