Task 2 - Interview a PR Practitioner.

We are given a task to interview a PR Practitioner as our assignment. For this assignment, we have conducted an interview with a PR practitioner of Gleneagles Hospital, Jimmy Tan.

History of Gleneagles Hospital

Penang Medical Centre (PMC) was established in July, 1973 as the first private hospital on the island of Penang, founded by four pioneer consultants (namely Dr. Goh Kay Wah, Dato’ Dr. V Thuraisingham, Dato’ Rr. P C Vanniasigham and Dato’ Dr. A Tharmaratnam) with a group of local businessmen (namely Tan Sri Dato' Loh Boon Siew, Dato' Tan Kim Yeow, Choong Eng Kim, Dato' Yeap Hock Hoe, Tuan Hajee Mayen Abubacker and Dr R.N. Pannikar) This was a three-storey building with 70 beds, providing medical services in general medicine, general surgery, obstetrics and gynaecology, anaesthesia and radiology. Supporting facilities included a laboratory and two operating theatres. Went through numerous phases of expansion since then.

"Within the first month, the doctors' earnings had exceeded the guaranteed minimum amount of remuneration. Half of our profits went back to the hospital, towards purchasing new equipment and keeping bed costs dow," says Dato' Dr Thuraisingham.

In 1989, the hospital was taken over by Parkway Holdings Limited and was renamed Gleneagles Medical Centre Penang. In 2012, it was taken over by Khazaah National Berhad and was integrated into Parkway Pantai Limited. Today, we are known as Gleneagles Penang reflecting the evolution of Gleneagles’ advent into a Regional / National healthcare facility, active in promoting speciality and sub-specialty clinical care.


Vision & Mission of Gleaneagles Hospital

Vision

The global leader in value-based integrated healthcare.

Mission

To make a difference in people's lives through excellent patient care.

Organisation Chart of the PR / Marketing Department.

Jimmy Tan

 Interview

1. Tell me about yourself?

I'm Jimmy Tan from Gleneagles Penang. I have joined Gleneagles since January 2011. I am formerly from Pantai Hospital Penang.

2. What are tour responsibilities / functions as a __________ (position) ? 

My position in Gleneagles Hospital is a Patients Relation/Marketing Officer. My responsibilities are to take care of the Foreign Country Marketing, such as Indonesia and South East Asia. Besides that, I have to handle Patients Services. For instance, handle complaints, assist patient needed. Local Marketing activities such as CSR activities is also part of my responsibilities. I also have to provide services such as organize an event for my cooperate client and insurance agency.

3. Have you ever faced any crisis / issue(s) along your employment here? If yes, could you please share your experience how you manage to solve the crisis / issue (s) ? 

So far I have never face any crisis before during the period I have been working.

4. What are the THREE positive values that can describe about you?

I think optimism, helpfulness & learn from mistakes would be the three positive values that I can describe about myself. 

5. How would you see yourself in the next 5 years? 

Currently I am happy for this job, however it won't be my job for the rest of my life time. I am still seeking for an opportunity to go for a higher level position. I will also consider to change myself to different marketing field.

What Is Earth Hour?

          Earth Hour is an international event organized by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and Leo Burnett. The first Earth Hour event took place in Sydney on 31 March 2007, more than 2.2 million residents and 2000 businesses participated by turning off all non-essential lights for the one hour. Following Sydney’s lead, in 2008 many other cities around the world has joined the event.

        Earth Hour is a global movement which unit people to protect our planet. Earth Hour encourages individuals, businesses and governments around the world to carry out positive actions for the environment, and celebrate their commitment to the planet by switching off their lights for one designated hour. It is held on the last Saturday in March annually. It will start in the evening at 8:30p.m. to 9:30p.m., according to respective countries’ local time zone. This year, Earth Hour was celebrated on 23 March 2013 (Saturday) at 8.30pm. Earth hour 2014 is scheduled for Saturday, March 29, from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. during participants' local time.

