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== Course content ==
== Course content ==
;Format and delivery
Course size varies between 75 and 250 people.<ref name="Badt">Badt, Karen (March 5, 2008). "[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/karin-badt/inside-the-landmark-forum_b_90028.html Karin Badt: Inside The Landmark Forum]". ''[[The Huffington Post]]''. Retrieved on October 22, 2008.</ref>
Course size varies between 75 and 250 people.<ref name="Badt">Badt, Karen (March 5, 2008). "[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/karin-badt/inside-the-landmark-forum_b_90028.html Karin Badt: Inside The Landmark Forum]". ''[[The Huffington Post]]''. Retrieved on October 22, 2008.</ref>
Rules are set up at the beginning of the program, such as strongly encouraging participants not to miss any part of the program.<ref name=Hill>{{cite news | first = Amelia | last = Hill | title = I thought I’d be brainwashed. But how wrong could I be… | url = http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2003/dec/14/ameliahill.theobserver| work = [[The Guardian]]| publisher=www.guardian.co.uk |date = 2008-03-05| accessdate = 2009-12-09 | location=London}}</ref> Attendees are also urged to be “coachable” and not just be observers during the course.<ref name=Hill/><ref name=McCrone>{{cite news | first = John | last = McCrone | title = A Landmark Change | work = [[The Press]]| publisher= The Press (New Zealand) |date = 2008-11-22}}</ref>
Rules are set up at the beginning of the program, such as strongly encouraging participants not to miss any part of the program.<ref name=Hill>{{cite news | first = Amelia | last = Hill | title = I thought I’d be brainwashed. But how wrong could I be… | url = http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2003/dec/14/ameliahill.theobserver| work = [[The Guardian]]| publisher=www.guardian.co.uk |date = 2008-03-05| accessdate = 2009-12-09 | location=London}}</ref> Attendees are also urged to be “coachable” and not just be observers during the course.<ref name=Hill/><ref name=McCrone>{{cite news | first = John | last = McCrone | title = A Landmark Change | work = [[The Press]]| publisher= The Press (New Zealand) |date = 2008-11-22}}</ref>
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The evening session that follows closely on the three consecutive days of the course completes the Landmark Forum. During this final session, the participants share information about their results, and bring guests to learn about the Forum.<ref name=Badt/><ref name=McCrone/><ref name=Odasso/>
The evening session that follows closely on the three consecutive days of the course completes the Landmark Forum. During this final session, the participants share information about their results, and bring guests to learn about the Forum.<ref name=Badt/><ref name=McCrone/><ref name=Odasso/>


===Community projects===
;Community projects
Some other Landmark courses encourage or require participants to create a community project.<ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.sacramentopress.com/headline/26426/Velo_and_Vintage_on_Second_Saturday | title = Velo and Vintage on Second Saturday| publisher = Sacramento Press | accessdate = 2011-03-14 | date=2010-05-06}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url = http://articles.philly.com/2008-07 31/entertainment/24990821_1_breast-cancer-survivors-breast-cancer-survivors-duck-breast | title = Cherish the mammary: Restaurants raise funds for breast cancer survivors
Some other Landmark courses encourage or require participants to create a community project.<ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.sacramentopress.com/headline/26426/Velo_and_Vintage_on_Second_Saturday | title = Velo and Vintage on Second Saturday| publisher = Sacramento Press | accessdate = 2011-03-14 | date=2010-05-06}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url = http://articles.philly.com/2008-07 31/entertainment/24990821_1_breast-cancer-survivors-breast-cancer-survivors-duck-breast | title = Cherish the mammary: Restaurants raise funds for breast cancer survivors
| publisher = Philadelphia Daily News | accessdate = 2011-03-14 | date=2008-07-31}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url = http://detroit.blogs.time.com/2010/09/21/some-of-detroits-major-miracle-makers/| title = Some of Detroit’s Major Miracle Makers | publisher = Time Magazine, Detroit Blog | accessdate = 2011-09-20 | date=2010-09-21}}</ref> In the ''Self-Expression and Leadership Program'', participants are required to undertake a project that benefits the larger community or society as a whole.<ref>{{cite news | url = http://legacy.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20080419/news_1ez19bike.html | title = Cyclists gear up for challenging event | publisher = San Diego Union-Tribune | accessdate = 2011-03-14 | date=2008-04-19}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url =http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2001-10-26/entertainment/0110260370_1_belly-dancing-middle-eastern-arab | title = Middle Eastern arts on tap| publisher = Chicago Tribune | accessdate = 2011-10-14 | date=2001-10-26 | first=Lucia | last=Mauro}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url =http://hindu.com/2010/09/13/stories/2010091362530400.htm | title = Helping professionals take up community welfare projects | publisher = Hindu Times | accessdate = 2011-10-14 | date=2010-09-13 | location=Chennai, India}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url =http://www.bayofplentytimes.co.nz/news/charity-walk-boost-anti-suicide-initiatives/1074975/ | title = Charity walk to boost anti-suicide initiatives | publisher = Bay of Plenty Times | accessdate = 2011-10-14 | date=2011-08-20}}</ref>
| publisher = Philadelphia Daily News | accessdate = 2011-03-14 | date=2008-07-31}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url = http://detroit.blogs.time.com/2010/09/21/some-of-detroits-major-miracle-makers/| title = Some of Detroit’s Major Miracle Makers | publisher = Time Magazine, Detroit Blog | accessdate = 2011-09-20 | date=2010-09-21}}</ref> In the ''Self-Expression and Leadership Program'', participants are required to undertake a project that benefits the larger community or society as a whole.<ref>{{cite news | url = http://legacy.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20080419/news_1ez19bike.html | title = Cyclists gear up for challenging event | publisher = San Diego Union-Tribune | accessdate = 2011-03-14 | date=2008-04-19}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url =http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2001-10-26/entertainment/0110260370_1_belly-dancing-middle-eastern-arab | title = Middle Eastern arts on tap| publisher = Chicago Tribune | accessdate = 2011-10-14 | date=2001-10-26 | first=Lucia | last=Mauro}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url =http://hindu.com/2010/09/13/stories/2010091362530400.htm | title = Helping professionals take up community welfare projects | publisher = Hindu Times | accessdate = 2011-10-14 | date=2010-09-13 | location=Chennai, India}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url =http://www.bayofplentytimes.co.nz/news/charity-walk-boost-anti-suicide-initiatives/1074975/ | title = Charity walk to boost anti-suicide initiatives | publisher = Bay of Plenty Times | accessdate = 2011-10-14 | date=2011-08-20}}</ref>
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Mayfair’s Amber Allison describers Landmark’s instructors as “enthusiastic and inspiring.” Her review says that after doing The Landmark Forum, “Work worries, relationship dramas all seem more manageable”, and that she “let go of almost three decades of hurt, anger and feelings of betrayal” towards her father.<ref name=Allinson>{{cite news | first = Amber | last = Allinson | title = Mind Over Matter | publisher= The Mayfair Magazine (U.K.) |date = April 2014}}</ref>
Mayfair’s Amber Allison describers Landmark’s instructors as “enthusiastic and inspiring.” Her review says that after doing The Landmark Forum, “Work worries, relationship dramas all seem more manageable”, and that she “let go of almost three decades of hurt, anger and feelings of betrayal” towards her father.<ref name=Allinson>{{cite news | first = Amber | last = Allinson | title = Mind Over Matter | publisher= The Mayfair Magazine (U.K.) |date = April 2014}}</ref>


