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Advocacy and contacting celebs and big names


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#1 bacopa

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Posted 05 June 2009 - 05:10 PM


(I was just thinking this thread is kind of scattered and maybe there is a better place for it to be. If someone wants to move it to a better location, if you think it's necessary, than that might be better as I don't want to clutter up the more formalized project ideas. Gov Advocacy is already a proposed idea. And contacting celebs is part of Brokenportals LEEEP ongoing project. Should I have more formally outlined this with special attention to these criteria

Proposal: (name)
Team Leaders: (number)
Leader workload: (min/week)
Team Members: (number)
Members workload: (min/week)
Members only? - Yes/No
Legal/financial risk: likelyhood/stake
Reputational risk: likelyhood/stake
ED Oversight: (min/week)
Board Oversight: minimal/some/frequent
Funding Required? - Yes/No
Funding Level: $

)

(Or is this not a good project at this time? Tell me what you think!)

I created a thread a while back regarding contacting big name celebrities. I now think that we should focus more on big name scientists and other science minded individuals. I'm sick of the stagnation on this and I really want to at least talk to some people who might listen. What about the Richard Dawkins of the world? Wouldn't he be more than enthused? He's an atheist afterall. Celebrity Bill Maher is a self proclaimed agnostic and someone who despises most religion. I think he would be someone who would be privy to the cause. I'm asking you guys to work on ways to find these people and contact them. Should we try to contact them directly? Can we even find their addresses or emails? Maybe we should go through their agents?

I also am involved in putting together letters to send to congress asking for at least awareness of life extension research. I want to get politicians in the know of this amazing science. I will try to also work with C.E.L. the lobbying group for immortality out of D.C.

Maybe we should also find out if Aubrey De Grey is going to appear on any more talk shows? I messaged him on Facebook as I was working with him at C.A.R. but I couldn't continue to canvass due to my depression. Anyway I would appreciate any input and I'd like to get the ball rolling on this one.

Edited by dfowler, 06 June 2009 - 01:11 PM.


#2 bacopa

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Posted 05 June 2009 - 06:16 PM

I just talked with James Hughes at Humanity + who told me that the Alliance for Aging Research org has a program called the longevity dividend which is a lobbying effort that is currently underway for getting antiaging language written for I think the Nat Institute of Health, but it was hard to hear him so don't hold me to it. I guess the effort talks about using medical resources to reform health care, finding ways of surpressing aging, and dealing with pensions by having all countries raise the retirement age. He also mentioned other countries and the European Union that these policies may be attractive to. Than there is the old age dependency problem where by if we could figure out how to implement anti aging therapies older people could stay in the work force longer. Also the idea of slowing down the aging process so we wouldn't have to focus so much on cancer, alzheimer's, and other age related diseases.

So my little job is to get in touch with Jay Olshansky and Dan Perry who are in charge of this kind of lobbying. So I'll do that and post back when I can.

As for contacting big names we should really have a specific thing in mind to get them to take interest in and I guess that will come with time. Maybe we should just focus on getting more people involved with lobbying for the moment and see what happens.

Congress just gave quite a bit of money to science from the stimulus package and I doubt if we could get them to give to life extension at this point, so I think continuing to raise awareness is in our best interest, but I'll have to first get in touch with Jay and Dan first before I can be sure of this statement.

Edited by dfowler, 05 June 2009 - 06:37 PM.


#3 bacopa

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Posted 05 June 2009 - 07:54 PM

Jay just emailed me back and he had this to say...

