posted this before if you guys are interested. I just got this email.
To:
veglinuxv@yahoo.com
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Thank you for supporting The Michael Jackson Tribute Portrait!
We are making great progress getting 250,000 fans together to start the portrait. Michale's fans have been voting for the portrait from more than 80 countries! David is excited to start drawing and I know he will be able to soon. So many fans have stepped forward and asked how they can help that I decided to write this email to let you all know what needs to be done to reach our goal.
Remember, every dot in the portrait represents an actual Michael Jackson fan. That means that we need millions of fans to participate to complete the drawing. We know that Michael has hundreds of millions of fans, so we just need to reach them and tell them about the project.
If we all work together, I know we can do it! Please see below for ways you can help.
Thank you again. I am sure we are making Michael proud.
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[FONT=Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif] Tell Your Friends
One of the best ways to spread the word about this project is to tell everyone you know. Many of you have been using our email form to spread the word. We recently added a button to help you spread the word through Facebook, Twitter, Myspace and many other sites. If you haven't already, please go to www.SupportJacksonPortrait.com and click on the "Tell A Friend" button in Step 3.[/FONT][/FONT] [FONT=Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]
[FONT=Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif] Tell The Media
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Please take a few minutes to call or write to your local, national, and international media (newspaper, TV news, radio, magazine, Internet news). If enough of us urge them to cover the story of this unique tribute, they will. They are all looking for the next Michael Jackson development - by sharing this news item, we can give them something positive to report like no other story they've heard about.
Additionally, I think it would be a good idea for all of us to also contact one particular media outlet so they will be bombarded with requests to report on the tribute. Please click HERE to go to the CNN form and let them know they should do a story about The Michael Jackson Tribute Portrait. Please make sure to give them the www.SupportJacksonPortrait.com link.
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[FONT=Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif] Video
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I have created a video to promote this project. Please click HERE to watch it and share it with your friends.
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[FONT=Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif] Volunteers Wanted
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This project is growing quickly and I can really use your help. If you can assist in one of the following ways, please contact me HERE.
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[*]Volunteers to help spread the word
[*]Bloggers
[*]Publicists
[*]Journalists
[*]Filmmakers
[*]Translators
[*]Strategic Partners and Associations
[*]Links
[*]Your IDEAS for Promoting This Project to Fans Worldwide[/FONT]
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You will be appreciated ... and thanked on the Portrait site!
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[FONT=Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif] Special Thanks
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Thank you to The Michael Jackson Fan Club for their hard work and promotion. See latest news about this tribute at:
www.MJfanclub.net
Our appreciation to gendance (Generation Dance) for their work to rally the dance community for this Tribute. www.gendance.com
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This Tribute invites YOU to be part of the big picture by being one of millions of dots that create Michael's portrait. Without your dot, and those of your friends and other fans, there can be no picture. Your dot joins with other dots to make this beautiful portrait come to life. The tribute IS you, and we need you to make it happen. Please spread the word today any way you can.
What I love most about this tribute is that it allows fans to transform from spectators to participants. It invites those who meant the most to Michael to be part of his legacy in a work of art that will last forever. I was in front of the Jackson Family house in Encino on the day when the City took down the touching memorial (flowers, photographs, notes) that had spontaneously grown there from fans who visited to pay their respects. It was heartbreaking to see it piled up and taken away; the police told fans to go home and instructed the media to back away. The Michael Jackson Tribute Portrait will never go away; your dot will endure and the spirit of Michael's portrait will live on.
Thank you again for your support. I am proud of all of Michael's fans around the world and grateful for your good wishes and support. It means everything. Now let's spread the word wide and far...!
Sincerely,
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[FONT=Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif] A Message from the Artist
By David Ilan
When my friend Jerry Biederman asked me to create a portrait of Michael Jackson so fans from all over the world will have a place to unite and share in Michael's legacy, I didn't fully understand the impact my portrait could have.
I have been a fan of Michael's for a long time. I was one of those kids who tried to copy his dance moves and I loved his music. Looking back, though, I didn't realize the tremendous positive influencedidn't fully understand the impact he was having around the world. After all, to me, he was just an amazing entertainer.
My drawings are created using only dots, a technique called pointillism. Millions of hand-drawn dots come together on my canvas to form an image. Two years ago, I created the idea to associate each dot in my drawings with a real person. People from all over the world have been joining my projects and each of them have been getting dots in their name added to the portraits.
Within hours of Michael's passing, Jerry asked me to create a tribute portrait where every dot in the drawing represents a Michael Jackson fan. I loved the idea. But because it will take millions of dots to complete the portrait, I challenged Jerry to get the first 250,000 fans to demonstrate their support as a sign that the rest will follow. I wanted to do this tribute only if the fans wanted me to. Jerry set up a website where fans can vote for the portrait. What started as a challenge to Jerry, ended up as a life-changing and eye-opening experience for me.
In the first four days, many thousands of fans voted YES for the portrait. Many thousands more have been demonstrating their enthusiasm and support every day since then in increasing numbers. What really touches me is not just the number of fans, but where they are coming from. People voted from more than 80 countries with additional countries being added to the list daily.
No matter what conflict or hardships are going on in a country, people are taking the time to sit down at their computer to show their support and be counted for this tribute. This experience has made me realize that Michael really was changing the world. People loved him, in every part of this planet. He wasn't just "the greatest entertainer." He was someone who successfully used his gifts and his talents to bring people together.
Over the last few days, Michael's fans have been working hard to spread the word about my portrait. I have seen messages in more than 10 languages. In a short time, we will have enough fans coming together to begin the portrait.
I want everyone to know that I fully understand the meaning and magnitude of this project. Behind every single dot I place on the canvas, there is a fan who loved Michael and is mourning his death. It is very fitting that the portrait of Michael will be created by dots representing his FANS. Michael loved and respected his fans as much as his fans love and respect him. I am honored to be the person who is helping bring his fans together again, but I am just the instrument. I only add dots when people join the project, so it is really the fans who are creating the portrait by coming forward. It was because all of you came together that Michael was able to be who he was, and it is because all of you are coming together now that Michael's image will be created.
I see this portrait as being a tribute to Michael's fans and not just Michael himself. I believe a man of peace and love would not have wanted people to celebrate him, but for all of us to celebrate each other. It is what Michael was working for his entire life; people forgetting their differences and coming together. He was bringing all of us together all those years, and now we all have a chance to come together for him. We may speak different languages and we may not agree on everything, but I consider every dot in Michael Jackson's image to be a member of the same family. We all know there is at least one thing we agree on, and that is a wonderful start for making the world a better place.
David Ilan
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