The Stupid Cancer Show Talks Tech

April 23, 2013

The folks at the  Stupid Cancer Show recently devoted an entire episode to Gaming and the ePatient Revolution. You can listen here.

I get to do some fun stuff as head of communications at HopeLab, and being a guest on this show (twice now!) is always a blast. This time, I gave some inside scoop on our new Re-Mission 2 games.

Host Matthew Zachary and the whole Stupid Cancer team take on issues facing young-adult cancer patients with a sense of humor and a serious commitment to advocating for more research and better social support for young adult cancer survivors.

We’re looking forward to continuing the conversation on how technology are radically transforming the landscape of cancer support and advocacy, from social media to online cancer support communities to games like Re-Mission 2. We’ll be at Stupid Cancer’s OMG Summit in Vegas to demo the games and participate in live panel discussion, also titled Gaming and the ePatient Revolution. If you’re at the summit, come find us and say hello!

Tags:	Health, hopelab, Re-Mission, Research, Technology
Posted In:	Cancer, Research

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Game Time at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital

April 23, 2013

Last week the HopeLab team packed up our laptops and headed over to Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital (LPCH) down the road in Palo Alto to share Re-Mission 2 games with patients and hospital staff.  On hand were some of the young people with cancer who helped us design the games by offering input on characters and gameplay to help us amp up the fun factor.

Were the kids as excited about the finished games as we are? Seems so!

The mom of one young man who was particularly involved in Re-Mission 2 game development said, “He’s just wrapped up his treatment, and this was literally the first week in two and half years we didn’t have to be at the hospital for an appointment. And then he heard about this event, and he insisted on coming!”

The event gave us a chance to say thank you to the kids and hospital staff who helped make Re-Mission 2 possible. We could not have done it with out them. In fact, HopeLab and LPCH go way back – the oncology staff at the hospital were early supporters of the original Re-Mission game, and LPCH was one of the sites for the Re-Mission Outcomes Study. We were thrilled to have them back on board, along with a number of other hospitals across the country, to help make Re-Mission 2 a reality.

Once again, thanks to everyone at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital for all your enthusiasm and support. Play on!

Tags:	behavior change, children, games, Health, hopelab, Re-Mission, Research
Posted In:	Cancer, Product Development, Research, video

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Zamzee Hits the Stage at Health 2.0

November 12, 2010

Wow. The fall conference season was a whirlwind of activity – can you relate? By the time I landed back in the office this month, my coat pockets stuffed with business cards and boarding passes, most of it was a blur. But a highlight for me was presenting Zamzee at the annual Health 2.0 conference in San Francisco, organized by health care  futurists Matthew Holt, Indu Subaiya and team. Matthew and Indu are great folks who consistently bring together a fascinating mix of people who are pushing the envelope of health care and technology. It’s serious work presented with a sense of fun and good humor.

The session I was part of — Behavior Change, Health 2.0 & the Unmentionables — featured work on a wide range of health topics, from unplanned pregnancy to obesity, with commentary from the fabulous Susannah Fox (director at Pew Internet & American Life Project), Thomas Goetz (Wired editor, author of The Decision Tree)and others.  Good stuff, and lots of fun – and most of it caught on tape!

Here’s video of my talk on Zamzee; check the Health 2.0 site for more.

Tags:	behavior change, childhood obesity, Health, Health 2.0, Physical Activity, Technology, tweens, Zamzee
Posted In:	Conferences & Events, Physical Activity, Product Development, Research, Uncategorized

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Catch Us if You Can!

September 17, 2010

With conference season in full swing, HopeLabbers are out in force talking everything from Re-Mission to Zamzee. Below is a list of upcoming conferences that we will be attending.

Engage

When & Where: September 22-13, 2010. Santa Clara, CA.
The Scene: app developers, toy and technology creators, virtual good managers
Representin’ HopeLab: Lance

e-Patient Connections 2010

When & Where: September 27-September 29, 2010. Philadelphia, PE.
The Scene: doctors without their white jackets, public health and life science experts
Representin’ HopeLab: Ellen! She will be speaking in the Serious Health Games pre-conference session on 9/27 with Ben Sawyer.

SoCap2010

When & Where: October 4-6, 2010. San Francisco, CA.
The Scene: impact investors, social entrepreneurs, and innovators
Representin’ HopeLab: Lance, Ellen, & Richard (who will be on the Behavior Change: The Power of Mobile to Transform Our Actions panel)

Health 2.0

When & Where: October 7-8, 2010. San Fransisco, CA.
The Scene: leaders in: health care, technology innovation, and government and finance
Representin’ HopeLab: Lance, Ellen, Richard (who will be on the Behavior Change, Health 2.0, and the unmentionables panel)

Play On 2010

When & Where: October 12-13, 2010. New York, NY.
The Scene: teachers, coaches, and community advocates
Representin’ HopeLab: Richard, Liz, Ellen

Tags:	Conference, Health, hopelab, Physical Activity, public health, tweens
Posted In:	Conferences & Events, Notable News

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A Playdate with HopeLab!

