Inspired Events

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Inspired Events

The Authors/Teachers below have been inspired and in turn use this energy to share this inspiration with all others through written and/or oral modes of communication. These individuals' works are significant as part of the solution. We started with the Earth Angels featured in the video, but we will be adding a great deal more in the coming months (click below to view each entry).

Events

Live Earth 7-7-7 Day

Idol Gives Back

GET READY TO BE AWAKENED Oprah Winfrey & Eckart Tolle
Worldwide Web Event

YOU CAN HELP US ADD OTHERS TO THE LIST: GO TO MAIN EARTH ANGEL PAGE TO LEARN HOW

LIVE EARTH 7-7-7 DAY

From left to right - Live Earth concert at Wembley Stadium and Al Gore giving Global Warming Speech

In researching the event on the web, I found the most comprehensive account of the event on the entry for it on Wikipedia. Moreover, the article mentions its predecessors; such as Live Aid. Consequently, we will let excerpts from the article relate the event on 7/7/07:

Live Earth was a series of worldwide concerts held on 7 July 2007, that initiated a three-year campaign to combat climate change and advocate environmentally-sustainable living. The concerts brought together more than 150 musical acts in eleven locations around the world and were broadcast to a mass global audience through radio, television, and the Internet.

The umbrella organisation for the event was Save Our Selves, founded by Kevin Wall (Executive Producer), and included major partners such as former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, the Alliance for Climate Protection, MSN, and Control Room, the production company which produced the event. The logo for the event was the Morse code distress signal. Brand Neutral, the environmental business strategy firm, served as the worldwide sustainability strategy and services partner for Live Earth, developing the overall sustainability strategy, staffing all members of the global “green team,” creating the overall master plan for resource management, and supervising the execution of the Live Earth environmental strategy. Leading sustainability expert John Picard served as chief environmental and efficiency counsellor for the event. The worldwide producer of talent and venue programming for all of the events was Aaron Grosky. The worldwide producer of events was Lily Sobhani. The 22-hour global TV broadcast (world feed) and satellite distribution, as well as radio, internet and mobile production was overseen by Executive in Charge of Production André Mika.. Unlike the similar Live 8 concerts, which were free, Live Earth charged admission but the event was made broadly available via television and the Internet…

The plans for the Live Earth concerts were announced at a media event in Los Angeles on 15 February 2007 by Al Gore, Kevin Wall and other celebrities. The inspiration for promoting the cause using benefit concerts comes from many similar events over the past 25 years including the 1985 Live Aid concerts and the 2005 Live 8 concerts and it was to be the longest show ever to be recorded in the world records. The event was claimed to be carbon neutral, and organisers said they would purchase carbon credits to offset the environmental impact of the flights associated with the events.

In addition to raising awareness of global warming, on 28 June 2007, it was revealed that Live Earth is to be the launch event for the Live Earth Call to Action. During the concerts people were asked to support the following 7-point pledge:

To demand that my country join an international treaty within the next 2 years that cuts global warming pollution by 90% in developed countries and by more than half worldwide in time for the next generation to inherit a healthy earth;
To take personal action to help solve the climate crisis by reducing my own CO2 pollution as much as I can and offsetting the rest to become ‘carbon neutral’;’
To fight for a moratorium on the construction of any new generating facility that burns coal without the capacity to safely trap and store the CO2;
To work for a dramatic increase in the energy efficiency of my home, workplace, school, place of worship, and means of transportation;
To fight for laws and policies that expand the use of renewable energy sources and reduce dependence on oil and coal;
To plant new trees and to join with others in presrving and protecting forests; and,
To buy from businesses and support leaders who share my commitment to solving the climate crisis and building a sustainable, just, and prosperous world for the 21st century.

