Movember is well on its way through the Development Team and the Intranet Connections ‘ICMOGRO’ Team, consisting of 8 Mo Bro moustaches, a furry Mo Dog and an eccentric Mo Sista, has banded together to raise over $3,200 so far in support of men’s health issues including research for Prostate and Testicular Cancer.

If you missed the Movember intro blog, be sure to have a quick read to meet our Mo Bros and find out what Movember is all about. You can donate to the Intranet Connections Movember team and check out photos of their mid-month moustache growth on our ICGROMO Team Page.

**Featured Mo Bros**

Today we feature our Development Team Mo Bros: Reza “Moustachio”, one of our Software Developers and Ryan Hall, our Software Architect. These Mo Bros work hard behind the scenes to create our Intranet Connections Business Intranet Software.  They have put as much heart and soul into growing some amazing Movember moustaches as they do into our product, and at only halfway through the month, it shows.

Ryan Hall, Software Architect

With over 10 years experience working in the IT industry, including 8 years in software development, Ryan is a great asset to the Intranet Connections Team. His crowning achievement was participating in the development of the Vancouver2010.com website, the primary web-based information source for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games.  Ryan holds an MBA from Simon Fraser University and as our Software Architect is responsible for leading the design and implementation of our Business Intranet Software.

Movember has a very personal connection for Ryan as both his father and grandfather were afflicted with prostate cancer.  In the case of his father, the cancer was determined to be a fairly aggressive strain.  However, due to research that resulted in the Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA) test, this disease was caught and treated early and today Ryan’s dad is still cancer-free more than 10 years later.

Statistically, 1 in 7 men will develop prostate cancer over their lifetime.  For Ryan and his two sons, along with other men with a family history of prostate cancer, the risk of developing the disease is even greater. Movember directly supports medical research that could make the difference between life and death for over 23,000 Canadian men who are diagnosed with prostate cancer every year.  Help Ryan in the fight against this disease by donating to his Movember page.

Reza “Moustachio”, Software Developer

Reza is the newest member of our Development team and brings an upbeat, positive energy to our lively and fun-loving Intranet Connections family. With a computing science major, along with experience in software development and QA testing, Reza brings a fresh mind with new ideas to help make the end-user’s experience even better.

Halfway through the month, already sporting a prominent handle bar moustache, Reza is a huge contender for our ‘Best Moustache’ contest. A very large part of Movember is promoting awareness – the moustache prompts a conversation, which in turn educates people on the health issues men face.  For men, a large part of the conversation is directed towards annual cancer screening. If detected and treated early, there is a 95 percent survival rate associated with prostate cancer.  Similarly, testicular cancer is highly treatable if diagnosed and treated early.

Being somewhat of a taboo topic, prostate and testicular screening is not a large topic of conversation among men. During the month of Movember that all changes and moustaches are sprouted across the globe, encouraging both men and women to talk about these cancers and what can be done to prevent them.  Reza is a great example of a man with a moustache that promotes conversation.

Stay posted as we continue our Mo Bro features, post updated Mo photos and eventually hold our contest for the best Mo!  If you would like to donate to the entire ICGROMO Team, donations are welcome and can be made on our Movember Team Page.

If you are looking for an intranet solution and would like to become a part of our growing Intranet Connections family we would love to hear from you!  Send us an email to clientservices@icthrive.com.