Live 4 X
Live 4 X is an online charitable event series launched in 2010 by Grammy winning recording artist Imogen Heap and social media philanthropist and urban entrepreneur Thomas Ermacora. Initially inspired by the 2010 Pakistan floods, each individual event is organized as a charitable initiative in response to catastrophic situation or event, such as a natural disaster, that has incurred vast devastation and suffering.[1]
By integrating education, entertainment, and modern technology, Live 4 X events stream online in real time, with the goal of educating viewers regarding their respective charitable initiative, providing complimentary entertainment in exchange for donations to a relevant organization, and crowd-sourcing sustainable design ideas that may later be implemented in recovery efforts. Past non-profit beneficiaries have included The Red Cross, UNICEF, and Architecture for Humanity.[2][3][4]
Regarding the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami Heap stated, “I wanted to do something, but what can you? I mean, you can give money, but it doesn’t seem like enough. Music is the thing that we do, and I wanted in some way to connect that to these events.” [5]
The Live 4 X event series is a project under the umbrella of Bubbletank, an experimental, collaborative enterprise, launched by Heap and Ermacora in 2010, and geared toward leveraging the power of social media to facilitate charitable efforts toward proactive change through the mediums of music, cyber technology, design, and film.[6]
A catalog of Live 4 X events
- August 31, 2010 – Live 4 Pakistan raised funds for flood relief and recovery in that region. Musicians included Ben Folds, Amanda Palmer, Kate Havnevik, KT Tunstall, Josh Groban, and Zoe Keating.
- February 3, 2011 – Live 4 Cape Town [7]
- April 11, 2011 – Live 4 Sendai raised funds for Japanese tsunami recovery following the disastrous Great East Japan earthquake of 2011. The event was also used to solicit rebuilding design ideas on behalf of Architecture for Humanity. Performers included Amanda Palmer, Ben Folds, KT Tunstall and Jamie Cullum and hosted by Ze Frank.
References
- ↑ Huffington Post article, Richard Branson, Imogen Heap Team Up For Online Pakistan Relief Fundraiser
- ↑ Washington Times Communities article, Imogen Heap throws Japan tsunami victims a Lifeline
- ↑ Virgin Unite's Live 4 Sendai announcement
- ↑ Architecture for Humanity founder Cameron Sinclair reacts to the news of the March 2011 Japan tsunami in Adweek Magazine
- ↑ Imogen Heap's May 2011 interview with Jennifer Grassman regarding Japan tsunami recovery and Live 4 Sendai
- ↑ Bubbletank
- ↑ Live for Cape Town