The first #BCSM tweet chat was held on 7/4/11. When Alicia Staley and Jody Schoger set up the first chat, they specifically held it on a holiday – if it was a dud, maybe no one would notice! Over the past 4 years, the tweet chat has evolved into a vibrant support community, providing education and support to anyone affected by breast cancer.

Over the past 4 years, we’ve had many accomplishments. A broad range of topics have been covered during the chats, including parenting with breast cancer, clinical trials, male breast cancer, sexuality after cancer, death and many more. Physicians who have attended national breast cancer meetings have generously shared their knowledge. Clean scans have been celebrated, and those who have passed have been mourned.  We’ve been profiled in USA Today, Forbes and other print and online media, and were featured on a SXSW Panel. We have been introduced to the scientific community during poster sessions at the 2014 American Society of Breast Surgeons Annual Meeting and at the 2014 American Society of Clinical Oncology Breast Cancer Symposium. The #BCSM Community is also in the process of filing for nonprofit status, with the goals of being able to expand our educational offerings, support advocates who wish to attend national meetings, and other projects.

So what’s in store for the next 4 years? We’re not content to sit back and relax – as Alicia would say, “that’s NOT how we roll”. Continued growth is the plan. In order to do that, we need to hear from you! What topics are you interested in discussing during future chats? What resources would you like to see added to our website? What nonprofit sites should be listed and profiled? Please tag us on Twitter, post a suggestion on Facebook, or send a message through the website. Anyone who has ever participated or lurked on a chat, re-tweeted a transcript, or stopped by the website or Facebook page is to be congratulated for making this community what it is today.

7/6/15 Tweetchat Transcript