Tattooing for Cancer Research

People whose relatives are facing cancer usually choose one of the tried-and-true ways of showing support; a donation to the Cancer Society, say, or participating in an Avon Walk.

Not web communications guru Geoff Livingston, who has just gotten the "LIVESTRONG" logo tattooed on his arm, an act he promised to perform if people helped him raise $5,000 for the Lance Armstrong Foundation, an organization dedicated to caring for people suffering from cancer and investing in cancer research.

Impacted by close family members who were battling cancer, Livingston wanted to do something big to help. As he was already familiar with tattoos — he already had six — and was thinking about getting another, and considering that he is an expert in motivating social networks to take action, he decided that promising to tattoo the Livestrong logo on his body might be a provocative enough campaign to get some attention.

He chose to schedule the tattooing during the massive new-media conference, South by Southwest (SxSW) to increase media attention, then set up a fundraising page on the Armstrong Foundation Website and announced his intentions on his blog, asking for donations to help reach his goal. He also asked for input about which logo design he should choose, ultimately following his readers' advice to go with the "LIVESTRONG Halo" with a yellow top, light fragments and black bottom.

A group of 119 donors contributed $5,329.50 to the cause, breaking the $5K threshold and making the inking a go. Those of you with a strong stomach can see it happen right here:

Photo by MrMPCrider via YouTube.