        The idea of Earth Hour came from a think tank initiated by Earth Hour Executive Director and Co-Founder, Andy Ridley. As a result, the formation of a partnership between WWF Australia, Leo Burnett and Fairfax Media is to address the climate change issue. In 2007, there was still a degree of skepticism and denial about the issue of climate change. Earth Hour came as the inspiration to rally people to the reality of climate change and start a dialogue about what we as individuals can do to help address the greatest problem facing our planet today. Leo Burnett partnered with WWF to promote the idea and help make the campaign a reality in Sydney, a campaign which has now gone beyond climate change to symbolize the growing global pursuit of a better, healthier world.

        The aim for Earth Hour is to encourage global community to participate in the chances and challenges of creating sustainable world. It is also to raise awareness about the need to take action on climate change. Its objective is to get communities involved in a simple action which is turning off lights, which will make a difference to a sustainable future. By switching off your lights for Earth Hour you are recognizing and celebrating your commitment to do something more for the planet that goes beyond the hour.

        Earth Hour is not a black out. It is a voluntary action by participants to show commitment to an act of change that benefits the planet. Earth Hour believes that the symbolism of the hour is incredibly important in bringing people and communities together across the globe. But our aspiration from the beginning was to go far beyond the hour itself. In 2012, Earth Hour launched I Will If You Will, a platform to incentivize and inspire individuals to share their commitment to the planet with their friends, colleagues, leaders and networks. Earth Hour also encourages and promotes many other initiatives around the world, including the Earth Hour City Challenge, the Earth Hour People’s Projects and many national and local actions that take the campaign beyond the hour.

     Earth Hour only asks people to turn off the non-essential lights for one hour - not lights that affect public safety. There are a few lights we can say with certainty that should not be turned off, including safety lights in public spaces, lights for aviation guidance, traffic lights, security lights, etc. We ask people to use common sense. Before you turn off any lights for public spaces Earth Hour recommends you check with local officials or community centers. In your own home, use common sense with respect to safety. Earth Hour is also a celebration of the planet so it’s important to enjoy the moment in a safe environment. If you plan on burning candles during Earth Hour, make sure you use 100% beeswax candles or soy candles, which are gentler on our planet - smoke free, non-toxic and non-allergenic. They are also made of natural products, not petroleum-based materials, so they are effectively carbon neutral. 

            Earth Hour wants everyone to be absolutely safe and never to turn off any lights or power that would in any way compromise the safety of any individual in a private or public space. So please put safety first when deciding what lights to turn off during your participation. For Earth Hour’s broader I Will If You Will campaign, we will not support challenges that are not safe, not responsible or not respectful. So if it is dangerous, damaging or defamatory please think of others and think of something else for your challenge. We don’t encourage or endorse irresponsible behavior. Remember! Positive for the planet, not negative for life or limb.

        The standard Earth Hour '60' logo represents the 60 minutes of Earth Hour where we focus on the impact we are having on our planet and take positive action to address the environmental issues we face. For Earth Hour 2011 the ‘60+’ logo was introduced representing a commitment to add to Earth Hour a positive act for the planet that goes beyond the hour.

        There are also a few songs about Earth Hour. The songs are "Earth Hour" by Dash Berlin, WWF Earth Hour Anthem "When the lights go down" by Andrew Huang, "Better Day" performed at the first Earth Hour celebration in Sydney by Mitch Butler, 2013 Austrian Earth Hour Song "Earth Is Crying - Dry Her Tears", Phillipines Earth Hour Song "If we try" written by Reev Robledo, performed by Percival & Ninna Juan-del Mundo and "Turn out the Lights" by Australian artist, Elektra Vine.

        

        Earth Hour is not only an annual event, but it also culminates in an hour of inspiration held across the world towards the end of March each year. This year, 2013 sees the 7th Earth Hour. 

References :
Green Works – Reduce – Reuse – Recycle – Respect. Earth Hour. Retrieved from http://www.greenworks.co.za/earthhourpage.html
Earth Hour. Earth Hour FAQS. Retrieved from http://www.earthhour.org/page/media-centre/faqs

History Of Earth Hour.

