At Planaganza, we strive to make a difference in the lives of our members who use our site to assist in planning all of life’s events. As such, we wanted to send a reminder to our members that is it Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Did you know?!?!?…

Please keep this in mind when you plan your events! Planaganza offers 3 favors that benefit women’s health-focused charities. A percentage of each purchase will benefit the Young Survival Coalition, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the unique issues and concerns that are important to young women with breast cancer. The Young Survival Coalition educates communities through advocacy and awareness and provides support to those living with this devastating disease. For more information on the purpose and mission of The Young Survival Coalition, please visit their website at http://www.youngsurvival.org/.

Who knew a favor could do so much?

“In Favor of a Cure” Pink Ribbon Plantable Wildflower Favors (Set of 12)

In Favor of a Cure Pink Ribbon Frosted Glass Photo Frame

“In Favor of a Cure” Pink Ribbon Favor Box (Set of 24)

Martin Luther King Jr. stood for equality, justice and service to all.  Although the state of the “dream” and how far we have come in realizing it can be called into question, the essence of MLK Day lies in its call to action within our communities. Here are 3 ways to organize your friends and family to make an impact in your community on MLK day.

1. Plan a community breakfast at your church or a nearby community center and invite everyone from the neighborhood to come and discuss the impact that Dr. King has had on our community and where the dream is not being realized.  Bring audio snippets of Dr. King’s popular speeches to spark conversation and give guests a business card sized memento with “I have a dream” inscribed on one side and “My Dream Realized” inscribed on the other with three lines below it.  This space will be used for guests to write three things they will do throughout the year to realize the dream in their community.
2. Invite friends and family over to your neighborhood park or playground area for a day of neighborhood cleanup.  Get everyone matching “Day of Service” T-shirts and recruit others along the way.  For kids, make a contest out of how many bags of trash they can collect.  Make sure you arm them with gloves and long pants to avoid injury.  You might also chose to purchase some a small tree to commemorate the event.  Plant it in the park and watch it grow in the spring.
3. Team up with a community center, neighborhood initiative or local cause that has a service event planned for the day.  Help market the event by sending out invitations to your circle of friends inviting them to volunteer.  You can find great electronic invitations for MLK Day at Planaganza.com.

Whatever you plan to do for MLK Day remember the dream.  To refresh your memory and see other events happening for the day visit the MLK Day website.

Plan this event and more at Planaganza.com - the place for life’s events!

This week I attended the Modern Media Strategies conference hosted by the Heritage Foundation and Google.  The event was focused on using blogging, social networking and online video to enhance political campaigns.  Now I must admit that when my partner suggested that I go to this event, since our business plays in the modern media space, I was under the impression that there was a broader focus.  Nothing in the description or the agenda revealed anything about a political focus, but there I sat in a room full of congressional aides and campaign managers analysizing Barack Obama and Mitt Romney’s use of Myspace and Facebook to get votes.  Not quite what I expected, although interesting to say the least.  It was interesting to see how blogging and social networking is literally changing the way we receive information, even on something as important as the presidential campaign. Though a lot of the information specific to “modern media strategies” was very basic, I think receiving this information from the point of view of people who may not be as comfortable with technology was very instrumental in helping us devise a strategy to take Planaganza mainstream.

On the heals of what the media is dubbing the Virginia Tech Massacre, my prayers and thoughts are with the family and friends of those who were harmed.  I think as with every loss of life as devastating as this, people begin to think about their own mortality and begin to remember how precious life really is.  It is my belief   that this precise incident and those like it are why we should celebrate every minute of life (this is the essence of Planaganza) .  We need to cherish those events that may appear even too small to acknowledge.  In the hustle and bustle of life in America, its often hard to do this, but when its all said and done those are the moments in time that help to get us through tragedies like this.

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