ImmInst.Org  ٭  Newsletter 
March 2010

Message from the Executive Director:

The Immortality Institute is getting off to a roaring start in 2010 thanks to the combined efforts of members and leadership both new and old. Two newly elected Directors, David Styles and Sven Bulterijs (S123) have already taken up the duty of planning a 2010 Immortality Institute conference for later this year. Look for more announcements about the conference within upcoming issues of the newsletter as well as forum discussions and polls regarding some of the details. Other members have taken up the advocacy side of the Institute’s activities, revitalizing a Facebook fan page for the Institute and converting previous Sunday Evening Update shows into podcast/mp3 format. I encourage everyone to stop by the Action Forum from time-to-time to submit, review, or discuss new ideas and consider helping out one of the projects or teams. The theme of radical life extension is drawing a larger audience around the world every year and the Institute needs new ideas and fresh talent to remain on the forefront.

2010 will also be a year of change for the Immortality Institute as I will be stepping down from the Executive Director position at the end of March. Even after this change, I will be helping out with Institute initiatives and the transition to a new Executive Director and/or other management/leadership arrangements. I want to thank everyone for putting your trust in me to lead the organization over the last two and a half years. It has been a wonderful experience helping the Institute grow through new initiatives, greater website registrations and traffic, and increased revenue.

Justin 'Mind' Loew

NEWS

CRYONICS CHARITY FUND

Thanks to everyone who voted in the Cryonics Charity Fund poll. Members overwhelmingly support the establishment of a dedicated fund, however, the details of how to distribute the funds remain to be decided. Look for further discussions in coming weeks. Due to the generous donations of several Imminst members, the fund already has seed money of close to $1,000.


BOARD OF DIRECTOR POSITIONS

As a follow-up to last month’s Director election results, we would like to announce that Sebastian Sethe (Caliban) has been elected as Chairperson and Jeremy Shepard (Shepard) as Treasurer for 2010.


OUTREACH

Marketing & Outreach

In an effort to get moving swiftly Caliban has established a Marketing and Outreach team, which among other things will be organizing the aforementioned 2010 conference.

Content Management

A content management team has also been formed consisting thus far of Mind Ilia, David V, and rwac. If you have any ideas for enhancing the content of the Imminst website or have a general aptitude for writing or graphical design please consider lending a hand with the content management team. Inquire with Mind.

Facebook Exposure

If you haven’t done so already, please become a fan of the recently revitalized Imminst Facebook fan page. Many thanks to Johnblaze and Jurence for their efforts on the page thus far. The heart of the Immortality Institute is of course the forum, but there are many other powerful social media/interaction environments through with to communicate. Facebook is a large well-developed platform with many existing tools for fundraising, charity, and outreach. If you are a Facebook “pro” let us know how best to utilize the site.

MEMBER BENEFIT

Once again during 2010 Imminst members (yearly student/retired or professional level) can enjoy the benefit of receiving the online version of Rejuvenation Research at the steeply discounted price of $25. Click here for details.

CREATIVE WRITING CONTEST

Just a reminder: Submissions for the creative writing contest are due on or before March 27th. Submit your story and you could win a cash prize as well as publication on the Imminst homepage. Find all the details here.

VOLUNTEERS/APPOINTMENTS

The February volunteer prize-winner is The Immortalist. The Immortalist has done a great job helping the Internetworking Team over the last couple of months. He has received a full year student membership to Imminst for his efforts. See this topic for all past volunteer prize winners and here for the most recent activities of the Internetworking team.

Please welcome Imminst member Agent as the newest Navigator at the Institute. Agent will have specific focus in the Cryonics and Action forums. He was the member who originally suggested that Imminst attend the Warsaw Science picnic and this has lead to a good discussion about how best to reformat the content of the site in order to maximize positive publicity.

Imminst.org -Advocacy and Research for Unlimited Lifespans