Earth Hour first started in Sydney on 31 March 2007. It was the first Earth Hour event. There are more than 2.2 million residents and 2000 businesses participated by turning off all non-essential lights for one hour. As Sydney has started the Earth Hour event, many other cities around the world has joined the event in 2008.

 Earth Hour 2008 was held on March 29 from 8p.m. to 9p.m. at every country’s local time. It was the first anniversary of the event. It was participated by 32 countries around the world as the official flagship cities and supported by over 400 cities. Some examples of the landmarks all around the world which turned off their non-essential lighting for Earth Hour are Sydney Opera House, Empire State Building, Golden Gate Bridge, SM Mall of Asia, The London City Hall, Wat Arun Temple, etc. In Malaysia, Petronas Towers and KL Tower both have switched off their non-essential lighting to celebrate Earth Hour.

In Earth Hour 2008, an international online survey showed that 36 million people have participated and there was a 4 percentage point of increase in the awareness of environmental issues, such as climate change. The CBS Evening News, CNN, CNN International, The Oprah Winfrey Show, WXIA-TV and more have covered an hour-long Earth Hour special during the event. 

Sydney

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 

       In 2009, Earth Hour was celebrated on March 28 from 8:30p.m. to 9:30p.m. at local time, creating a visual mandate for action on climate change effectively kick-starting the world’s first global vote. There is a result of ten times more cities participated than Earth Hour 2008 which are 88 countries and 4159 cities. The United Nations Headquarters in New York City estimated that its participation will save $102 in energy. 

     The participating television and radio stations from around the world are The National Geographic Channel, National Geographic Channel Asia, Malaysia’s 8TV, Cartoon Network, Magic 105.4 FM, ABS-CBN, XFM Naga, etc.

          Earth Hour 2010 was observed from 8:30p.m. to 9:30p.m. at respective local time, 27 March. There was a special case in Israel, which the event was held on 22 April. It is succeeds in being a global call to action to stand up, take responsibility and lead the global journey to a sustainable future. The event was said to be the biggest Earth Hour so far. Its aim is to gain more than one billion participant goal of Earth Hour 2009. There is an increase in 38 countries participated in Earth Hour 2010, which are 126 countries and about 4000 cities.

        The landmarks such as Big Ben, Eiffel Tower, the Parthenon, the Brandenburg Gate and the Forbidden City have participated in Earth Hour 2010. South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark, President of Vietnam Nguyễn Minh Triết, and London Mayor Boris Johnson are the examples of Celebrity Earth Hour ambassadors.

Big Ben, London.

Eiffel Tower, Paris. 

      Besides, Earth Hour has garnered support from many corporations including Coca-Cola Enterprises, Wells Fargo, IKEA, HSBC, PwC, Accenture and Nokia Siemens Networks. In 2010, National Geographic Channel Asia, Cartoon Network, ABS-CBN were still participating Earth Hour together with GMA Network, FBNC channel, TVOntario and mnit.

         Earth Hour was held across the world at 8.30pm-9.30pm on March 26, 2011 and continues to break records for participation with 135 countries and 5251 cities taking part. It had an estimated reach of 1.8 billion people across the globe took part in the event. Earth Hour 2011 is the first Earth Hour to go beyond the hour, by asking supporters to think about what else they can do to make a difference.

         In 2011, the Forbidden City, Eiffel Tower, Buckingham Palace, Golden Gate Bridge, Table Mountain, Christ the Redeemer statue and Sydney Opera House are some of the world's most well-known landmarks which had switched off their lights for Earth Hour's global "lights out" event. Other than that, YouTube has promoted Earth Hour by changing its logo. YouTube also added a switch on/off feature near the title of each video, so that users can change the background color from white to black.

Black YouTube.