;Investigative reporting
===Voyage Au Pays des Nouveaux Gourous===
A French television documentary, [[Pièces à Conviction]] ''(Incriminating Evidence)'', aired an episode titled ''Voyage au Pays des Nouveaux Gourous'' on the 24th May 2004. The episode aired during prime time, a first for the show<ref name="huma_Fran">{{Cite web
The French television program [[Pièces à Conviction]] ''(Incriminating Evidence)'', aired an episode titled ''Voyage au Pays des Nouveaux Gourous'' in May 2004. The episode, described as "damning" and "thorough and alarming",<ref name="leparisien">{{Cite web
| title = France 3. L'investigation prend du galon
| last = Roy | first = Anne
| work = L'Humanité
| date = 24 May 2004
| accessdate = 2014-09-21
| url = http://www.humanite.fr/node/306038
| language = fr
| quote = le sujet est tourné en caméra cachée. Une technique qui permet de rapporter des informations bien gardées par la société, qui donne au reportage une dimension idéale pour tenir en haleine les spectateurs à 20 h 50. Le journaliste Laurent Richard a infiltré Landmark Education, une société américaine de " développement personnel " classée depuis 1996 parmi les " sectes " répertoriées par la commission d'enquête parlementaire. "
⚫
}}</ref>

The episode, shot with a hidden camera, and featuring several noted French academics and authors on its commentator-panel during the program. The program interviewed former members and notable commentators such as:

* Attorney [[Olivier Morice]]
* politician [[Phillippe Vuilque]]
* [[Catherine Picard]], president of [[UNADFI]]
* [[Gilles Bottine]], secretary general of [[MIVILUDES]],
* Solicitor [[Jean-Pierre Jougla]]
* Psychiatrist and noted anti-cultist [[Jean-Marie Abgrall]]
* Deputy mayor of [[Montreuil, Seine-Saint-Denis|Montreuil]], [[Jean-Pierre Brard]], the vice-president of the [[Parliamentary Commission about Cults in France|Parliamentary Commission on Cults in France]] (''Commission parlementaire sur les sectes en France'')
* Dr. [[Christian Lujan]], a [[psychoanalyst]] and [[Social psychologist]]
* Mona Vasquez, author of the book ''Et Satan créa la secte'' [''Satan Created the Cult: Memoirs of an escapee’’], an ex-scientology member.

