July 2012 SynovialSarcomaSurvivors Community Newsletter

Dear Friends and Family of SynovialSarcomaSurvivors,

We have just passed another unprecedented month. We gained strides in creating more responsive and active communities, and Ben's Friends has been receiving some remarkable exposure lately. These convince me more of the worthiness of our cause.

Just a week ago, the 90’s top self help guru Stephen Covey passed away. He left our generation a legacy of vision-oriented entrepreneurs both on the social and corporate side with with his 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. He was the first to articulate President David Eisenhower’s Urgent vs. Important Principle through a four quadrant matrix which later became known as Covey’s Quadrants.

A favorite quote from Covey: ‎"Be sure that, as you scramble up the ladder of success, it is leaning against the right building." He couldn't have said it any better.

I believe that we have leaned our ladder on the right wall, so to speak, when we chose helping rare disease patients as a mission. With persistence, we continued to focus our resources and efforts on what is important.

The following monthly highlights from Ben's Friends and SynovialSarcomaSurvivors show this.

But first, let me extend a warm welcome to our new members.

IN THIS ISSUE


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Welcome New Members

BEN'S FRIENDS HIGHLIGHTS OF THE MONTH

The Guardian Interviews Ben Munoz as the US Supreme Court Deliberates Health Care

Ben Munoz Lectures on Social Entrepreneurship in North Eastern University

Eric Kroll Receives 2012 Mark V. Anderson Character-in-Action™ Leadership Award

Ben’s Friends Turn Mobile

Ben’s Friends Launches New Community for Traumatic Brain Injury Patients

Twitter Chat

SYNOVIALSARCOMASURVIVORS COMMUNITY HIGHLIGHTS

Top Content: Are there any other young children out there?

Featured Member: Gary

Picture of the Month

Community Stats

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Welcome New Members

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Thank you for signing up! We assure you that you have chosen not just a community of well-wishers but a real family who cares for your genuine welfare.

Why don’t you make yourself at home and start exploring our site. You will find very interesting posts from over 1,000+ blogs and as many discussion points that may just bear the information you need.

Feel free to browse pages of members and find pictures and stories that are reflective of your own experiences. Throw in some of your pictures too! We love to see how you look as a new member of the household.

Locate yourself on the map and see if you are clustered near some members.

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BEN'S FRIENDS HIGHLIGHTS OF THE MONTH

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The Guardian Interviews Ben Munoz as the US Supreme Court Deliberates Health Care

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Karen McVeigh of The Guardian talked to Ben Munoz, Founder of Ben’s Friends and a medical student from Texas, on June 29, 2012 giving him the opportunity to comment on the SC ruling in the context of his own battle with a debilitating illness.

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Ben Munoz Lectures on Social Entrepreneurship in North Eastern University MBA Program

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Ben shared how circumstances in life bring out the social entrepreneur in people and why they become better advocates in a cause where they are themselves involved. Sharing how Ben’s Friends got started, he cited interesting lessons for social entrepreneurs and inspiring life lessons from some of our communities.

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Eric Kroll Receives 2012 Mark V. Anderson Character-in-Action™ Leadership Award

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As a member of our team, Eric Kroll’s efforts in helping make life easier for rare disease patients did not go unnoticed by the Sigma Chi Fraternity.

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Ben’s Friends Turn Mobile

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Using technology to adapt to our members’ needs, Ben’s Friends has already made available most of the 30+ patient communities in a mobile app which will make discussion streams accessible to members 24 hours /7 days a week. Check out SynovialSarcomaSurvivors’ s mobile link http://forum.synovialsarcomasurvivors.org/m

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Ben’s Friends Launches New Community for Traumatic Brain Injury Patients

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TraumaticBrainInjurySupportis unique in that it started out as a Facebook group before being launched into a dedicated website.

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Twitter Chat

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John Stamler launched the first Twitter chat weekends this month with success. Watch out for announcements in your Synovial Sarcoma community to join in the next sessions with specific issues to be addressed.

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SYNOVIALSARCOMASURVIVORS COMMUNITY HIGHLIGHTS

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Top Content: Are there any other young children out there?

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Paula, Tristan's mom, invites everyone in the group to share their children's stories and how they personally coped up rearing children with Synovial Sarcoma. Follow her discussion thread and read more about his son Tristan's journey to life with Synovial Sarcoma.

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Featured Member: Gary

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Gary from New Zealand enjoys moderating Synovial Sarcoma community as he says, "I have found sharing and interacting with other sarcoma survivors has been great for me getting my mind around the issues were all dealing with plus a great source of information."

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Picture of the Month

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Maine Mom’s picture is our hands down featured photo of the month!

"Family" - That's the theme of Maine Mom's photos shared at Ben's Friends. Check out more of her wonderful and lovely family photos on this link.

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Community Stats:

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Number of Members as of July 1, 2012 :275

New Members Joined Last Month: 12

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I am glad that you have remained with us on this effort, and hopefully, if ever we reach our goal or if other interests direct us to even loftier heights, you will continue to be a part of our Synovial Sarcoma family and the 19,000+ extended network of rare disease patients so far!

Cheers,

Ben