          On 31 March 2012, Earth Hour 2012 was celebrated from 8:30p.m. to 9:30p.m. at participant’s local time. It has cemented itself as the largest voluntary action for the environment which took place in more than 7000 cities and towns across 152 countries and territories. So, it has continues its effort to go beyond the hour by launching the “I Will If You Will” campaign in February 2012.

        The campaign has promoted publicly through Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and e-mail. Using YouTube as a platform, IWIYW asks everyone around the globe to share what they would be willing to do to save the planet, and what they’d expect done in return. Earth Hour 2012 went to extremes to protect the planet, with astronaut André Kuipers observing the lights off event from the International Space Station. There are more than 200,000 individuals accepting the challenge in YouTube. 

           Executive Director and Co-Founder Andy Ridley (2012) said, "Earth Hour's challenge is no longer to connect people; the challenge is to offer a reason to connect. Any movement of change begins with symbolism – it's a needed step to prove enough people care about an issue. Earth Hour is past the beginning now, and lots of people are switching their lights off every year in March. We're now at the stage of taking it beyond the hour." 

         As the changes that YouTube had made in the previous year, there were 4.6 million hits on the platform during the week of Earth Hour, with more than 200,000 people personally pledging to take a direct action beyond the hour.

        Earth Hour 2013 was observed around the globe on Saturday, March 23 at 8:30p.m. to 9:30p.m. local time. It took place in more than 7001 cities and towns and 153 countries and territories across all seven continents. The campaign has experienced its biggest growth since 2009 as hundreds of millions of people switched off their lights for an hour.

        As a first step to fight the 6000 hectares of deforestation that occur in Uganda every month, the world’s first Earth Hour Forest began in 2013. The WWF-Uganda team had identified close to 2700 hectares of degraded land. The “I Will If You Will” concept is used by the WWF-Uganda team to challenge businesses, government officials and individuals to fill it with at least 500,000 trees during the year. Standard Chartered Bank-Uganda pledged to help fill the forest with more than 250,000 trees.

        

       Not only that, FIFA has participated in Earth Hour for the third successive year, an event which supports the Football for Hope campaign. FIFA has encouraged all football supporters to participate in Earth Hour 2013. It is not only as a way of saving power but also to symbolize the importance of caring for our planet. With the support of all 208 member organizations and over 60 Football for Hope, the commitment of FIFA goes far beyond switching off all lights at the Home of FIFA in Zurich.

        People from all walks of life, from all nations around the world, are the lifeblood of the Earth Hour interconnected global community. They have proven time and time again that if you believe in something strongly enough, you can achieve amazing things. These stories aren't unique, this is happening all over the world. (Ridley, 2012)

       We can see that every year, there’s an increase in the number of countries and cities involved in the Earth Hour event. The record keeps on breaking every year as more and more people participating in the event. The date of Earth Hour 2014 was announced it will be schedule on March 29 as seen on the 2013 Earth Hour highlights.

References :
Earth Hour. History. Retrieved from http://www.earthhour.org//page/media-centre/earth-hour-history
Fox News. U.N.'s Participation in Earth Hour Is Full of Hot Air, Critics Say. Retrieved from http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,511102,00.htmlFIFA.COM. FIFA supports Earth Hour. Retrieved from http://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/socialresponsibility/news/newsid=2040037/index.html

Who Supported Earth Hour?

Organizations. 

      World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) co-founded Earth Hour in Sydney in 2007, facilitating Earth Hour’s rapid worldwide growth through its connection to WWF’s global network. Earth Hour began as a WWF-led initiative in Australia in 2007 in partnership with brand co-owners, Fairfax Media and Leo Burnett. All three partners decided from the beginning, however, that expanding Earth Hour’s global reach would require working in partnership with any organization. Earth Hour’s message has spanned the world with the help of many global organizations. 

      Any partner that uphold and support the aims and principles of Earth Hour can be the partner of Earth Hour. Therefore, without the support of other NGOs and NFPs, the success of Earth Hour would not be possible. Global organizations such as the World Organization of the Scout Movement and the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts have played a very important role in spreading the Earth Hour message. In some countries where there is no WWF presence, Earth Hour campaigns are orchestrated entirely by other NGOs and NFPs who share the same non-aggressive, guilt-free approach to addressing environmental issues taken by Earth Hour.