The documentary was described as "damning" by ‘’le Parisien’’<ref name="leparisien">{{Cite web
| title = Une secte démasquée grâce à la caméra cachée
| title = Une secte démasquée grâce à la caméra cachée
| author =
| author =
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| language = French
| language = French
| quote = Le document de ce soir montrera non seulement en quoi consistent ces fameux « stages », mais aussi comment les pouvoirs publics sont restés à ce jour impuissants face à ces agissements. A l'heure où nous bouclons, la société mise en cause n'a pas cherché à empêcher la diffusion de ce reportage accablant.
| quote = Le document de ce soir montrera non seulement en quoi consistent ces fameux « stages », mais aussi comment les pouvoirs publics sont restés à ce jour impuissants face à ces agissements. A l'heure où nous bouclons, la société mise en cause n'a pas cherché à empêcher la diffusion de ce reportage accablant.
}}</ref> ‘’. [[Le Point]]'' described the investigation as "thorough (and) alarming" <ref name="lepo_Voya">{{Cite web
}}</ref><ref name="lepo_Voya">{{Cite web
| title = Voyage au pays des nouveaux gourous - Le Point
| title = Voyage au pays des nouveaux gourous - Le Point
| last = Tessier | first = Odine
| last = Tessier | first = Odine
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| language = fr
| language = fr
| quote = Sur le plateau, Elise Lucet donne la parole à tous les protagonistes : d'anciens participants aux forums qui dénoncent la manipulation ; d'autres au contraire, comme Jocelyne, qui a trouvé un épanouissement ; le responsable de la mission interministérielle de vigilance et de lutte contre les dérives sectaires, un psychologue, un avocat, deux députés, etc. Une enquête fouillée et alarmante
| quote = Sur le plateau, Elise Lucet donne la parole à tous les protagonistes : d'anciens participants aux forums qui dénoncent la manipulation ; d'autres au contraire, comme Jocelyne, qui a trouvé un épanouissement ; le responsable de la mission interministérielle de vigilance et de lutte contre les dérives sectaires, un psychologue, un avocat, deux députés, etc. Une enquête fouillée et alarmante
}}</ref> included hidden camera footage of a course as well as a commentator-panel made up of selected academics and authors. In a subsequent site visit to the French office of Landmark, labor inspectors made a report of undeclared employment in the activities of volunteers, and that office closed the next month.<ref>See:
}}</ref>, while Matthieu Cosu, of the [[UNADFI]], when asked about the response to the airing of the documentary, responded: "It was huge! I have been contacted by nearly three thousand people. People whose relatives were in the sect, families who requested a hearing, an advice".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://television.telerama.fr/television/ces-docs-qui-ont-change-le-monde-4-5-voyage-au-pays-des-nouveaux-gourous,63449.php/ |title=Ces docs qui ont changé le monde (4/5) : "Voyage au pays des nouveaux gourous"|last= Marzolf |first=Hélène |date=11 December 2010 |website=Telerama |accessdate=19 September 2014}}</ref>. Shortly after the documentary aired, Landmark left France<ref name="roma_Land">{{Cite web
⚫
*Marie Lemonniera, [https://web.archive.org/web/20090121000653/http://hebdo.nouvelobs.com/hebdo/parution/p2115/dossier/a268827-chez_les_gourous_en_cravate.html "Chez les gourous en cravate"], ''Le Nouvel Observateur'', 19 May 2005, accessed 7 December 2008; French text: "L’'Inspection du Travail débarque dans les locaux de Landmark, constate l'’exploitation des bénévoles et dresse des procès-verbaux pour travail non déclaré." English translation: "Labor inspectors turned up at the offices of Landmark, noted the exploitation of volunteers and drew up a report of undeclared employment."
⚫
*(May 26, 2004). "[https://web.archive.org/web/20110721001823/http://www.landmarkeducation.fr/menu.jsp?top=20447&siteObjectID=21551 Landmark Education - Droit de Répons - France 3]" (French). landmarkeducation.fr. Retrieved on October 23, 2008.</ref><ref name="roma_Land">{{Cite web
| title = Landmark: 4,000 Romanians were paid to cry in group
| title = Landmark: 4,000 Romanians were paid to cry in group
| last = Thomas | first = Laura
| last = Thomas | first = Laura
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| url = http://www.huffingtonpost.com/karin-badt/inside-the-landmark-forum_b_90028.html
| url = http://www.huffingtonpost.com/karin-badt/inside-the-landmark-forum_b_90028.html
| quote = It was this TV program that closed down the Landmark in France, leaving it only 24 other countries in which to spread its word.
| quote = It was this TV program that closed down the Landmark in France, leaving it only 24 other countries in which to spread its word.
⚫
}}</ref>
}}</ref>, and the French government released information it had gathered on Landmark,<ref name="deri_Etud">{{Cite web
| title = Etude Landmark Education International - Mai 2004 {{!}} Miviludes
| author =
| work = derives-sectes.gouv.fr
| date = 27 December 2014
| accessdate = 2014-09-20
| url = http://www.derives-sectes.gouv.fr/publications-de-la-miviludes/etudes-et-sondages/etude-landmark-education-international-mai-2004
| language = fr
| quote =
}}</ref>.

From September 2006 onwards, anonymous posters sent copies of the documentary — including versions with English-language subtitles — to several video-sharing web-sites and [[BitTorrent (protocol)|bitTorrent]] sites.<ref>[https://www.eff.org/news/archives/2006_11.php#005029 Self-Help Group Backs Off Attack on Internet Critic], Electronic Frontier Foundation, November 30, 2006.</ref>, and on October 2006 Landmark issued [[subpoena]]s pursuant to the [[Digital Millennium Copyright Act]], United States legislation which allows content-owners to issue subpoenas to identify alleged infringers — even without filing a lawsuit. Landmark sent subpoenas to [[Google Video]], [[YouTube]] and the [[Internet Archive]], demanding details of the identity of the person(s) who had uploaded copies (with English-language subtitles) to these websites.


Copies of the video were posted on several video-sharing web-sites,<ref>[https://www.eff.org/news/archives/2006_11.php#005029 Self-Help Group Backs Off Attack on Internet Critic], Electronic Frontier Foundation, November 30, 2006.</ref> prompting [[Digital Millennium Copyright Act|DMCA]] subpoenas by Landmark to [[Google Video]], [[YouTube]] and the [[Internet Archive]] in 2006. Under those subpoenas, Landmark sought to identity of the person(s) who had uploaded copies of the video, which the company claimed violated its US copyright. Challenges to the use of the DMCA in this manner arose from the [[Electronic Frontier Foundation]] (EFF), with other video sites announcing their intention to await the outcome of the EFF's challenge.<ref>
Challenges to Education's efforts arose on multiple fronts. The Internet Archive started fighting its subpoena from Landmark, and the [[Electronic Frontier Foundation]] (EFF) filed official objections on its behalf. The EFF (operating on behalf of the anonymous entity who uploaded the video) also planned to file a motion to quash Landmark's DMCA subpoena to Google Video. Google advised Landmark that it would not produce the requested information pending a ruling on that motion. YouTube sent notification to the user about its subpoena, and planned to give the user a reasonable opportunity to move to quash it.<ref>
[https://www.eff.org/legal/cases/landmark/#19d Landmark and the Internet Archive].
[https://www.eff.org/legal/cases/landmark/#19d Landmark and the Internet Archive].
[https://www.eff.org/legal/cases/landmark/archive_landmark_request.pdf#19d Landmark's letter to the Internet Archive].
[https://www.eff.org/legal/cases/landmark/archive_landmark_request.pdf#19d Landmark's letter to the Internet Archive].
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[https://www.eff.org/legal/cases/landmark/eff_letter.pdf#19d Internet Archive's objections to Landmark subpoena].</ref>
[https://www.eff.org/legal/cases/landmark/eff_letter.pdf#19d Internet Archive's objections to Landmark subpoena].</ref>