September 2, 2010

Catch us if you can – at the Play On Conference in New York City! Play On brings together innovative groups and organizations specifically dedicated to helping kids develop healthy living habits through education, fun, and play. As an event sponsor, we’ll be there to present our work (and play!), and we want to invite you to join us.

We are offering three scholarships equivalent to one full registration fee + dinner. Simply fill out this short online form. Applications will be received until September 15,  the winners will be announced the week of September 21, 2010.

Play On 2010 will be held October 12 – 13 at Lerner Hall at Columbia University and is sponsored by Playworks, a national nonprofit, transforming recess from potential playground bulling to positive, healthy activities by sending their fully trained coaches to low-income schools to help promote organized play during recess.

Hope to see you there!

Tags:	Conference, Health, hopelab, Play On, Playworks
Posted In:	Conferences & Events, Partners, Physical Activity, Social Impact

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Designing the Zamzee Activity Meter

July 29, 2010

We’re super-excited to give you a closer look at the new Zamzee activity meter! For several months, we’ve been working with the truly innovative folks at NONOBJECT to build a device that’s durable, customizable, and good-looking too – all based on feedback from our kid customers. The Zamzee activity meter records a user’s physical activity, and activity data is uploaded to the Zamzee website via a built-in USB connector.

In a recent conversation, Branko Lukic of NONOBJECT talked about the role of the activity meter in the overall Zamzee experience, saying, “This is a highly unique project because it lives in the cross-section of the physical world and the digital world.” That kind of big-picture thinking combined with the endless creative energy of the NONOBJECT team were huge assets in developing the new device.

Read More »

Tags:	childhood obesity, Health, Physical Activity, Technology, Zamzee
Posted In:	Customers, Notable News, Partners, Physical Activity, Product Development, Social Impact

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What Does Zamzee Look Like?

June 29, 2010

Since announcing the name, we’ve been exploring ideas for a Zamzee logo and visual identity.

Zamzee. Does it take you on a journey? Is it the hero inside you?  Is it the crackling energy of physical activity? Or maybe it’s a quirky companion that gets you up and moving?

Working with the fun and creative brand strategy firm Sequence, we created logos and concept art to explore each of these directions. Then we gathered feedback from tweens, their parents, and you guys (our fans and followers –thanks for taking part in our surveys!).

Here’s a short video (1:36) of the top four logos and identify concepts we explored for Zamzee.

Want to know which one we picked?

Read More »

Tags:	Health, hopelab, logo, Physical Activity, tweens, web experience, Zamzee
Posted In:	Customers, Notable News, Physical Activity, Product Development, Social Impact, video

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In Case You Missed It…

June 24, 2010

Here is the transcript from our twitrview with GreatNonprofits.

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Tags:	GreatNonprofits, Health, hopelab, Twitter, Zamzee
Posted In:	Conferences & Events, Notable News, Uncategorized, Values

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Tweet to Tweet with GreatNonprofits

June 15, 2010

Thanks to Twitter, we’ve gotten to know the good folks over at GreatNonprofits over last few weeks. In fact they, invited us to join their 2010 Health Campaign , launched in collaboration with Guidestar.

We’ve been so intrigued by what GreatNonprofits is up to, we’d like to invite you to learn a bit more about them via a Twitter interview this Wednesday, June 16 between 9AM and 9:30AM (PST)!

What is a Twitter Interview (Twitterview)?

I’m glad you asked! A Twitterview is a two-way, real-time tweet dialog (140 character question and answer) between two parties (in this case @hopelab and @greatnonprofits ). It’s sort of like texting, but the tweets are out there for all of Twitter to see. We’ll be talking about our missions, using social media to promote health, and more.

Want to know what else is cool?

You can join in! Simply tweet your question and mark it with the #twtrview hashtag!

More on Great Nonprofits

GreatNonprofits is like the Amazon Reviews for non-profits, using social media to help individuals find worthy causes. Create a profile (super simple), and you’re on your way to reviewing non-profits all around the US. Check out our review page here. You can share your experience, volunteer, and even donate all through the GreatNonprofits web site.

Mark your calendars!

What: Twitterview with GreatNonprofits
When: Wednesday June 16 from 9 AM to 9:30 AM PST
Who: @HopeLab and @GreatNonprofits
Hashtag: #twtrview

Tags:	GreatNonprofits, Health, hopelab, Twitter
Posted In:	Notable News, Social Impact, Values

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