Here are two articles that are relevant to your cause. Your question
is a complicated one since I don't know exactly what you're advocating
for. If immortality is your target and you use that as the basis for
seeking funds to influence aging, I'm afraid you are unlikely to be
successful in getting anyone serious to listen to you. We have
successfully influenced Congress by pursuing the extension of healthy
life as the goal, with decelerated aging as the means. As to whether
you should contact celebrities, I don't see why not, but I'm not sure
what you're approaching them for (money? support? advocacy?).
I wish you the best of luck in your efforts.
Regards,
S. Jay Olshansky


I basically think perhaps we should keep trying to influence congress and maybe we could work better doing it as a group effort. I didn't even think we would get them to have an interest in real immortality though. I than asked Mr. Olshansky how they, (and I'm not sure who they is but I'm guessing it's either the Institute For Ethics and Emerging Technologies org or the Alliance For Aging Research org, but I don't know for sure as he did not specify) did indeed actually influence congress and I'm awaiting a reply from him.

As for contacting celebrities I think we need them for support for our cause as well as future advocacy.

Edited by dfowler, 05 June 2009 - 07:59 PM.


#4 bacopa

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Posted 05 June 2009 - 08:11 PM

Actually it might not be necessary, at this point to lobby congress because one of those organizations I already mentioned already asked congress for 3 billion for NIH. Here is his email. And I really apologize if this is already common knowledge. It's just that I haven't read any threads here on this yet.

We met with Senators to get this accomplished -- we're asking
for 3 billion annually for aging research. Congress cannot direct the
NIH on exactly how to spend their money, so allocation of funds is up
to NIH.



#5 bacopa

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Posted 05 June 2009 - 08:32 PM

Mr. Olshansky told me just now that letters to congress on such a controversial issue might be futile as the staffers who read them might just fluff it off. He told be public health officials like the Surgeon General would be better to lobby because we need to convince them that attacking one disease at a time is not as profitable as slowing down or reversing the aging process.

#6 bacopa

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Posted 05 June 2009 - 08:36 PM

Mr. Hughes just sent me this.

As I noted when we chatted, they have the appropriations, but we need to monitor what they do with it, connect researchers to the program, and promote it accomplishments so that it gets more funding.

We also need to lobby the EU to set up a similar program.


Again, when I was sick I did not go on imminst. So I have no idea if you guys are aware of these efforts.

Mr. Hughes recommended I contact Aubrey De Grey as he seems to be involved with this effort. So I did and I'm awaiting his reply.

If anyone is already doing these things I would like to speak to you here at imminst as you might be able to better assist me.

Edited by dfowler, 05 June 2009 - 08:48 PM.


#7 bacopa

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Posted 08 June 2009 - 05:13 AM

I contacted Aubrey and he told me he is very aware of the 3 billion towards antiaging science. But he emphasized in this case only 3% of grants make it, that are written. He also wrote me this as to my question about what media outlets he is now pursuing and to the other questions I was asking him about political lobbying, the best way to go about it and who'se involved, and contacting people like Dawkins...

I do media all the time, but the really high-end opportunities are very hard to secure. I got onto Colbert last year on the back of my book, and I was on Barbara Walters' "longevity special" at around the same time, but that's all so far. I have people working on getting me onto other things though.

Politically - not really, except that I have supporters among the lobby groups, such as Dan Perry and Bernie Siegel.

Dawkins is far more mainstream than he appears and views me somewhat as "not one of us" (not a real scientist) - but Sam Harris is a 300 member. But religion or lack of it has nothing to do with combating aging.

Cheers, Aubrey


I noticed there were no responses in this thread yet. If someone would like to tell me if this is common knowledge already that would be great!

Edited by dfowler, 08 June 2009 - 05:15 AM.


#8 caliban

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Posted 08 June 2009 - 01:50 PM

Dear dfowler

Many thanks for sharing your idea. The recorders deadline is June 19th.

I was just thinking this thread is kind of scattered

it is a bit.
You have been very honest, so let me also be quite straight here:
-We desperately need comitted, dependable, intelligent and spirited volunteers and we need to support them as much as possible.
-We desperately don't need manic depressives who once in a blue moon manic phase stomp their feet in frustration that 'no one is doing anything', create a lot of bustle for a short while and then go away to sulk leaving things unfinished and adrift.

I created a thread a while back regarding contacting big name celebrities. I now think that we should focus more on big name scientists and other science minded individuals

(...)

