Prepare Your Elevator Pitches To Strike Out ALS

The nice big headquarters hotel for the upcoming ALS Advocacy Conference attracts a lot of advocacy meetings. Here are some folks we know will be there at the same time as the ALS advocates -- American Academy of Family Practice. Can you think of a better group to have an elevated ALS awareness?

So if you're going to ALS Advocacy Days, please be relentless advocates. Have your elevator/traffic light/restaurant waiting/hotel desk pitch for ALS ready... "Do you know what ALS is? Lou Gehrig's Disease. Still no known cause. Still no cure."

The hotel staff sees hundreds of thousands of people interested in public policy. Please make sure that your concierge and housekeeper and check-in staff know why you're there. For all they know, "ALS" is American Llama Society. Teach them. Remind them. Give them red wristbands.

If you carry a conference bag, please make sure that the conference name is facing outward so that it can be read. If you have a hat or shirt that mentions ALS, you have the perfect apparel to get the word out. Shoot, write K ALS on your shoes and point to your feet.

The National Association or Realtors will be in Washington at the same time as the ALS advocates (we've seen them before and they're not a shy lot, so speak up) as will a large CARE national meeting. They will be competing for your legislators' time and attention. They are also part of a public that needs to learn about ALS.

Your advocacy mission starts as you leave your home. Please make sure that every airport and airline employee, every restaurant worker, every hotel guest, every public transit worker, and every convenience store cashier knows why you're going to Washington. Lou Gehrig's Disease. Still no known cause. Still no cure.

Please suggest that tourists you see in DC visit the Piece by Piece display on Mothers' Day at the Navy Memorial and on Tuesday just west of the United States Capitol Building. That is a perfect way for people visiting Washington to experience a moving message about ALS. Steer people to it.

For your day on Capitol Hill, please take extra "Strike Out ALS" stickers from the ALSA staff and stick them on every legislator and assistant you meet. Stick them on the bus drivers and the cafeteria cashiers.

This is just like a sales job. Be alert for opportunities. Be confident in your cause. Regardless of what your mother taught you, you must talk to strangers about ALS. Get the word out. It's up to you!