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Dear Cryonics and Alcor Members: As you know, Alcor has been going through many new and exciting changes over the last few months from both a business standpoint and a marketing standpoint. From a newly designed web site and company logo to a brand new interior design for the Alcor offices, the new changes at Alcor can be seen everywhere. It is an exciting time. This letter is meant to address one aspect of the new changes at Alcor from a marketing perspective—the new Alcor logo. As the advertising and creative design agency responsible for developing the logo with Alcor, we have heard from a few Alcor members who have given us input on the new logo, and we always appreciate the feedback. As an advertising agency, we understand that change is not always comfortable, usually never easy, and certainly won’t always make everyone happy when it occurs. This is certainly the case when it comes to designing a new logo for any company. Although the response to the new design has been very positive, perhaps we should give the members some details on how this all came about. The new corporate image and logo that we designed for Alcor involved a lengthy process that spanned several weeks, more than 40 different designs, and collectively involved everyone on the Alcor staff. The final design phase narrowed the field to about 15 or 20 designs that everyone on the staff then voted for. The new Alcor “A” was chosen to be the new logo from that interactive process involving all Alcor staff members. We believe, as do many, that the new logo design creates a unique branding initiative for Alcor and reflects a new forward momentum for the company as they head into the exciting future of cryonics. As with anything new or different, we know people’s opinions will vary, and we respect that there will be varied tastes when it comes to art or even corporate identities. The new Alcor logo has proudly been displayed on television and in newspaper, magazine, and internet articles all over the world and has become an integral focal point for much of the Alcor marketing literature. From all accounts, the goal of repositioning Alcor and strengthening its branding through the new corporate logo is being achieved with great results. We hope this sheds some light on the design process and thank everyone for their input so far.
lessly lost. In particular, it doesn’t seem likely, contrary to Prehoda’s fears, that our “freeze-now” movement has impeded scientific progress, at least in any overall sense. I think a good case could be made that the very opposite has occurred, as is seen, for example, in the cryobiological work of 21st Century Medicine, with its known ties to cryonics advocates. And, glorious to contemplate, we might be right, as I, for one, think will substantially be proven to be so. In any case we are surely on the right track. We are still here doing our thing, our movement stronger than ever. More than one prominent cryobiological researcher is presently signed up for cryopreservation, to deflate Prehoda’s claim of our being pseudoscientific, for what that is worth. Cryobiology in turn is not the only relevant field. Included among the cryonicists are noted representatives from two other important fields: nanotechnology and artificial intelligence. Both, we expect, will play an important part in any proposed program of reanimation, and both are useful today in making the case for cryonics more credible. (In particular I note the optimistic projections of nanotechnologist and encryption expert Ralph Merkle, who is now a longtime cryonicist and who thinks the procedure has a good chance of working.) Prehoda meanwhile is long forgotten, with no one else to further his cause of suspended animation, except, ironically, ourselves and our sometimes-disparaged movement. And so in some measure we become his minions—though with an important difference. Yes, our hopes of defeating mortality through our practices are serious, and this is an important source of meaning. But it also supplies a motive that otherwise would be lacking, one whose absence would, I think, greatly slow our progress toward suspended animation, or, more likely, terminate the effort altogether. We must continue our work, both in doing research and in preserving our patients, using the best available methods when the need arises. l
REFERENCES Robert C. W. Ettinger, The Prospect of Immortality. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1964. Reprint, London: Sidgwick and Jackson, 1965; Oak Park, Mich.: Immortalist Society, 1987. Freeze-Wait-Reanimate 3, no. 27 (August-September 1966).
Best Regards, John Bevens Sr. Creative Consultant Media Architects
3rd Qtr. 2002
Robert W. Prehoda, Suspended Animation: The Research Possibility That May Allow Man to Conquer the Limiting Chains of Time. Philadelphia: Chilton, 1969.
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