I basically think perhaps we should keep trying to influence congress


Are you indicating that you have changed your mind? (ie. formally you were thinking about lobbying Angelia Jolie, then you were thinking John Holdren and now you are thinking Congressmen?)

I'm asking you guys to work on ways to find these people and contact them.


We could set up a page were we collate whenever a person has entered the spotlight for whatever reason and a way of contacting them, share tips and keep tabs on who has contacted whom.
That would be quite useful but someone has to drive it. Would you put yourself foward to coordinate such an efford?

In terms of political lobbying, you have already noted the discussion on collaborations with CEL
http://www.imminst.o...showtopic=28551


Should I have more formally outlined this with special attention to these criteria

I think that would be helpful
However, it sounds a bit like you don't have a proposal in mind already, but are just impatient to do something and are looking for advice.
If that is the case, it would be good if you could share where you think your skills and strengths lie. How would you like to help?
Writing a lot of letters? Making a lot of phonecalls? Writing pamplets? Help with grant writing?

#9 bacopa

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Posted 08 June 2009 - 03:44 PM

Dear dfowler

Many thanks for sharing your idea. The recorders deadline is June 19th.

I was just thinking this thread is kind of scattered

it is a bit.
You have been very honest, so let me also be quite straight here:
-We desperately need comitted, dependable, intelligent and spirited volunteers and we need to support them as much as possible.
-We desperately don't need manic depressives who once in a blue moon manic phase stomp their feet in frustration that 'no one is doing anything', create a lot of bustle for a short while and then go away to sulk leaving things unfinished and adrift.

I created a thread a while back regarding contacting big name celebrities. I now think that we should focus more on big name scientists and other science minded individuals

(...)

I basically think perhaps we should keep trying to influence congress


Are you indicating that you have changed your mind? (ie. formally you were thinking about lobbying Angelia Jolie, then you were thinking John Holdren and now you are thinking Congressmen?)

I'm asking you guys to work on ways to find these people and contact them.


We could set up a page were we collate whenever a person has entered the spotlight for whatever reason and a way of contacting them, share tips and keep tabs on who has contacted whom.
That would be quite useful but someone has to drive it. Would you put yourself foward to coordinate such an efford?

In terms of political lobbying, you have already noted the discussion on collaborations with CEL
http://www.imminst.o...showtopic=28551


Should I have more formally outlined this with special attention to these criteria

I think that would be helpful
However, it sounds a bit like you don't have a proposal in mind already, but are just impatient to do something and are looking for advice.
If that is the case, it would be good if you could share where you think your skills and strengths lie. How would you like to help?
Writing a lot of letters? Making a lot of phonecalls? Writing pamplets? Help with grant writing?



I think I could help with a page to help with contacting celebrities and sort out whenever a person has entered the spotlight and all of the rest that you said. I'm not positive that I would like to be the projects champion as I think you called it only because I've been through alot and wish to start things slow. By this I DON'T mean I don't want to do alot of work, I just don't want to take on more responsibility than I might be able to handle at this time. Maybe I could set up a contacting celebrity page but don't know any html or any programming. So I will help out in ways that I think I can. If you mean just a regular old style thread with names of new celebs, like Bill Maher, and his contact info etc. than I could certainly do this. I don't know who John Holdren is, and am sure I did not mention him, but that is neither here nor there.

I also want to emphasize that I'm quite stable and as always I'm committed to rationality and reason and doing projects well.

Are you indicating that you have changed your mind? (ie. formally you were thinking about lobbying Angelia Jolie, then you were thinking John Holdren and now you are thinking Congressmen?)

Um no I think we should be contacting celebrities who have a vested interest in healthy living and in particular not dying...and I think we could, and should, be contacting celebrities as well as big names in science as well as Congress and other special interest groups. Because I was out of commission for a while I didn't know about the EU, researchers and public health officials, but I now realize we could be lobbying them too.

