Thank you for your interest in hosting an Earthrise Dinner!

EarthRISE50 dinners help you connect with your community, in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the moment that humans first saw planet Earth, from space.  Consider hosting or participating in an EarthRISE50 dinner to:
  • Reflect as a group on the beauty, strength, and fragility of our shared home, planet Earth.
  • Build meaningful connections and deeper trust with current and future friends, neighbors, collaborators.
  • Kick off a year of supporting others to live up to their highest potential.
 EarthRISE50 dinners are inspired by the “Jeffersonian Dinner” format: intimate, themed, one-table conversations, originally held at Jefferson’s house during the Revolutionary War. The goal? To build trust and community in the new republic, as fast as possible. It is in this spirit that we invite you to gather, in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the historic Earthrise photo, to connect with others, recognize our interdependence, and build community.

INVITATIONS

We have created EarthRISE50 Dinner Invitations that you can personalize with information about your event and print out or email to your guests if you like. Just go to Canva.com, log in as earthrisedinners@gmail.com password: Earthrise50. Click on “Shared with You” and you will see the invitation. Click on the small speech bubble icon under the invite. Click on “Use as Template” (so your address won’t be saved to the template file for all to see!). Modify the information to suit you and download, share or print. There will not be a saved version of your personal invitation to go back to to make sure it is the way you want it before you leave. Click HERE for a visual guide! You are also welcome to add your own groups logo or message to the invitations. Feel free to use these dinners to forward your dreams and ideas!

TIMING

We invite you to host your dinner any time it works for you. EarthRISE50 dinners will continue into 2019. If you want to connect it to the Apollo 8 mission in December, you can consider the day Apollo 8 launched, December 21 (also Winter Solstice), or you can do it the day the Earthrise picture was taken, December 24th.

FOOD

EarthRISE50 dinners can take any form, from ordering a pizza or hosting as a potluck, to hiring your favorite local caterer. Feel free to choose whatever works best with your style, resources, and space. The only important thing is to ensure that people are nourished.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Please share photos of your gathering and insights from your guests with the hashtag #EarthRISE50 on social media platforms.

COMMUNITY AGREEMENTS

Facilitating conversation can be easier with a few simple agreements, at the outset. One good guideline is to ask people to consider a “device-free” evening, leaving phones in another room or on Do Not Disturb (most phones will let persistent callers through in case of an emergency). This will help everyone focus on what others share, and stay present in the conversation. Try to ensure that everyone has a chance to speak a few times over the course of the evening, helping to balance all voices. The goal is to create a comfortable environment for everyone to drop into deep reflection, active listening, and vulnerability.  At the end of the evening, ask people if they are comfortable being included in photos of the gathering, and confirm whether everyone is comfortable sharing email addresses with other participants. See more under Facilitation Tips.

CONVERSATION STARTERS

Open by sharing with your guests the intention to have a one-table conversation. From there you can be as light or as intimate as you like. Encourage people to be vulnerable and say more by setting the tone. Go first and be as honest and open as you hope they will be; allowing yourself to feel a little uncomfortable and present thoughts in a simple, unpolished way is a great place to start.
  • Ask people to reflect on what “Home” means to them; if they have brought an object representing home have them share that with the group.
  • Consider watching some coverage of Earthrise like this or the 19mins mini-documentary The Overview Effect to inspire people.
  • Reflect on 50 years from now: what do participants hope to see and say, in the future?
  • Ask each person to share a moment when they felt most strongly connected with the Earth, and how that impacted them.
  • If the group feels safe and positive, invite people to share difficult or personal stories, and encourage vulnerability, as they consider our interdependence on our shared home, planet Earth.

FACILITATION TIPS

One of the goals for EarthRISE50 dinners is to create or deepen bonds, connecting with people like you, and bridging with others, across difference backgrounds and beliefs.
  • To ensure an environment where people feel safe bringing their concerns, and their hopes, be sure that people speak in a manner that is respectful of all people and their beliefs. If you are more comfortable having someone else facilitate feel free to identify another participant to take on this role.
  • You can have people go in order around the table, or just speak up as they are ready. Consider a “one diva, one mic” rule that allows each person to speak without interruption, until they have completed their thoughts.
  • Support participants who might be more introverted by giving them space to be ready to share, without being forced. Always allow someone to pass on sharing and come back to them later.
  • If someone is taking too much time or space, going off topic, of shutting down connections, it is your role to graciously interrupt: “Sam, thank you for your perspective. You’ve given us a lot to think about! Louisa, where do you hope to see humanity in 50 years?”

FOLLOW UP

Be sure to take a group photo at the end of the evening, and send it out to everyone as a thank you. This is also a great way to circulate email addresses, if participants have given permission to do that. Ask if there is anything that the group would like to see emerge from the gathering — a neighborhood email group, a monthly accountability circle, a community project, a book club, a monthly outing, an annual reunion? It’s up to you, and your guests!  Share any photos or brief comments from participants on social media with #EarthRISE50, and see what other people’s experiences have been, as dinners continue around the world!

Why are we doing this?

1968

the United States was deeply divided.
There were many protests against a hugely unpopular war in Vietnam. On April 4, 1968, 39-year-old Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated and there were civil rights riots in 10 cities. On June 5, 1968 shortly after winning the California Democratic Primary to run for President, 42-year-old, Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated just five years after his brother John F. Kennedy had been assassinated. In November, Richard Nixon was elected President of the United States. It was in this historical context that Apollo 8 launched the first astronauts to travel to the moon on Dec 21, 1968. Apollo 8 was the first time we launched humans on the mighty Saturn V, the largest rocket ever built. It took them three days cramped in their small spaceship to get to the moon, which they could not see because their engine had to be pointed towards the moon most of the flight. On Christmas Eve 1968, Bill Anders, Jim Lovell and Frank Borman finally got their first glimpse of the moon as they entered lunar orbit and became the farthest human beings from Earth ever. After they swung past the far side of the moon Bill Anders caught a glimpse of the Earth out the window and was stunned. He grabbed for a camera and took the most famous picture of his career— “Earthrise.” A few orbits later they did a live TV broadcast back to Earth. It was prime time on Christmas Eve. It is estimated that one billion people — at the time 25% of the Earth’s population — watched. At the time, it was the largest number of people to watch a single TV broadcast. As their command module floated above the lunar surface, the astronauts beamed back images of the moon and Earth and took turns reading from the book of Genesis, closing with, "Good night and Merry Christmas to all the people on the good Earth."
When they returned to Earth, Jim Lovell, Bill Anders and Frank Borman were named Time's Men of the Year.  After a year of divisiveness and despair, many people felt that Apollo 8 saved 1968. We hope this year, the Earthrise photo can again inspire a planet to heal, one living room at a time. Peace, Love, Space,The Earthrise50 Team

Thank You

to all the communities that are coming together to support Earthrise Dinners.

Thank You

to all the communities that are coming together to support Earthrise Dinners.