The US Open of Surfing is a surfing event sponsored by Hurley International and it was reported that more than half a million young Americans took the opportunity to hit the waves during the event. As you scan the crowd, you will see that they share two common interests. One, the love for the sun and sea. Two, their love for online social networking and mobile networking tools.

While the kids chalked up the number of hours surfing and socializing, the Oral Cancer Foundation had a more serious message to spread. They wanted to help inform people who were within the high risk group of people about the oral cancer, statistics and also how to prevent it.

In the past, people who were high at risk were white Americans who were smokers. Things have changed. Now, there is growing number of non-smokers who are at the top of the list of 'at risk' for oral cancer. The Oral Cancer Foundation wanted more people to know that a very common virus is changing the trend and that despite being a non-smoker, there is still a chance of developing oral cancer.

For more information, you might want to log into their website for the details. Www.oralcancer.org.

In an effort to quickly gain momentum for the campaign and spread the message across the sea of Americans enjoying the sun out in the Californian beaches, the foundation decided to make use of QR Codes. The foundation is a non-profit one and we assume that they are financially strapped because it is small and has a limited budget. So, the only way to quickly spread the message and promote the event was to go viral with QR Codes so that the task of promoting the event isn't so daunting.

At the event, pamphlets and cleverly written stickers were handed out. They even had the QR Code printed onto t-shirts and temporary tattoos. The organizing committee came up with a mobile website which the QR Code will resolve to. Users are then informed and educated that oral cancer can be transmitted by many other ways (other than smoking) including sexually.

The organizers of the event were pleasantly surprised at the response from the people who accessed the code and now views QR Code technology as a feasible, interesting, tech-savvy and cost-effective way to spreading a message.