⚫
Following a 2002 series of articles in the national daily ''[[Dagens Nyheter]]''<ref>{{cite web|author=Christian Palme |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121015004539/http://www.dn.se/nyheter/sverige/landsting-kopte-kurs-av-landmark |title=Landsting köpte kurs av Landmark |publisher=DN.SE |date=2002-06-03 |accessdate=2012-04-18}}</ref> and programs on the private TV channel [[TV4 (Sweden)|TV4]], Landmark closed its offices in Sweden<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20070818150218/http://www.analyskritik.press.se/irrationalism/irrationalism.htm Tidskriften Analys & Kritik - Irrationalismen<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> in June, 2004.
On 8 November 2006 the Electronic Frontier Foundation posted a ''Draft Motion to Quash Landmark Subpoena'' on their website.<ref>[https://www.eff.org/legal/cases/landmark/ Landmark and the Internet Archive]</ref> Independent filmmaker Enric Cirne interviewed a representative from the EFF on Landmark's use of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.<ref>
[http://techalley.cirne.com/2006/11/22/eff-on-landmark-educations-dmca-subpeona-621/ Video Interview with Electronic Frontier Foundation], Enric Cirne, 8 November 2006, [http://techalley.cirne.com/ Tech Alley].</ref> Cirne also interviewed another staff attorney on camera about the EFF's actions regarding the issuing of the DMCA subpoenas.<ref>
[http://techalley.cirne.com/2006/11/27/jason-schultz-at-eff-on-dmca-take-down-notices-part-iv-556/ Second Video Interview with Electronic Frontier Foundation], Enric Cirne, November, 2006, [http://techalley.cirne.com/ Tech Alley].</ref>


===Disputed religious character===
;Disputed religious character
Some scholars have categorized Landmark and its predecessor organizations as [[new age]], [[self religion]] or a [[new religious movement]].<ref>See:
Some scholars have categorized Landmark and its predecessor organizations as [[new age]], [[self religion]] or a [[new religious movement]].<ref>See:
*{{cite book |last=Barker |first=Eileen |authorlink= |editor-first=Dinesh |editor-last=Bhugra |editor-link=Dinesh Bhugra |title=Psychiatry and Religion: Context, Consensus and Controversies |year=1996|publisher=Routledge |location=London and New York |isbn=0415089557 |page=126 |chapter=New Religions and Mental Health }};
*{{cite book |last=Barker |first=Eileen |authorlink= |editor-first=Dinesh |editor-last=Bhugra |editor-link=Dinesh Bhugra |title=Psychiatry and Religion: Context, Consensus and Controversies |year=1996|publisher=Routledge |location=London and New York |isbn=0415089557 |page=126 |chapter=New Religions and Mental Health }};
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Journalists Amelia Hill with ''[[The Observer]]'' and Karin Badt from ''[[The Huffington Post]]'' have witnessed the Landmark Forum and concluded that, in their view, it is not religious or a cult. Hill wrote, "It is ... simple common sense delivered in an environment of startling intensity." Badt said the organisation's emphasis on "'spreading the word' of the Landmark forum as a sign of the participants' 'integrity'" in recounting her personal experience of an introductory "Landmark Forum" course; "at the end of the day, I found the Forum innocuous. No cult, no radical religion: an inspiring, entertaining introduction of good solid techniques of self-reflection, with an appropriate emphasis on action and transformation (not change)".<ref name=Badt/>
Journalists Amelia Hill with ''[[The Observer]]'' and Karin Badt from ''[[The Huffington Post]]'' have witnessed the Landmark Forum and concluded that, in their view, it is not religious or a cult. Hill wrote, "It is ... simple common sense delivered in an environment of startling intensity." Badt said the organisation's emphasis on "'spreading the word' of the Landmark forum as a sign of the participants' 'integrity'" in recounting her personal experience of an introductory "Landmark Forum" course; "at the end of the day, I found the Forum innocuous. No cult, no radical religion: an inspiring, entertaining introduction of good solid techniques of self-reflection, with an appropriate emphasis on action and transformation (not change)".<ref name=Badt/>

== Litigation ==
⚫
{{Main|Landmark Education litigation}}
In 2006, Landmark initiated actions against websites such as [[Google]] and the [[Internet Archive]] to remove material it deemed to violate the company's copyrights and to protect the privacy and confidentiality of participants in its courses.<ref>Electronic Frontier Foundation. [https://www.eff.org/search/site/%22Landmark%20Education%22 Landmark Education]. Retrieved on September 1, 2013.</ref>

Following a series of investigative articles in the national daily ''[[Dagens Nyheter]]''<ref>See:
⚫
* {{cite web|author=Christian Palme |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121015004539/http://www.dn.se/nyheter/sverige/landsting-kopte-kurs-av-landmark |title=Landsting köpte kurs av Landmark |publisher=DN.SE |date=2002-06-03 |accessdate=2012-04-18}}.</ref> and programs on the private TV channel [[TV4 (Sweden)|TV4]], Landmark closed its offices in Sweden<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20070818150218/http://www.analyskritik.press.se/irrationalism/irrationalism.htm Tidskriften Analys & Kritik - Irrationalismen<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> as of June 2004. Subsequent to a site visit of the French office of Landmark that noted the activities of volunteers, labor inspectors made a report of undeclared employment, and that office closed the next month.<ref>See:
⚫
*Marie Lemonniera, [https://web.archive.org/web/20090121000653/http://hebdo.nouvelobs.com/hebdo/parution/p2115/dossier/a268827-chez_les_gourous_en_cravate.html "Chez les gourous en cravate"], ''Le Nouvel Observateur'', 19 May 2005, accessed 7 December 2008; French text: "L’'Inspection du Travail débarque dans les locaux de Landmark, constate l'’exploitation des bénévoles et dresse des procès-verbaux pour travail non déclaré." English translation: "Labor inspectors turned up at the offices of Landmark, noted the exploitation of volunteers and drew up a report of undeclared employment."
⚫
*(May 26, 2004). "[https://web.archive.org/web/20110721001823/http://www.landmarkeducation.fr/menu.jsp?top=20447&siteObjectID=21551 Landmark Education - Droit de Répons - France 3]" (French). landmarkeducation.fr. Retrieved on October 23, 2008.</ref>


