One Way Metalheads and Rock Fans
can help kids with cancer
By Greg Davies aka cGt2099
While many of us surf the web as a form of entertainment or recreation, every so often we come across interesting causes in which you, the user, can actually help other people. There is one social media user and metalhead who has issued a challenge to visitors of the site HeavyAsHell.com - a challenge in which you can help kids with cancer.
Mark Carras, the social media metalhead pod caster from RockMyMonkey.com, issued the challenge in August to visitors to the web site. HeavyAsHell.com, a social news site designed specifically for music fans, is a Mixx-like/Digg-like site, where visitors can vote on rock and metal related stories.
In his announcement, Carras challenged visitors to get 1000 stories from the upcoming page to the popular page by September 30. If the popular count reaches 1000, Mark has pledged to donate his hair to LocksOfLove.org; and if you've ever seen Mark Carras, you will know that's a lot of hair!
In addition, Mark adds, "For 1000 stories, we’re also going to donate $1000 to LocksOfLove.org".
The idea for the challenge began when HeavyAsHell.com was recently relaunched with a new design and new infrastructure - developed and designed by Keith Wagner aka DarkNemesis618. "I have always said that the best publicity stunts are ones that help fellow man," Mark says. "How much more altruistic can you get than helping children?" Carras is hoping that all current and future promotions of the web site will do something to help a good cause.
The challenge has already generated strong response on sites such as Mixx.com; and HeavyAsHell.com has seen an increased number of visits and registrations since the relaunch. In follow-up, if the visitors reach the 1000 story cap set by Carras, he will get the haircut captured on film - "I am a total publicity whore," he says. "So, making a live stream show of it all would be pretty cool".
Mark has been inspired by heavy rock and metal since the early eighties, and the drive of the music has inspired him to work on projects such as RockMyMonkey.com and HeavyAsHell.com. "Since a very early age I have been obsessed with computers and heavy music," says Carras. "My drive is to find a way that uses the knowledge I’ve gained from my two obsessions to make a living".
Mark also conducts interviews with numerous artists for RockMyMonkey.com. When asked what interview was the most memorable, for him, the answer was an easy one:
"Judas Priest's Rob Halford is the biggest I would say. It was shocking what a cool guy he was. The publicist gave me a very inconvenient time to do the interview.
"It was minutes before I was scheduled to clock into work. I wasn't about to just blow off an interview with a legend like that, so I tried my best to make a mobile recording set up. My wife took her lunch at that time and drove me to the parking lot of my work. Rob called and nothing worked. My equipment was just not working. So I gave a very humble apology to Rob and told him how I felt like I was missing out on a lifetime opportunity because of equipment failure. Rob said he would call again the next day, (which was a Saturday) for a re-schedule.
"This is the typical line an artist gives you to blow you off when you screw up. But the next day I set everything up just in case. Well, Rob did call and I did the interview. The interview went great and all was well.
"The best part was while I was fighting with my equipment the first time; Rob was talking to my wife about the weather. She still laughs at the thought of chit chatting with the Metal God about the weather".
So after the challenge, where does Mark Carras hope to see HeavyAsHell.com in the future; perhaps one year from now? "I don't think we could ever bring it to the 142 rank that Digg currently has, but maybe the 3,274 rank that Metal Archives has right now would be nice". Mark continues: "I figure they are just a database people use for research, so what about a site that is about the latest current news about heavy music? The short term goal is to get into the top hundred thousand".
HeavyAsHell.com is a social news website specifically aimed at rock fans and metal fans around the world. You can register as a member, submit stories, and vote on other people’s submissions.