In subsequent interviews Al Gore indicated that the concerts would mark ‘the beginning of a three-year campaign worldwide to deliver information about how we solve the climate crisis’ and that ‘the prospects for every future generation depend on us understanding, hearing and acting upon this information.’
Live Earth’s supporters included climate change activists in New Zealand’s Climaction Coalition, who praised concert organisers, stating “Climate change is the greatest threat facing humanity today.” Climaction spokesperson David Colyer said the concert presented “a great opportunity to join our voices with theirs” and called on people who could not attend a concert to participate in local events to raise awareness about climate change.
Further information on the issues raised by the concerts are published in The Live Earth Global Warming Survival Handbook, written by environmentalist David Mayer de Rothschild. Profits from the book will be donated to the Alliance for Climate Protection, as will some of the profits from the concerts.
The concert series followed in the tradition of many benefit events staged in the past three decades:
The aspect of multiple concerts on a single day followed two events conceived by Bob Geldof -- two Live Aid concerts staged on July 13, 1985 and eight Live 8 concerts staged on July 2, 2005.
The aspect of a series of rock concerts for a single cause taking place in multiple nations across the planet echoed the twenty concerts presented in 1988 on Amnesty International’s Human Rights Now! World Tour - a tour conceived by Jack Healey and Martin Lewis.
The deployment of multiple pop and rock musicians and entertainers to promote awareness of a single cause has many antecedents - the principal examples being:

Two 1971 Concerts for Bangladesh - conceived by George Harrison Amnesty International’s Secret Policeman’s Balls benefit shows staged from 1976 to 1981 - conceived by John Cleese and Martin Lewis.
Four 1979 No Nukes concerts - conceived by Jackson Browne, Graham Nash, Bonnie Raitt and John Hall.
Four 1979 Concerts for Kampuchea - conceived by Paul McCartney and Kurt Waldheim.

The concerts were broadcast in over 130 countries by more than 500 media partners including television, radio, Internet and wireless channels. National television viewing figures included 19 million viewers in the US, 41% of all households in Canada, 37% of all households in Brazil, and 20% in Germany.
The event also attracted a record on-line audience. Live coverage attracted over 8 million people who watched over 15 million video streams, while total 55 million video streams had been watched by 23 July.

Interestingly, Bono, the lead singer of U2 said he was first inspired to get involved when he saw Amnesty International’s Secret Policeman’s Balls benefit shows. This so clearly illustrates how the baton is passed from one generation to the next. The sheer number of people who participated in the event, demonstrates that there are a great many celebrities that are concerned about the planet. Instead of listing all the individuals that took part, we will just give you the number from each country, and point you to Wikipedia to learn their names. In America there were two sites, the National Mall in Washington D.C. and the Giants Stadium in Rutherford East New Jersey. In Washington there were 5 performers and 1 presenter, Al Gore. However, New Jersey was a much larger event with 19 performers and 14 presenters. At Wembley Stadium in the United Kingdom there were 27 performers and 15 presenters. In Sydney, Australia there were 11 performers and 6 presenters. In Johannesburg, South Africa there were 9 performers and 2 presenters. Tokyo, Japan had 11 performers and 1 presenter; whereas, Kyoto had 5 performers, without any presenters. In Hamburg, Germany there were 23 performers and 12 presenters. Rio de Janeiro had 9 performers and again no presenters. Surprisingly, China also took part with a concert in Shanghai offering 13 performers. Last but by no means least, the 7th continent, Antartica was represented by the group Nunatak. Although some of the individual concerts may appear small, the number of famous celebrities that took part was 184. All of these celebrities have a fan base and have the power to reach a great deal of people. So who knows maybe there is another Bono out there who saw one of the concerts and was inspired to get involved?
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IDOL GIVES BACK

From left to right – Ellen Degeneres presenter in Idol Gives Back– Simon Cowell and Ryan Seacrest in Africa – Josh Groban with African children singers in Idol Gives Back