== See also ==
== See also ==
⚫
[[Landmark Education litigation]]
* [[Voyage au pays des nouveaux gourous]]


== References ==
== References ==

Revision as of 11:20, 25 September 2014

Not to be confused with Landmark School.
Landmark Worldwide
Company typePrivate LLC
Industryself-help, self-improvement, personal development, management consulting, continuing education
FoundedJanuary 1991
HeadquartersSan Francisco, California
Key people
Harry Rosenberg: Director;[1] CEO

Mick Leavitt: President
Joe DiMaggio – Director, Research, Design & Development

Nancy Zapolski: Vice President, Program Delivery Division
ProductsThe Landmark Forum, associated coursework
RevenueDecreaseUSD$77 million (2009)[2]
Number of employees
525+ employees;[2]
800 trained leaders, some of whom volunteer their time;[3][failed verification]
SubsidiariesThe Vanto Group (formerly Landmark Education Business Development or LEBD, from 1993 to 2007)
Landmark Education International, Inc.[4]
Tekniko Licensing Corporation
Rancord Company, Ltd.
WebsiteLandmark's homepage

Landmark Worldwide (formerly Landmark Education), or simply Landmark, is a limited liability company headquartered in San Francisco, California. It offers programs in personal development.

The company started with the purchase of intellectual property based upon Werner Erhard's est training seminars. Landmark has developed and delivered over 40 personal development programs. Its subsidiary, the Vanto Group, also markets and delivers training and consulting to organizations.

Landmark's programs have been categorized by some scholars and others as religious or quasi-religious in nature. Landmark and many of the company's customers deny such characterizations, while some researchers question that categorization as well.

History

Landmark Worldwide LLC was founded in January 1991 by several of the presenters of a training program known as "The Forum".[5] Landmark purchased the intellectual property rights to The Forum from Werner Erhard and Associates and used that as the basis for its foundation course named "The Landmark Forum", which has been further updated over the years. It has since developed around 55 additional training courses and seminar programs throughout 20 different countries around the world.

The corporation was originally registered as Transnational Education and changed its name to Landmark Education Corporation in May 1991.[6] In June 2003 it was re-structured as Landmark Education LLC,[7] and in July 2013 renamed Landmark Worldwide LLC.

According to Landmark, Werner Erhard (creator of the controversial[8] est training which ran from 1971 to 1984 and from which the forum was derived[9]) consults from time to time with its "Research and Design team".[10] Terry Giles is Chairman of the Board.[11][12]

Corporation

Landmark Worldwide LLC operates as an employee-owned for-profit private company. According to Landmark's website, its employees own all the stock of the corporation, with no individual holding more than 3%. The company states that it operates in such a way as to invest its surpluses into making its programs, initiatives, and services more widely available.[2] In addition, its subsidiary, the Vanto Group, focuses on marketing and delivering training and consultation services to corporate clients and other organizations.[13]

Business consulting

Vanto Group, Inc., founded in 1993 as "Landmark Education Business Development" (LEBD), a wholly owned subsidiary of Landmark Worldwide Enterprises, Inc., uses the techniques of Landmark to provide consulting services to various companies. The University of Southern California (USC) Marshall School of Business carried out a case study in 1998 into the work of LEBD with BHP New Zealand Steel. The report concluded that the set of interventions in the organization produced a 50% improvement in safety, a 15% to 20% reduction in key benchmark costs, a 50% increase in return on capital, and a 20% increase in raw steel production.[14] LEBD became the Vanto Group in 2007.

Companies such as Panda Express and Lululemon Athletica pay for and encourage employees to take part in The Landmark Forum.[15][16]

Licensing intellectual property

Tekniko, Inc., formerly owned by Werner Erhard, was the successor organization to Transformational Technologies, which was incorporated in 1984 by Erhard and management consultant James Selman.[17] Tekniko Licencing Corporation, a California corporation owned by Terry M. Giles, later acquired this technology. In 2001 Landmark Education formed Tekniko Licensing Corporation, a Nevada corporation, which purchased Tekniko Technology from Giles' company.[18][19]

Since that time, the Vanto Group has used Tekniko to license the "Tekniko methodology and intellectual property to a wide variety of corporations".[20]

Course content

Format and delivery

Course size varies between 75 and 250 people.[21] Rules are set up at the beginning of the program, such as strongly encouraging participants not to miss any part of the program.[22] Attendees are also urged to be “coachable” and not just be observers during the course.[22][23] The program is arranged as a discussion where the course leader presents certain ideas and the course participants engage in voluntary sharing with the course leader to discuss how those ideas apply to their own life.[24] Various ideas are presented, asserted and discussed during the course. For example, the course maintains that there is a big difference between what actually happened in a person’s life and the meaning or interpretation they made up about it,[24] and that human behavior is governed by a need to look good.[22]

Another tenet of the course is that people pursue an "imaginary 'someday' of satisfaction",[21] and that people create meaning for themselves since "there is none inherent in the world".[21] The course also maintains that people have persistent complaints that give rise to unproductive fixed ways of being,[22][23][25] but that people can “transform”, by a creative act of bringing forth new ways of being, rather than trying to change themselves in comparison to the past.[21] Course participants are encouraged to call people they know during the course, with whom they feel they have unresolved tensions, and either be in communication with the other person or be responsible for their own behavior.[21][22][25]

