Summary: Who is THON and Ryan Patrick THON is the Penn State Dance Marathon, which raised over $12 Million dollars for pediatric cancer research last year. It's the world's largest student-run philanthropy. Ryan Patrick is the Overall Chair for the 2014 THON. Episode Highlights THON's history starting from a child's story (1:30) Why not to worry so much about a $12.3 Million number (7:15) The magic of how everyone gets invested (10:00) How 3,400 committee members get organized (14:00) How organizational knowledge gets passed down - 200 pages, what?! (18:40) How Ryan ended up at the top of the world's largest student-run philanthropy (23:20) How students engage with families (27:25) Organizing the logistics of a 15,000-person event (32:15) Making the shift from doing to leading (37:15) Items Mentioned in the Show THON Four Diamonds YouTube video - The Story of THON Tipping Point Freakonomics Linchpin Subscribe to podcast in iTunes Download complete transcript