Countries. 

There are a total of 92 countries from around the world are supporting Earth Hour.  Some example of countries that supported the Earth Hour event are:

•     Samoa

•    Fiji

•    New Zealand

•    Australia, Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge

•    Argentina

•    New Caledonia

•    Papua New Guinea

•    Japan, Tokyo Tower

•    South Korea

•    Philippines did not normally participate for this year, however billboard operators and citizens did participate. About 1640 Philippine towns and cities, including malls like SM Lanang Premier, took part in this year's Earth Hour—joining the rest of the world in calling for lasting action on climate change and in being part of the solution.

•    Indonesia

•    Malaysia, Petronas Towers

•    Taiwan, Taipei 101

•    Singapore, Marina Bay Sands

•    China, The Bird's Nest (Beijing)

•    India, Gateway of India

•    Dubai, Burj Khalifa

•    Bahrain, Bahrain World Trade Center, Al Fateh Grand Mosque, Isa Cultural Centre, Electricity and Water Authority, Bahrain International Circuit and the Al Moayyed Tower[83]

•    United Arab Emirates, Shaikh Zayed Grand Mosque and Shaikh Zayed Bridge

•    Greece, Acropolis

•    France, Eiffel Tower

•    England, Big Ben, Houses of Parliament

•    Italy, David in Florence

•    Denmark, Copenhagen's Little Mermaid statue

•    Canada, all 30 National Hockey League arenas, Hamilton Utilities and Horizon Utilities

•    United States of America

•    LAX

Celebrities. 

      The celebrity that endorsed the Earth Hour event is Jessica Alba, the actress and co-founder of The Honest Company. She’s the Earth Hour 2013 global ambassador. Alba along with the other co-founders of eco-friendly family brand The Honest Company, Christopher Gavigan, Sean Kane and Brian Lee, are lending their support to the cause through a fun ‘I Will If You Will’ challenge, in line with the company’s focus on promoting health and sustainability. They will let their kids dress the entire Honest team, for work for one day if 10,000 people commit to switch to using non-toxic products in their homes.

      Support for the campaign has also been shown by big names on social media. Alejandro Sanz, Doutzen Kroes, Ian Somerhalder, Gisele Bunchen, and Alicia Sliverstone are just some of the celebrities using Twitter and asking fans to turn off their lights on March 23, 8:30PM.

      Earth Hour is also supported around the world by Nelson Mandela, supermodel Miranda Kerr, cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar, the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Greenpeace InternationalExecutive Director Kumi Naidoo, former US Vice President Al Gore, the President of Fiji Ratu Epeli Nailatikau, André Kuipers and the International Space Station, actress Isabel Lucas, TV stars Bill and Giuliana Rancic, Yoko Ono, Stephen Fry, Cate Blanchett, Coldplay, among many others. 

      However it is really the celebrities from across Asia that are leading the global ambassador efforts for Earth Hour this year, lending their voices of support for the campaign and taking up the challenge to inspire ongoing positive actions for the environment beyond the hour. 

     Nadya Hutagalung, Utt Panichkul, Pevita Pearce, Andy F. Noya, Ariel from NOAH, G.E.M., Eason Chan , Kay Tse, Shruti Hassan, Marc Nelson, Rovilson Fernandez, Mikee Cojuangco-Jaworski, Bathiya & Santhush (BNS), Li Bingbing, Yu Quan, Chen Yibing , Li Yundi, Li Yuchun, Harlem Yu, Sonia Sui, JJ Lin, Amber Kuo, Christine Fan and S.H.E are among the biggest names in Asia supporting the global environmental movement now in its seventh year.

Nadya Hutagalung

GEM from Hong Kong. 

