Mongolian Sunglass Extravaganza

July 2, 2009 Dear Friends, Welcome to the inaugural Mongolian Sunglass Extravaganza! Thank you for being here today; I am so glad you could make it. I would like to share some information with you about the event and the supporters who made this possible. With that in mind, please take the time to read through this information. On the backside, you can find information about our procedure and the media coverage of this event. Allow me to take a moment to share with you the story of how we got here today… One day on Facebook, I received a friend request from a man by the name of Sébastien Sevaz. Out of boredom, Sébastien ran a contest with his friends in Switzerland on Facebook to see who could friend the most people from all over the world the fastest., and that was how Sébastien found me. My Facebook activity is more then enough for my American friends, but to Sébastien, my activity and profile information was intriguing. After Sébastien lost the contest, he and his friends closed their Facebook accounts that were filled with phony friends and started over this time friending their real friends’ only and using Facebook for its intended purpose… to connect to those you know. During this process, Sébastien made one exception; I am the only person he remained connected to that he did not know. A few weeks ago, had sent me a message on Facebook asking me to help with an association he planned to started, Vue d'ailleurs. Once he told me about the association and its mission, it inspired me and I came up with the idea for this party today. Below is some information about Sébastien and how Vue d'ailleurs began. About Sébastien Sevaz (the artist) Born March 27, 1970, Sébastien studied in Switzerland. At fifteen, he worked in the travel industry as an agent and held the same job up to 2000. In 2000, while still living in Switzerland, Sébastien opened several businesses. He opened Mess Wines -- dedicated to promote national wines to restaurants around Switzerland, Seb & Seb –specializing in imported products dedicated to sports especially in the Golf and ski industries, and Liberty Travel. Recently, Sébastien decided to sell his travel agency because he felt as though the industry started to become more of a nightmare than a dream. In the meanwhile, he still keeps his focus on the other businesses, while still exploring his passion for travel and photography, which inspired this event. Sébastien's next project is part of the abovementioned association, "Vue d'ailleur," which he plans to finalize by the end of the year. Sébastien's Photography During summer 2007, Sébastien travelled with a professional photographer, Richard Fasseur, for two weeks in Mongolia with a small group of three individuals. Richard offered Sébastien the chance to discover the universe of photography. Athough Sébastien loves photographing, he dislikes the technical aspect of photography, so Sébastien never edits or retouches his photographs. Given the candid and pure nature of his photographs, he describes this process as a learning experience than is both amazing and inspirational. Association "Vue d'ailleurs" The idea to start this association came to Sébastien as a flash; he decided to mix all his companies and passions to create an association whose sole purpose is to create a website or book that will display all the people around the world, offering a small gift to those who need them for better use. Today, the small gifts we all give are pairs of sunglasses to Mongolian Nomads who need them. In 2007, when Sébastien made his first trip to Mongolia, he learned about the importance of sunglasses. The average altitude in Mongolia is about 5000 feet (1500 meters); as you can imagine, the sun is very strong in the high altitudes. Bearing that in mind, sunglasses aid the Mongolians while they continue along with their nomadic journeys in the search of the best pastures and campsites. As a part of this project, Sebastien will photograph the receiver of your sunglasses put a book or website together in the future with all of these photographs and images. In addition to finding this an honorable cause, I also found this to be a unique concept. With the support of people like Neera Ashiya, ValSecrets, my friends, and you, I put this event together to support Sébastien's project. Neera Ashiya is a local artist that wanted to contribute to Sébastien's project; she made the beautiful painting that we scanned into post cards for you to write a note to the receiver of your sunglasses. Below is a statement about the painting and event from Neera: “In the center of this painting, in honor of the beneficiaries of today's charity event is a map of Mongolia featured in black, in reference to the theme of our donation drive—sunglasses. The background of the painting is a blend of blue and red—the colors of the American flag, as well as the colors of the Mongolian flag. The interweaving of these colors is representative of the efforts of people in these two countries at bridging boundaries towards a common goal; as is the purpose of the event today. The white and yellow stripes are indicative of the unique colors in the American and Mongolian flag respectively, and represent our uniqueness and individuality, and mutual respect for one another .Thank you for your contrition today.” -Neera Ashiya, artist, New York, NY ValSecrets, who also supports Sébastien's project, has released this statement: “Elizabeth Yannone, (aka Eliza7654) a ValSecrets Neighbor is putting together a considerate and heartfelt charity for the people of Mongolia to assist Sébastien Sevaz's mission. Elizabeth had ValSecrets.com recognize the new level of poverty in Mongolia. Poverty in Mongolia remains in high numbers even though there are many attempts to reduce it. Out of all of the population in Mongolia 1/3 of it is living in poverty. Definition of poverty in Mongolia is people that can’t buy necessary food or items such as a basket or even sunglasses. ValSecrets wants to help out Elizabeth spread the word, to help our fellow Earthlings, People, Neighbors in Mongolia. ValSecrets is here to entertain, educate, and connect people across the world.”- xoxo Val, CEO ValSecrets.com A quote Sébastien Sevaz wanted to share: "Notre vie se perd dans des détails… Simplifiez, simplifiez, simplifiez!" (Henry David Thoreau) (Our life gets lost in details. Simplify, simplify, simplify ! ) A very special thanks to all of you … Thank you all so much for being here today, your presence and contribution to this project means more to me than you know. This event could not have been possible without you. Have fun and be grateful for the life you are fortunate enough to live! Love, Elizabeth Yannone

[email protected]

mongoliansunglassextravaganza.blogspot.com/

Instructions: •

When you arrive, you will need to sign in.

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After you are signed in, you will receive a sticker ID with your name and a card for you to write a note to the receiver of your glasses.

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Then, you will be directed to a spot where two photos will be taken of you. One photo will be with the sticker while wearing your sunglasses that identifies you and the other photo will be taken without the sticker.

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Once the photos are taken, you will receive a poly bag with your sticker ID. Please keep the poly bag until you leave.

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On your way out, please place the sunglasses and your card in the poly bag and hand them to me.

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HAVE FUN!

This event will be covered by ValSecrets.com and Manhattan Society. I will send you email updates periodically with post event information that will include media links

and updates from Sébastien Sevaz. Alternatively, you can visit: mongoliansunglassextravaganza.blogspot.com/