JMPR Communication

When Jen made the decision to go to BlogWorld, I was very excited for her.  But then she told me it was in Vegas, and I was excited for me, too!

I started researching all the Blog World “stuff” that would be going on. I wanted to learn from Jen’s sessions, but since I wasn’t an attendee, I wanted to see if I could participate in some way.  I stumbled upon a charity poker tourney.  I don’t drink (I’m actually allergic to alcohol,) and I am not much of a party person. But like many bloggers (it turns out), I do like to play a little poker.  There is no better place for poker than Las Vegas.  AND the proceeds went to charity. What could be better?

The charity poker tourney would be put on by Blog With Balls, and hosted by Annie Duke (a professional poker player and runner-up in the most recent season of The Apprentice). There would be a number of famous poker players including @andybloch, @jeffmadsenobv, and @devopoker. The buy-in was $60 with $50 rebuys the first hour.  The proceeds would go to the people of Darfur via the Ante up for Africa charity.

I arrived at the event at The Hard Rock and you could immediately see that this event was going to be fun. 100 players showed up- 10 per table, with the top 2 from each table advancing to the final 20. Each table had a professional poker player participating, as well as a couple of well-known blog writers. Adding to the fun, the pros had a bounty on their head. If you knocked one of them out you received a prize.

The bounty prize at my table was a 2009 Nike SQ Driver.   This is a VERY nice golf club and was I excited for the chance to snatch it up. [Author edit (and braincramp): The person that I needed to knock out at my table was Phil from Gunaxin.   This is a must read site for any guy (or any girl that wants to know exactly what guys like).]  Luckily for me, I won it! That was the good news, the bad news was I finished 3rd at the next table, and did not move on. I had a blast though. Great people, tons of fun, and a new golf club for my bag!

I was fortunate to meet a number of very nice people (including Capitan Morgan himself, very funny guy) and I was happy to be a part of this event which ended up raising $10,000 for the people of Darfur. This was a great tournament, and I thank and congratulate the Blogs with Balls gang and Annie Duke for hosting.

It’s nice to give- in any small ways you can.  It was fun playing a tournament knowing the money was going to a charity.  At the same time, I participated in the #beatcancer Twitter campaign that raised over $70,000 dollars for non-profit cancer orgs.  Using social media for good is a great thing.

Did you attend this tourney? Did you contribute to any charitable activities at the show?  Do you use social media for social good?  I’d love to hear about your experiences.

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