Friday, October 5, 2012

Extra Life Wants You ... To Play Games!

John and I had the privilege of participating in a conference call yesterday with the Extra Life event coordinators from Children's Miracle Network as well as some of the folks involved in the event this year.  We heard some interesting facts, and we are excited to share some of the details.

One of the really interesting focal points of the discussion was that Extra Life needs more people.  The coordinators know that a lot of effort is focused on sponsorship and requesting donations, but they wanted to encourage all of us to recruit more gamers to the cause as well.  Once you average out the total sponsorships per participant, it comes out to about $100 per gamer.  Considering that we are over 9,600 gamers strong with 15 days to go, that is a lot of money for the kids!  The goal this year is to find 12,000 gamers by the October 20th event date.

Here's how you can participate.  If you would like to play games for kids in need on October 20th (or any date, more on that in a minute), then all you have to do is create a sponsorship page on the Extra Life website.  The coordinators gave us some great tools to help you get started.  To do a fast registration, follow this link here.  This is the quick registration form that allows you to get started and complete registration when you have more time.  You will receive an email at the address you enter with details on finalizing your sponsorship page.  If you have time to fully register right away, just go to the main page registration flow found here.  If you are looking for a team to join, feel free to join John and I with "Shoot Many Bad Guys."  We are open for anyone who would like to join us, and you can select any hospital in the Children's Miracle Network as your charity (i.e. it does not have to match the rest of the team).  Just select "Shoot Many Bad Guys" from the team list during registration if you need a team, or feel free to start a new team or join another team if you know someone else involved.

Here are some notes on event registration.  The coordinators made sure to emphasize this is an inclusive event.  The core purpose of Extra Life is to generate funds for children in need in the Children's Miracle Network hospitals.  They need everyone's help, and no one will be turned away from supporting the event.  This means that the 24 hour marathon does not have to be 24 full hours if you cannot commit to that.  Some people are not able to commit to that amount of time, whereas some people actually play longer (some folks mentioned full weekend long marathons during the conference call).  Any game can be played for any amount of time, this include board games with your family.  The whole idea is to bring gamers together for a great cause, and any amount of time spent playing games with friends and family for kids in need is welcomed.  The coordinators also made sure to reiterate that if October 20th is not good for you, then pick a different day.  October 20th is the national event and the target sponsorship date, but there is some flexibility.  The sponsorship pages will be available for some time after, but the goal date is October 20th.

If you have any questions feel free to get in touch with me, or, more importantly, if you or someone else wants to get involved, then share the information and encourage them to get started!

- Scott

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