When we moved to include Ellen Degeneres, Simon Cowell, Ryan Seacrest and Josh Groban in the section Earth Angels we didn’t realize that as well as honoring them as individuals, it was to honor the event called “Idol Gives Back” from the hit show American Idol, which raised a phenomenal 75 million dollars. Hence we need to also honor all the participants of the event including the producers, Richard Curtis, Simon Fuller and Simon Cowell.
Ellen represents the many celebrities, who although not performers, generously gave their time as well as their money. Josh Groban represents the face of the many performers that participated. Simon Cowell and Ryan Seacrest represent the faces of the presenters and producers of the event. As we said, we were guided as to which photos to choose. When we found these images, we were unable to discover the photographer’s names that were involved to acknowledge them, but would like to thank the individuals for capturing such heart wrenching scenes in such a positive way. Anyway, the event of “Idol Gives Back” shows how much we can affect people. I personally watched the show and it moved me to tears, because it gave me such hope that there are so many people willing to help. And so to honor the event and the Multiple Earth Angels involved, we present the most poignant scenes that most symbolize the feeling behind Idol Gives Back.

From left to right – Carrie Underwood in Africa–– Simon Cowell in Africa – Ryan Seacrest in Africa and Paula Abdul in USA

From left to right – Paula Abdul in USA – Randy Jackson in USA, Randy Jackson in USA, Ryan Seacrest in Africa

From left to right – Paula Abdul & Ryan Seacrest in USA– Simon Cowell in Africa, Simon Cowell & Ryan Seacrest in Africa

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GET READY TO BE AWAKENED Oprah Winfrey & Eckart Tolle Worldwide Web Event

Oprah Eckhart
Oprah Winfrey Eckhart Tolle

Both Oprah Winfrey and Eckhart Tolle are recognized for this Inspired Event, which totally connected the world to a new way of thinking. Evidently over 500,000 people from 139 countries viewed the live broadcast on March 3rd 2008. This was an unprecedented occurrence that people will be affected by for many years. However, we feel that the best people to relate what the event meant to them are the organizers themselves. Consequently, we reproduce excerpts from Oprah’s own statement below…

“Being able to share this material with you is a gift and a part of the fulfillment of my life’s purpose,” Oprah Winfrey said on Wednesday, January 30, 2008, as she revealed the 61st Oprah’s Book Club selection, A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle. She added, “It was an awakening for me that I want for you, too.”

For the first time ever, readers around the world will be able to participate in a free, live interactive classroom discussion led by Winfrey and Tolle. Each weekly class will correspond to a chapter from A New Earth, with the discussion focusing on the chapter’s themes. The 10 weekly sessions will be webcast every Monday night from March 3 through May 5 at 9/8c.

Published in 2005, A New Earth encourages a collective sense of commitment to changing the way we live for people who want to make a difference. With the knowledge that we live in a time desperate for global change, the book by renowned spiritual teacher Tolle answers the question: What can one person do to enact that change? With clarity and in practical terms, he gently leads readers to a new level of consciousness, awakening them to their lives’ purposes and inviting them to envision a new earth where peace and fellowship are the norm.

A New Earth is published internationally in the English language by Penguin Group, one of the world's premier global consumer trade book publishers. The 10-part interactive Web event is a pioneering venture that will have the potential to reach an unprecedented number of readers in all English-language territories far and wide. With key market positions in the United States, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Australia, Canada, India, China, New Zealand and Ireland, Penguin Group will be able to share this Oprah's Book Club selection with a worldwide audience.

John Makinson, Penguin Group Chairman and CEO, commented, “Penguin is one of the world's few truly global publishers, and all of us are honored to be working with Ms. Winfrey on this ground-breaking project. A New Earth is an unforgettable manifesto for a better way of life. Its message reaches across boundaries to illuminate and enrich the human spirit everywhere. Eckhart Tolle teaches us to change the way we view the world and make connections to each other.”

…About Eckhart Tolle

Eckhart Tolle is a contemporary spiritual teacher who is not aligned with any particular religion or tradition. In his writing and seminars, he conveys a simple yet profound message with the timeless and uncomplicated clarity of the ancient spiritual masters: There is a way out of suffering and into peace. Based in Vancouver, British Columbia, he travels extensively, taking his teachings throughout the world…

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