Gaining momentum: a world free of MS.

More than a thousand people attended the Society's 2006 National Conference this November to gain momentum in our drive toward a world free of MS. Attendees celebrated many special movers and shakers who are leading the way, from Bike team captains, to corporate leaders, to program volunteers, tO leading international scientists. A major thrust of this year's conference revolved around the Society's Strategic Response. To meet what Joyce Nelson, president and CEO of the Society, termed "the brutal facts" of MS, the Society is promising to meet five bold goals.

The strategic response

This fall, the Society issued a formal response to the challenges MS poses to every man, woman, and child who is touched by it. The Society will: The Society's plans for accomplishing this run more than 200 pages, but it was immediately clear that these ambitious goals can never be reached without a powerful rallying cry. A cry that would be meaningful to the millions of Americans who know nothing at all about MS. The Society will need a lot of help.

Volunteers make it happen

As it happens, MS reaches almost everywhere. Enter Wieden+Kennedy. An inventive advertising agency that started at a kitchen table in Portland, Oregon, 20 years ago and now has offices in Portland, New York, London, Amsterdam, Tokyo, and Shanghai, W+K "gets" multiple sclerosis. Laura, the daughter of founder Dan Wieden, has been living with MS since she was 24.

His agency took on the Society as a probono client. From its experience creating brands for Nike and ESPN (just for starters) the W+K creative team began posing some powerful questions. How can the Society reach beyond the 2-3 million Americans who are directly affected by MS? The wider U.S. public numbers 300 million. The answers W+K's New York office developed were showcased at the national conference this November.

"Join the movement"

The Society's new rallying cry hinges on the innate desire of every human being to move. Movement is intrinsic to who we are. We live in a moving world. But MS, by interrupting the smooth movement of information through the nerves, stops people. Sometimes it stops smooth thinking, sometimes easy movement, the flow of emotions, or the movement from one phase of life to the next.

The National MS Society, Weiden+Kennedy said, is unique. It exists to make sure MS won't do this. It exists to help people move forward with their lives and to move us to a world free of MS.

A national MS movement can give people everywhere a roadmap, a way to see how other people move through their difficulties and live good lives. People with MS have much to teada others. A national MS movement can show the world the scientific and medical progress that can be achieved when collaboration and competition work synergistically. A national MS movement can be a loud and powerful voice for public policies in health care, insurance, employment, research, and an accessible built environment.

To develop the new theme, Buz Sawyer, managing director of W+K in New York City, led a full team of account people, strategic planners, and creative staff They developed a new identity video, print ads, billboards, and TV spots to debut in March during MS Awareness Week. Buz, by the way, also knows MS all too well. His mother died of the disease and now his sister lives with what it can do.

"I've ridden the rollercoaster that goes with MS," Sawyer told the conference audience. "And so often I've felt can't I do more to help? So I want to thank the Society for the opportunity to do just that. We are grateful to you!"

Be a driving force of MS research, relentlessly pursuing prevention, treatment, and cure.

Address the challenges of each person whose life is affected by MS.

Mobilize the talents and resources of the millions of people who want to do something about MS.

Be activists.

Raise a total of $1.25 billion by the end of 2010, to be used in the fight against MS.