As for what you don't want in an imminst volunteer I agree with you exactly. Because I am only working part time right now I believe I could be a consistent help with you guys on projects that I feel I could be good at. I don't plan on being "that guy" who wails about problems and doesn't work hard to fix them. So I'm committed.

I would be good at letter writing, phonecalls, but not so much with writing pamphlets and grant writing as I have lost some skill at being good with remembering alot of details and my memory is still rather not so good. Perhaps if I continue to recover I will one day feel comfortable writing pamphlets, as I was quite good at it before. As for the grant writing I would have to read more up on it and would most likely have to wait until I made more progress in my memory.

Aubrey de Grey mentioned a volunteer lobby effort that he is doing on facebook and I plan on getting involved with that. I will update you on that info. And Tom, from C.E.L., is supposed to get back to me on the lobbying Congress side, so I guess that is under way.

Don mentioned whether I think I might be good at generating ideas for C.E.L., again I told him I might be better at letter writing, but that doesn't mean I won't put in some effort and see where it goes. I also have Lauren here, my girlfriend, who is really great at wrting and generating ideas, so maybe she could help me with these projects too.

In summary, I am ready to work on the celebrity project and the lobbying project with Aubrey and C.E.L. Just get back to me, if you have time, and tell me what would be required of the celebrity project, or I should say, if there is anything that I think may be over my head at this time than I will refrain from doing it. I'll be the best judge of that I think.

thanks for being straight with me too,
Devon

Edited by dfowler, 08 June 2009 - 04:02 PM.


#10 bacopa

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Posted 08 June 2009 - 04:41 PM

In terms of contacting celebs it might be better to have a legit reason or at least a specific project in mind. Perhaps for supporting SENS, or general antiaging research. I believe we should contact them for general support and getting the word out, philanthropy, and eventually fundraising would be the three things we should target. I welcome any other ideas.

I am pretty much willing to start a team of people who wish to contact celebrities, if it's something I feel I can do. There should be a new thread in the projects section for

1) general info on the celebrity
2) contact information
3) vested interest in life extension and what they are willing to do for the cause.

Perhaps we should get a team of people to start writing letters to celebs who we think have the greatest chances of taking an interest and ultimately contributing to the cause.

I'll try to get my girlfriend to help out too, and any other people that wish to help out should be able to.

Brokenportal told me that going through their agents may be a good way of going about it.

With Caliban's reply to my previous thread, I will start researching ways to find celebrity contact info, perhaps create a list of the best celebs to contact, and work on an appropriate letter or speel to say if we contact them, or their agents, by phone.

My sister is an actress in NYC and knows alot of celebs, but few really famous ones. Most of her contacts are up and coming, but maybe she would know the best ways to find their contact info.

that's all for now.

Edited by dfowler, 08 June 2009 - 04:42 PM.


#11 bacopa

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Posted 08 June 2009 - 05:00 PM

Lauren has agreed to commit to the project of contacting celebs and I feel confident with her writing abilities.

#12 bacopa

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Posted 08 June 2009 - 11:00 PM

Here are two links on ways to contact celebrities. They contain "how to" ideas as well as actual addresses and email addresses

1) http://www.islandnet...uree/howto.html

2) http://www.wikihow.c...ous-Celebrities

Again I'm awaiting Caliban's response and perhaps we can start a team of people who are willing to do this. Once we get the methodology in place I believe this project could be fairly easy. We just have to find the best way to contact, and most importantly that we know what to say to them...this will be the harder part.

Edited by dfowler, 08 June 2009 - 11:00 PM.


#13 brokenportal

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Posted 09 June 2009 - 12:15 AM

Do you want me to merge this with the other topic on it that is here? http://www.imminst.o...o...c=15882&hl=


I responded to all this in the other one.

#14 bacopa

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Posted 09 June 2009 - 02:15 AM

Thanks Broken Portal! I responded to your list of suggestions on the "Contacting Celebs thread" Caliban I'll be happy to be the project leader for this project, and I believe Lauren and possibly Broken portal will be my first team members.

