Brogan Blogger Ready To Blog For Smokefree Living
During International Blogging Marathon April 1

Who: Royal Oak resident and veteran blogger Julianne Sherman, Brogan & Partners Digital Director, joins 18 bloggists from nine countries, including the UK, Ireland, Germany, Malaysia, Greece, India, and Australia.

Julianne will be blogging to raise awareness of The Center for Social Gerontology's MI Smokefree Apartment (TCSG) initiative. She learned about this group when she led the Brogan Digital Team last year in developing a website - http://www.mismokefreeapartment.org. Both the website and the mission of this initiative are to inform both landlords and tenants of their legal rights regarding smokefree rental living space.

What: International Blogathon

• The blogathon marathon is being considered by Guinness Book of World Records for the world's longest blog.
• This blogathon is 26.2 hours long, and all participants must blog one entry every 30 minutes.
• There is no set topic - it is up to each participant to decide what to write about.
  Why is it 26.2 hours long? That is the equivalent of the miles run in a marathon, and the blogathon's organizer, MMitch in the UK, is blogging to raise the entry fee for a marathon for a charity in her home city.
• All the details from MMitch about the blogathon can be found at http://blogmarathon.blogspot.com

When: 11:30 a.m., Friday, April 1, 2005 through 1:30 p.m., April 2, 2005

How: Throughout the blogathon Julianne will need to write 52 entries. To make sure the entries don't get boring, she will post guest entries, top five lists and mystery links to keep it interesting and fun. While some entries will focus on smokefree topics, the majority of postings will be light and entertaining. Julianne's Blog site: http://www.not_elsewhere.blogspot.com

Raising $: As part of Brogan & Partner's 21st anniversary, Brogan will be donating one of 21, $1,000 donations to TCSG in support of its cause and Julianne's blogging efforts. If others would like to donate, log on at www.mismokefreeapartment.org/t13contact.html.

Personal Passion: Aside from believing that everyone should have a healthy, smokefree place to live, Julianne supports the TCSG initiative because she has seen firsthand the horrible effects of second hand smoke. Several years ago both of her parents were diagnosed with Sarcoidosis, a chronic inflammatory disease that affects the lungs. As a result, if her mother is around even the slightest amount of cigarette smoke, she has immense difficulty breathing. For Julianne it is a heartbreaking experience. TCSG and the MI Smokefree Apartment imitative are making sure people don't have to suffer this way.