The evening session that follows closely on the three consecutive days of the course completes the Landmark Forum. During this final session, the participants share information about their results, and bring guests to learn about the Forum.[21][23][25]

Community projects

Some other Landmark courses encourage or require participants to create a community project.[26][27][28] In the Self-Expression and Leadership Program, participants are required to undertake a project that benefits the larger community or society as a whole.[29][30][31][32]

In the Team, Management, and Leadership Program, participants create four team-based community projects.[33]

Reviews and criticism

The New York Times reporter Henry Alford summarized his review of The Landmark Forum by saying "Two months after the Forum, I'd rate my success at 84 percent. I'm more prone to telling loved ones and colleagues, in person and without glibness, that I love or admire them. But I still operate from a base position that people are a lot of effort."[34] Time reporter Nathan Thornburgh, in his review of The Landmark Forum, said "At its heart, the course was a withering series of scripted reality checks meant to show us how we have created nearly everything we see as a problem …I benefited tremendously from the uncomfortable mirror the course had put in front of me."[35]

The Irish Mail on Sunday says the effects of The Landmark Forum "...can be startling. People find themselves reconciled with parents, exes and friends. They have conversations they have wanted to have with their families for years; they meet people or get promoted in work."[36] Alternately, Some employees of businesses utilizing Landmark's services have criticized Landmark as overzealous in encouraging people to participate in its courses.[37]

Landmark makes extensive use of web-published and word-of-mouth testimonials from customers to portray its effectiveness, and supplements these with studies, surveys, and opinions.[38]

Mayfair’s Amber Allison describers Landmark’s instructors as “enthusiastic and inspiring.” Her review says that after doing The Landmark Forum, “Work worries, relationship dramas all seem more manageable”, and that she “let go of almost three decades of hurt, anger and feelings of betrayal” towards her father.[39]

Investigative reporting

The French television program Pièces à Conviction (Incriminating Evidence), aired an episode titled Voyage au Pays des Nouveaux Gourous in May 2004. The episode, described as "damning" and "thorough and alarming",[40][41] included hidden camera footage of a course as well as a commentator-panel made up of selected academics and authors. In a subsequent site visit to the French office of Landmark, labor inspectors made a report of undeclared employment in the activities of volunteers, and that office closed the next month.[42][43][44]

Copies of the video were posted on several video-sharing web-sites,[45] prompting DMCA subpoenas by Landmark to Google Video, YouTube and the Internet Archive in 2006. Under those subpoenas, Landmark sought to identity of the person(s) who had uploaded copies of the video, which the company claimed violated its US copyright. Challenges to the use of the DMCA in this manner arose from the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), with other video sites announcing their intention to await the outcome of the EFF's challenge.[46]

Following a 2002 series of articles in the national daily Dagens Nyheter[47] and programs on the private TV channel TV4, Landmark closed its offices in Sweden[48] in June, 2004.

Disputed religious character

Some scholars have categorized Landmark and its predecessor organizations as new age, self religion or a new religious movement.[49] Other observers have noted relationships between the training programs and religion or a spiritual experience, including a lack of religious elements in the programs and the compatibility of the programs with existing religions.[50][51] Others, such as Chryssides, classify Landmark as either quasi-religious or secular with some elements of religion.[52] Various governments have also classed Landmark and its previous iterations as new religion and some have classified it as dangerous (although various scholars have disputed this characterization).[53][54] or commented on characteristics shared with such groups without labeling it as a cult.[55] Landmark has denied that it is a religion, cult or sect.[56]

Journalists Amelia Hill with The Observer and Karin Badt from The Huffington Post have witnessed the Landmark Forum and concluded that, in their view, it is not religious or a cult. Hill wrote, "It is ... simple common sense delivered in an environment of startling intensity." Badt said the organisation's emphasis on "'spreading the word' of the Landmark forum as a sign of the participants' 'integrity'" in recounting her personal experience of an introductory "Landmark Forum" course; "at the end of the day, I found the Forum innocuous. No cult, no radical religion: an inspiring, entertaining introduction of good solid techniques of self-reflection, with an appropriate emphasis on action and transformation (not change)".[21]