We will meet weekly in the imminst chat rooms. There was some talk that maybe the Methuselah Foundation maybe a better organization to contact celebs from but I don't know. Caliban, do you have any input on this?

It was advised by Brokenportal that we should have a project update thread where we will talk about what's working and what's not working

There is a member named Ben who said he knows many celeb contacts and he also agreed with my notion that going through their publicists is a viable solution.

Edited by dfowler, 09 June 2009 - 02:17 AM.


#15 Shannon Vyff

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Posted 09 June 2009 - 08:24 PM

With contacting Celebrities it would be good to include the letter in a package with a few select books such as Aubrey's latest, The Scientific Conquest of Death, possible Kurzweil's latest. Good luck! I can help if you need it, or if you need an example of a family that supports life extension, as my three kids can debate the issues pretty well :)

#16 bacopa

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Posted 10 June 2009 - 06:28 PM

With contacting Celebrities it would be good to include the letter in a package with a few select books such as Aubrey's latest, The Scientific Conquest of Death, possible Kurzweil's latest. Good luck! I can help if you need it, or if you need an example of a family that supports life extension, as my three kids can debate the issues pretty well :)


Great idea Shannon! Again I'm thinking of Bill Maher and Richard Dawkins for maybe the first one's. I don't know where Lauren now stands on this project because she's having a rough time plus she thinks she may be better at other projects.

If you want to help Shannon perhaps you and me, or Brokenportal could work on a letter for first contact. We have to talk about the right things and not just be too general. Also we have to be prepared to make phone calls to the celebs and we need someone who can answer all of their questions. I might not be the best person to do this, but perhaps you or someone else could really help.

Caliban never contacted me and I'm guessing it's because he read that I wished to take charge of this project. Just for the hell of it I'll make another thread advertising this project and try to recruit people who may be interested.

Shannon, I would appreciate your input as to whether imminst should be doing this kind of thing or if the Methuselah Foundation would be better for it, for obvious reasons.

Broken Portal perhaps we could Skype tonight and talk further about this project.

#17 brokenportal

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Posted 10 June 2009 - 06:58 PM

Good idea Shannon, we could send them books, and maybe another objective we could try to reach is to get them to talk to you on the phone? Dfowler would be talking to them, but setting them up with a conversation with you would be another excuse in addition to the sunday evening update option to get them to come back for more. Dfowler could inform them about the cause and then ask them if they would be interested in having a "spokesperson" contact them. If they show this initial bit of interest, then you could talk to them some more and see about sending them some free books and stuff.

Im just brainstorming here, Im not sure how this may all come together best.

Fowler, theres a recorders meeting, I think its at 4 cst today, thats 5 est. Also, as for maybe using some other name besides ours, there is a "Longevity Communities Network" idea that many of us support that we have to get proposed here soon. That option seems like it would work best to me.

#18 bacopa

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Posted 10 June 2009 - 07:02 PM

Portal, where is the recorders meeting? Do you have a link or is it at imminst.org/chat...?

#19 brokenportal

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Posted 10 June 2009 - 07:05 PM

Its in skype, just keep skype open and Ill see if we can call you up when it starts.

#20 Shepard

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Posted 10 June 2009 - 10:21 PM

Recorders minute: A sub-forum will be created for further discussion on this initiative.

#21 bacopa

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Posted 10 June 2009 - 11:05 PM

Is it agreed that a subforum should be created to talk further about this as a formalized project thread. Also another subforum to keep contact info, a general list of celebs and their addresses. But I think it was agreed this should be in the full member's forum. I believe that's what we agreed on so as to not scare off big names if people googled them and found their contact info.

I'm particularly keen on Bill Gates as of now. I just watched his video on defeating diseases such as Malaria which to him posed a existential risk. I would almost guarantee he would love to jump on board for life extension causes.

What do you guys think about this?

Edited by dfowler, 11 June 2009 - 12:55 AM.


#22 caliban

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Posted 11 June 2009 - 02:25 PM

Recorders minute:

a team was formed for co-ordinating VIP outreach.




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