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<\/a><\/p>\nIt\u2019s been a terrific day in Orlando. We started off early this morning with a wonderful keynote by actor and activist Michael J. Fox, who addressed nearly 2,000 people. He was exactly as you\u2019d expect \u2013 funny and forthright.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe script of your life is not written yet,\u201d he said, stressing his fight with Parkinson\u2019s<\/a> disease has been an opportunity to help others. \u201cLife is about choices and the only choice I don\u2019t have is about Parkinson\u2019s. Everything else is up to me.\u201d<\/p>\n As cheeky as he was playing Alex P. Keaton on \u201cFamily Ties,\u201d Fox told the audience about moving to Hollywood to pursue his acting dreams and living in an apartment so small he washed dishes in the shower. His big break happened in 1982, when the producers of \u201cFamily Ties\u201d called. \u201cI didn\u2019t have a phone, so I closed the deal on a pay phone outside a chicken joint,\u201d Fox said. When he was 29, and starring in another hit sitcom, \u201cSpin City,\u201d he was broadsided. \u201cOne day there was a tremor in my pinky finger,\u201d he said. \u201cLater a doctor sat me down and told me I had Parkinson\u2019s. I didn\u2019t want to believe it.\u201d<\/p>\n Refusing to give up, Fox devoted himself to finding a cure for Parkinson\u2019s disease, raising the hopes and quality of life of those who suffer from the disorder. To date, the Michael J. Fox Foundation has raised more than $225 million for Parkinson\u2019s research. \u201cAnswers aren\u2019t going to fall from the sky,\u201d Fox told ASI\u2019s audience. \u201cWe have to reach up for them.\u201d<\/p>\n Who\u2019s inspired you? Let me know who and how by posting a comment or emailing me here<\/a>. I\u2019m also on Twitter<\/a>, LinkedIn<\/a> and YouTube<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" We announced some great news for the industry at our show in Orlando this week: According to an ASI study, the ad specialty industry began its recovery in earnest in 2010, increasing by 9.1% over 2009 to $17 billion. Click here for a Tim\u2019s Take video with more details on this awesome news, which we […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-728","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-asi-shows","category-news-about-asi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/timandrewsblog-asicentral.com\/timblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/728","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/timandrewsblog-asicentral.com\/timblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/timandrewsblog-asicentral.com\/timblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timandrewsblog-asicentral.com\/timblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timandrewsblog-asicentral.com\/timblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=728"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/timandrewsblog-asicentral.com\/timblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/728\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":734,"href":"https:\/\/timandrewsblog-asicentral.com\/timblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/728\/revisions\/734"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/timandrewsblog-asicentral.com\/timblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=728"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timandrewsblog-asicentral.com\/timblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=728"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timandrewsblog-asicentral.com\/timblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"http:\/\/timandrewsblog-asicentral.com\/timblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/images\/orlando.jpg\")
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