The diabetes online community has long been in agreement about one thing, I believe: the need for a centralized web directory of all imaginable diabetes resources, so that patients and doctors would only have to remember a single URL to find all the good stuff online.

And now it has arrived, thanks to Gina Capone, co-creator of DiabetesTalkfest.com  and operator of The Diabetes OC bloggers’ web site.

From the press release: “TheDiabetesResource.com is the only one-stop outlet for everything diabetes; from clinical information about diabetes to disease management, support groups, camps and diabetes meet ups. Now, people with diabetes, family, friends and caregivers interested in or involved with all things diabetes can conveniently visit one web site to find virtually anything you could think of related to the disease.”

Gina quietly launched this ambitious directory last Thursday. The press release went out via email, not the newswire. And there was no immediate media coverage of the launch.  But I am here to tell you that Gina has done us an incredible service with this comprehensive resource — and I for one have no idea how she pulled it off. Imagine some blogger deciding that they would create ‘the ultimate resource for cancer,’ including every blog, networking site, clinical information link, camp, support group and meetup in the country.  Wow!

You can get your site listed on the directory for free just by registering. It’s definitely worth having a look-through, and psssstt — pass it on to a D-friend. (Also find their new Facebook page here.)

Meanwhile, another wonderful diabetes online activist, Manny Hernandez founder of TuDiabetes and the Diabetes Hands Foundation, has launched a unique D-video contest, sponsored by Boehringer Ingelheim: Making Sense of Diabetes.

This contest is not about designing anything new, or how much any particular product may have changed your life.  Rather, the contest focuses our five senses, i.e. the human experience of living with this illness.  The contest website suggests -

To inspire you to record and enter your own video (up to three minutes run time), consider these thoughts:

• Has having diabetes affected any of your five senses?
• Has having diabetes impacted the way you see yourself? Others? The world?
• Has diabetes affected the way others see you?
• Can you recall a diabetes-related memory involving one of the five senses?
• What do you miss? What do you wish for? Do any of these feelings involve one of the five senses?
• Does having diabetes inspire you to live your life differently? Can you describe this through one of the five senses?

Each submission will be judged on a 100-point scale, and every week through the end of October, the highest scoring entrants will receive free goodies like a kitchen scale, meter bag, or copies of popular diabetes books.  The intent, of course, is to raise awareness around World Diabetes Day, coming up Nov. 14, 2009: challenging people living with diabetes to visually reveal its impact on their lives,  every waking moment. A compilation video showcasing some of the best footage for each of the senses will be created and unveiled on World Diabetes Day.

btw, more ways to get involved in World Diabetes Day can be found here. Think blue, People.

Monday, October 5th, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (1)