See also

Landmark Education litigation

References

  1. ^ (January 7, 2002). "Landmark Education Celebrates 11 Years of Business and Growth". LandmarkEducation.com. Retrieved on October 22, 2008.
  2. ^ a b c LandmarkWorldwide.com. Landmark Fact Sheet. Retrieved on October 22, 2008.
  3. ^ The Landmark Seminar Leader Program. LandmarkWorldwide.com. Retrieved on July 16, 2013.
  4. ^ (January 16, 1991). Articles of Incorporation, dike.de. Retrieved on October 22, 2008.
    Quote: "This letter serves as the consent by Landmark Education Corporation for the use of the name "Landmark Education International, Inc." by our wholly-owned subsidiary, currently known as Werner Erhard and Associates International, Inc."
  5. ^ Pressman, Steven (1993). Outrageous Betrayal: The dark journey of Werner Erhard from est to exile. New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-09296-2, p. 254. (Out of print).
  6. ^ LP/LLC information. California Secretary of State. Filed February 26, 2003. Retrieved on October 23, 2008.
  7. ^ Corporation information. California Secretary of State. Filed June 22, 1987. Retrieved on October 23, 2008.
  8. ^ See:
    • Farber, Sharon Klayman (2012). Hungry for Ecstasy: Trauma, the Brain, and the Influence of the Sixties. Lanham, Maryland: Jason Aronson/Rowman & Littlefield. p. 131. ISBN 9780765708588. One of them [LGATs] began as est, or Erhard Seminars Training, the most successful and most controversial of the encounter groups of the seventies, and the progenitor of hundreds of others that have been marketed to the public and the business community.;
    • Richardson, James T. (1998). "est (THE FORUM)". In Swatos, Jr., William H. (ed.). Encyclopedia of Religion and Society. Walnut Creek, California: AltaMira. pp. 167–169. ISBN 0761989560..
  9. ^ See:
    • Lockwood, Renee (2011). "Religiosity Rejected: Exploring the Religio-Spiritual Dimensions of Landmark Education". International Journal for the Study of New Religions. 2 (2). Sheffield, England: Equinox: 225–254. doi:10.1558/ijsnr.v2i2.225. ISSN 2041-9511.;
    • Grigoriadis, Vanessa (9 July 2001). "Pay Money, Be Happy". New York Magazine. New York, New York. Retrieved 6 September 2014.;
    • Eisner, Donald A. (2000). The Death of Psychotherapy: From Freud to Alien Abductions. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger. p. 60. ISBN 0275964132.;
    • Ramstedt, Martin (2007). "New Age and Business: Corporations as Cultic Milieus?". In Kemp, Daren; Lewis, James R. (eds.). Handbook of the New Age. Brill Handbooks on Contemporary Religion. Vol. 1. Leiden: BRILL. p. 196. ISBN 9789004153554.;
    • Atkin, Douglas (2004). "What Is Required of a Belief System?". The Culting of Brands: Turn Your Customers Into True Believers. New York: Penguin/Portfolio. p. 101. ISBN 9781591840275.;
    • Saliba, John A. (2003). Understanding New Religious Movements. Walnut Creek, California: Rowman Altamira. p. 88. ISBN 9780759103559..
  10. ^ Faltermayer, Charlotte; Richard Woodbury (March 16, 1998). The Best of Est?. Time. Retrieved on October 22, 2008.
  11. ^ Dewan, Shaila (May 3, 2010). "Hired to Bring Order, Kings' Adviser Brings Peace". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Retrieved 2010-11-02. Terry M. Giles ... the self-improvement techniques of EST. (Werner Erhard, the creator of EST, is a client.)
  12. ^ Dow Jones & Co., Inc. (2010). "Landmark Education Corporation". The Business Journals. American City Business Journals, Inc. Retrieved 2010-11-02. Landmark Education Corporation - Company Executives - Terry Giles - Chairman of the Board
  13. ^ (February 1, 2008). "Landmark Education Business Development, LEBD, Changes Name to Vanto Group". Reuters. Retrieved on October 22, 2008.
  14. ^ Logan, David C. (1998). "Transforming the Network of Conversations in BHP New Zealand Steel: Landmark Education Business Development's New Paradigm for Organizational Change", University of Southern California, Marshall School of Business, L984-01.
  15. ^ "General Tso, Meet Steven Covey". Business Week. 2010-11-18. Retrieved 2011-03-14.
  16. ^ "Lululemon's Cult of Selling". Fast Company. 2009-04-01. Retrieved 2011-03-14.
  17. ^ Norman Bodek (1985). ReVision: The Journal of Consciousness and Change, Vol 7, No. 2, Winter 1984 / Spring 1985
  18. ^ Case Financial Inc · DEFM14A. SEC filings on secinfo.com. Filed May 3, 2000. Retrieved on October 23, 2008.
    Quote: "Mr. Giles is the owner of Tekniko Licensing Corporation, which licenses intellectual properties owned by Tekniko to businesses throughout the world."
  19. ^ Pacific Biometrics, filings. Form SB-2. Retrieved on October 23, 2008.
  20. ^ Landmark Education information.
  21. ^ a b c d e f g Badt, Karen (March 5, 2008). "Karin Badt: Inside The Landmark Forum". The Huffington Post. Retrieved on October 22, 2008.
  22. ^ a b c d e Hill, Amelia (2008-03-05). "I thought I'd be brainwashed. But how wrong could I be…". The Guardian. London: www.guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 2009-12-09.
  23. ^ a b c McCrone, John (2008-11-22). "A Landmark Change". The Press. The Press (New Zealand).
  24. ^ a b Stassen, Wilma (September 2008). "Inside a Landmark Forum Weekend" Health 24
  25. ^ a b c Odasso, Diane (2008-06-05). "My Landmark Experience". The Huffington Post. www.huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2009-12-09.
  26. ^ "Velo and Vintage on Second Saturday". Sacramento Press. 2010-05-06. Retrieved 2011-03-14.
  27. ^ 31/entertainment/24990821_1_breast-cancer-survivors-breast-cancer-survivors-duck-breast "Cherish the mammary: Restaurants raise funds for breast cancer survivors". Philadelphia Daily News. 2008-07-31. Retrieved 2011-03-14. {{cite news}}: Check |url= value (help)
  28. ^ "Some of Detroit's Major Miracle Makers". Time Magazine, Detroit Blog. 2010-09-21. Retrieved 2011-09-20.
  29. ^ "Cyclists gear up for challenging event". San Diego Union-Tribune. 2008-04-19. Retrieved 2011-03-14.
  30. ^ Mauro, Lucia (2001-10-26). "Middle Eastern arts on tap". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2011-10-14.