References :
Earth Hour. Earth Hour FAQS. Retrieved from http://www.earthhour.org/page/media-centre/faqs
Earth Hour. Celebrities Show Their Support Earth Hour 2013. Retrieved from http://www.earthhour.org/2013celebs

I Will If You Will.

What Is "I Will If You Will"?

     “I Will If You Will" (IWIYW) is an Earth Hour campaign to encourage positive action for the environment. The actions required are up to the individual or group. They could be big or small and it might be a simple lifestyle change or perhaps something that leads to political change. The campaign intends for people to become the inspiration to their friends, family, colleagues and communities by sharing what they’re willing to do to protect the planet.

      What makes it special is that it empowers you - as an individual or as part of a community or organization - to share your commitment to the planet with friends, family, colleagues, fans or even a whole nation. The idea is simple. Someone makes a promise to do something if a certain number of people commit to take an ongoing action for the environment, beyond Earth Hour.

      The action could be big or small; it might be a simple lifestyle change or maybe something that leads to political change. It might require 10 people to do something, or 10,000. The point is that I Will If You Will allows anybody – from a kid in a classroom to a President of a nation - to become the inspiration to their friends, family, colleagues and communities by sharing what they’re willing to do to protect the planet. Challenges can be created or accepted on Earth Hour's YouTube channel.

Why Are We Doing It? 

      Earth Hour has already shown what one simple idea can achieve, now it's about showing what someone's actions can inspire. In 2011, we launched the concept of "Beyond the Hour" as a way to help empower our community to do something more than just lights off. We knew that we had to create a campaign to take our movement further, and help mobilize our community to inspire actions big and small that would change the world we live in. 

        It wasn't until 2012 that we really nailed it - I Will If You Will was born last February, and immediately we knew we were onto something. Suddenly, our community - ranging from supermodels to sports stars, CEOs to kids in classrooms - were coming up with fun, creative, quirky, interesting and engaging challenges showing what they'd do if their peers did something for the environment. 

      In 2012, nearly 10,000 IWIYWs were posted on YouTube.com/EarthHour driving more than 4.6 million people to interact with the challenges and 200,000 to accept challenges on the platform alone. Thousands more expressed commitment through Earth Hour's Facebook and Twitter communities, as well as an extraordinary level of interactivity through class rooms, radio stations, large corporations, scout groups and even by cartoon characters. 

      It wasn't until we stood back and looked at some of the outcomes that came from the campaign that we realize. I Will If You Will was already generating real change. In its first year, I Will If You Will achieved some environmental outcomes greater than any of us could have imagined:

• It led to legislation in the Russian parliament to better protect the country's seas from oil pollution 
• It initiated two huge reforestation projects in Africa 
• It inspired more than 26 cities in Indonesia to use Twitter to mobilize action across the nation, cementing Earth Hour as the country's largest grassroots environmental movement. 

      This year, more than 50 Earth Hour country teams are adopting the campaign, so you can imagine how exciting 2013 is going to be for our movement.

How Can I Get Involved? 

      It’s simple! There are a few options of how you can help us take the passion of Earth Hour, beyond the hour. The best way to do so is to create your own challenge. 

      First, you’ll need to film your exciting I Will If You Will challenge video that will encourage people to accept! Just introduce yourself, say what you’re willing to do and what you want your friends, family, colleagues or social media followers to do for the planet. Now, there’s just one catch… there’s a predetermined list of You Will options to choose from if you want to get your video on our YouTube platform. See what they are. 

       Once your video is done, upload it to your existing YouTube account. Then simply click create challenge and follow the steps until you reach “Create Dare”. We have also come up with this short video about how to create a challenge to help you out with this.

      If you want to create a challenge, but you do not have a YouTube account, you can always create a challenge on the platform by signing in with your Facebook or Twitter account. It’s exactly the same, just without the video component to your challenge. 

     If you decide you don’t want to create your own challenge this year, why not just accept one instead? Your action will help the environment and also it will help make the challenger complete their end of the dare!   You can accept a challenge at here. :)

      The I Will If You Will platform allows anybody with a Facebook, YouTube or Twitter account to accept challenges, and you can always spread the word by sharing the challenges and yours beyond the hour commitment with your own networks.

