Seven Months and 20,000 Visitors Later ... Deb and I reflect on the enormity of that statement, with a mixture of feelings: ... anger, that up to 50,000 more babies died of SIDS in the United States alone, since Meg, our 38 day old daughter, became a victim of SIDS in October 1989; ... helplessness, as we sat with the young family last night, and the night before, because their precious baby became a victim of SIDS three night ago; ... amazement, that we were able to get a very basic SIDS Web Page started, with just fundamental information; ... tears and gratitude, for the team work, ideas, energy, skill, understanding, giving, and sharing of all of you; ... hope for the future, when we no longer need to fear for our most precious resource ... our babies. We started the SIDS Network's SIDS Information Web Site seven months ago, on July 4, 1995. Tonight, this site will have been visited 20,000 times. With all of us working together, we have seen tremendous growth. There have been nearly daily changes made to the SIDS Information Site. We have seen this area called many things, the most catching being "SIDSnet". This name, as well as the name of the SIDS Network, truly symbolizes the relationships that have developed, and the teamwork that has resulted in these accomplishments: - several new and existing support networks developed or were rejuvenated in various areas around the world; - an explosion of touching, personal "First Person" accounts by people with the courage to share their feelings; - a growing collection of resources and articles by the experts, those in the research fields, working hard to stop SIDS; - increasingly impact-filled multimedia SIDS information from audio clips and graphics; - a Listserver discussion area for SIDS-related issues that has grown to over 50 participants in less than 2 months; - nearly 400 visitors registered to receive automatic notification when the Web Site changes; - an e-mail mailing list that has grown to over 115; - the growing list of resources from literature, other Internet sites, support groups, and other organizations world wide; - the recent extension of the SIDS Information Web Site into Pregnancy and Infant Loss issues; - recognition by independent reviewers, placing the SIDS Web Site among the top 2,000 sites world wide (there are an estimated 8 million sites!). This is just the beginning. Many more opportunities are waiting to be discovered, acted upon, and add to the growth of our efforts to stop SIDS, raise awareness, and provide support. Please help us by: - attending the 1/2 day workshop on marketing SIDS information using the Internet at the 4th Annual International SIDS Conference in Washington DC this June. - helping with the plans for a "SIDSnet Meet & Greet" at that conference. We need your help and ideas to make this work. - developing a "pregnancy and infant loss" Listserver. We are seeing a growing need for this. - sending us pictures of SIDS babies. They will be shared at public awareness events on our "We Remember With Love" board. We would also like to collect more electronic graphics of infants for the Web Site. -translating basic SIDS information into other languages beyond the page we now have in Spanish. Translators? - sending stories, poems, articles, and ideas from you, who are willing to share. This World Wide Web Site is a vehicle to make information about Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, or SIDS, available to the tens of millions of people who use the "information highway". This site will grow and evolve as we progress up the learning curve together. Your patience, understanding, and contributions to this site will make it grow into a true network of people and information dedicated to stopping SIDS, the number one killer of infants between the ages of one month and one year. Visit this site again to see what is available. We encourage honest, constructive feedback to make this area as useful as possible. Please e-mail any articles, suggestions, ideas, and comments to: sidsnet1@sids-network.org. The Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) Information Web Site was produced, and will be maintained by volunteers of the SIDS Network, Inc., an all volunteer, non-profit SIDS full service provider. The SIDS Network headquarters is located in Ledyard, Connecticut. Thanks! Chuck Mihalko, President February 6, 1996 SIDS Network 9 Gonch Farm Road Ledyard, Connecticut 06339 USA email: sidsnet1@sids-network.org Web Site: http://sids-network.org 800-560-1454 - voice 860-887-7309 - fax