  31. ^ "Helping professionals take up community welfare projects". Chennai, India: Hindu Times. 2010-09-13. Retrieved 2011-10-14.
  32. ^ "Charity walk to boost anti-suicide initiatives". Bay of Plenty Times. 2011-08-20. Retrieved 2011-10-14.
  33. ^ "Local couple finds true love is closer than you think". The Daily Courier. 2011-02-13. Retrieved 2011-10-29.
  34. ^ Alford, Henry (2010-11-26). "You're O.K., but I'm Not. Let's Share". New York Times. Retrieved 2011-03-14.
  35. ^ "Change We Can (Almost) Believe In". TIME Magazine. 2011-03-07. Retrieved 2011-03-14.
  36. ^ "Landmark Forum: One Weekend to fix your LIFE?". Irish Mail on Sunday. 2012-02-18.
  37. ^ Graham Rayman, "Suit Against Sperm-Bank Firm Claims Sexual Harassment and Cult-Like Behavior", Village Voice, 20 May 2008
  38. ^ "Brief Quotes". LandmarkEducation.com. Retrieved on October 23, 2008.
  39. ^ Allinson, Amber (April 2014). "Mind Over Matter". The Mayfair Magazine (U.K.).
  40. ^ "Une secte démasquée grâce à la caméra cachée". leparisien.fr (in French). 24 May 2004. Retrieved 2014-09-21. Le document de ce soir montrera non seulement en quoi consistent ces fameux « stages », mais aussi comment les pouvoirs publics sont restés à ce jour impuissants face à ces agissements. A l'heure où nous bouclons, la société mise en cause n'a pas cherché à empêcher la diffusion de ce reportage accablant.
  41. ^ Tessier, Odine (20 May 2004). "Voyage au pays des nouveaux gourous - Le Point". lepoint.fr (in French). Retrieved 2014-09-21. Sur le plateau, Elise Lucet donne la parole à tous les protagonistes : d'anciens participants aux forums qui dénoncent la manipulation ; d'autres au contraire, comme Jocelyne, qui a trouvé un épanouissement ; le responsable de la mission interministérielle de vigilance et de lutte contre les dérives sectaires, un psychologue, un avocat, deux députés, etc. Une enquête fouillée et alarmante
  42. ^ See:
    • Marie Lemonniera, "Chez les gourous en cravate", Le Nouvel Observateur, 19 May 2005, accessed 7 December 2008; French text: "L’'Inspection du Travail débarque dans les locaux de Landmark, constate l'’exploitation des bénévoles et dresse des procès-verbaux pour travail non déclaré." English translation: "Labor inspectors turned up at the offices of Landmark, noted the exploitation of volunteers and drew up a report of undeclared employment."
    • (May 26, 2004). "Landmark Education - Droit de Répons - France 3" (French). landmarkeducation.fr. Retrieved on October 23, 2008.
  43. ^ Thomas, Laura (December 9, 2009). "Landmark: 4,000 Romanians were paid to cry in group". RomaniaLibera.ro (in Romanian). Retrieved 2014-09-21. Around 200,000 people yearly follow these courses, and Romania is the only country in Eastern Europe that activates Landmark. In France, however, the company was closed after a journalistic investigation by France 3, entitled "Journey into the realm of new gurus". Among other things, the French have labeled as a cult Landmark emotionally destabilizing participants.
  44. ^ Badt, Karin (17 November 2011). "Inside The Landmark Forum". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 2014-09-21. It was this TV program that closed down the Landmark in France, leaving it only 24 other countries in which to spread its word.
  45. ^ Self-Help Group Backs Off Attack on Internet Critic, Electronic Frontier Foundation, November 30, 2006.
  46. ^ Landmark and the Internet Archive. Landmark's letter to the Internet Archive. Landmark's letter to Google. Internet Archive's objections to Landmark subpoena.
  47. ^ Christian Palme (2002-06-03). "Landsting köpte kurs av Landmark". DN.SE. Retrieved 2012-04-18.
  48. ^ Tidskriften Analys & Kritik - Irrationalismen
  49. ^ See:
    • Barker, Eileen (1996). "New Religions and Mental Health". In Bhugra, Dinesh (ed.). Psychiatry and Religion: Context, Consensus and Controversies. London and New York: Routledge. p. 126. ISBN 0415089557.;
    • Beckford, James A. (2003). Social Theory and Religion. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 156. ISBN 0-521-77431-4.;
    • Lockwood, Renee (2011). "Religiosity Rejected: Exploring the Religio-Spiritual Dimensions of Landmark Education". International Journal for the Study of New Religions. 2 (2). Sheffield, England: Equinox: 225–254. doi:10.1558/ijsnr.v2i2.225. ISSN 2041-9511.;
    • Beckford, James A. (2004). "New Religious Movements and Globalization". In Lucas, Phillip Charles; Robbins, Thomas (eds.). New Religious Movements in the 21st Century. Abingdon and New York: Routledge. p. 256. ISBN 0-415-96576-4.;
    • Clarke, Peter B. (2012). "New Religious Movements". In Taliaferro, Charles; Harrison, Victoria S.; Goetz, Stewart (eds.). The Routledge Companion to Theism. London: Routledge. p. 123. ISBN 978-0-415-88164-7.;
    • Heelas, Paul (1991). "Western Europe: Self Religions". In Sutherland, S.R.; Clarke, P.B. (eds.). The Study of Religion: Traditional and New Religions. London: Routledge. pp. 165–166, 171. ISBN 0-415-06432-5.;
    • Ramstedt, Martin (2007). "New Age and Business". In Kemp, Daren; Lewis, James R. (eds.). Handbook of the New Age. Brill Handbooks on Contemporary Religion. Leiden: Brill. pp. 196–197. ISBN 978-90-04-15355-4..
  50. ^ See:
  51. ^ See:
  52. ^ See:
  53. ^ See:
  54. ^ See:
    • Chryssides, George (1999). Exploring New Religions. New York: Continuum International Publishing Group. pp. 229, 687.;
    • Schneider (1995). "Der Pädagogische Bereich als Operationsfeld für Psychokulte". 20 Jahre Elterninitiative. e.V.. University of Tubingen, Theologische Abteilung: 189–190. ISBN 3-927890-23-5. ISSN 0720–3772. {{cite journal}}: Check |issn= value (help);
    • Sharot, Stephen (2011). Comparative Perspectives on Judaisms and Jewish Identities. Detroit, Michigan: Wayne State University Press. p. 182. ISBN 9780814334010..
  55. ^ Goldwag, Arthur (2009). Cults, Conspiracies, and Secret Societies. New York: Vintage/Random House. pp. 29–30. ISBN 9780307390677.
  56. ^ Puttick, Elizabeth (2004). "Landmark Forum (est)". In Partridge, Christopher Hugh (ed.). Encyclopedia of New Religions. Oxford: Lion. pp. 406–407. ISBN 978-0-74-595073-0.

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