References :
Earth Hour. I Will If You Will. Retrieved from http://earthhour.org/iwill

Criticisms About Earth Hour.

       Even though there are hundreds of millions of people participating in Earth Hour, there are still some criticisms about Earth Hour. There are some organizations and people that do not support the Earth Hour event and criticize about it. Below are some examples of the criticisms about Earth Hour. 

       The president of ACT on Campus which is the youth arm of New Zealand's ACT Party, Rick Giles told on the breakfast television show Sunrise that instead of Earth Hour Event, we should celebrate ‘Edison Hour’. He alleged that the Earth Hour Event is an anti-technology cause. People may use candles to replace electricity and candles are petroleum-based products. Rick said that if we are heading for some kind of disasters it seems right to use technology to fight with this. However, the arguments have made the young leader disreputable after he said, "I think my argument is so powerful that it's not necessary to talk about it". 

       Other than that, The Christian Science Monitor claimed that most candles are made of paraffin, a heavy hydrocarbon derived from crude oil. Burning a paraffin candle for one hour will release about 10 grams of carbon dioxide. So it will increase the consumption of energy and carbon dioxide emissions. 

      The Ayn Rand Institute stated that participants spend an enjoyable sixty minutes in the dark, safe in the knowledge that the life-saving benefits of industrial civilization are just a light switch away. It suggested us to forget one measly hour with just the lights off but try “Earth Month”. Try spending a month shivering in the dark without heating, electricity, refrigeration; without power plants or generators; without any of the labor-saving, time-saving, and therefore life-saving products that industrial energy makes possible. 

      The Ayn Rand Institute said that Earth Hour presents the disturbing spectacle of people celebrating those lights being extinguished. Its call for people to renounce energy and to rejoice at darkened skyscrapers makes its real meaning unmistakably clear: Earth Hour symbolizes the renunciation of industrial civilization. 

References : 

Altius Directory. Earth Hour Events 2013. Retrieved from http://www.altiusdirectory.com/Society/earth-hour-events.html

YouTube. I think my argument is so powerful that it’s not necessary to talk about it. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2B9MqNzQuuk&noredirect=1

The Christian Science Monitor. Does lighting candles for Earth Hour defeat the purpose? Retrieved from http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/Bright-Green/2009/0327/does-lighting-candles-for-earth-hour-defeat-the-purpose

ARC Ayn Rand Center. The Real Meaning of Earth Hour. Retrieved from http://www.aynrand.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=22887&news_iv_ctrl=1021

Earth Hour 2014

      The date for Earth Hour 2014 was announced will schedule on March 29 as seen on the 2013 Earth Hour highlights. To be officially recognized as a participant in Earth Hour 2014, either for a city, town or municipality, it must meet at least one of the following three criteria: 

1. Have the official support of its governing authority (e.g. Governor or Mayor) 
2.  Have confirmed participation of a significant landmark or icon 
3. Have the support of an official Earth Hour ambassador N.B. – to register your city, town or municipality you must be in a position of governing authority to do so. If you are not in a position of authority to register your city, town or municipality we encourage you to get in contact with your local governing authority and ask them to sign up to be officially recognized as an Earth Hour 2014 participating city, town or municipality. 

      By registering for Earth Hour 2014, individuals, communities and businesses are making a commitment to turn their lights off for an hour at 8.30PM on Saturday 29 March in acknowledgement of an act they will undertake for the benefit of the planet. Our expectation is that these individuals, communities and businesses will take action beyond the hour. In 2012, the “I Will If You Will” campaign has launched to provide a platform to inspire people to share their commitment to the planet with their friends, colleagues, leaders and networks. 

     You can sign up for Earth Hour 2014 at here. :D

References:

Earth Hour. Earth Hour FAQS. Retrieved from http://www.earthhour.org/page/media-centre/faqs