About The Directors of the AA-EVP

The Directors of the AA-EVP are Tom and Lisa Butler. They assumed leadership of the Association in 2000, when Founder, Sarah Estep, decided it was time for her to retire. Since that time, the Butlers have established this web site, an online document archive containing most of the past NewsJournals and a discussion board. They have expanded the six page quarterly newsletter into a twenty page NewsJournal and are preparing to host a second conference.

As part of their efforts to assure the future of the AA-EVP, they established the Association as a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit educational organization. Incorporation provides certain assurances to perspective contributors and the general public that the AA-EVP will remain dedicated to the study of EVP and ITC and to helping people learn how to collect examples of these phenomena for themselves.

The Butlers have written the book, There is No Death and there are No Dead, which details the history of these phenomena, gives ample examples and explains how to experiment with both EVP and Video ITC. The Association needed an authoritative text to which new members and the general public could be directed to learn about these phenomena. The book was written to fill that need.

Under the leadership of the Butlers, AA-EVP Publishing has also assisted Martha Copeland in publishing her book, I'm Still Here. This book represents the formation and purpose of The Big Circle, which began when members gathered around Martha and Karen Mossey to record for EVP on a regular basis, so that they could use the group energy to continue their relationship with loved ones now on the other side.

The Butlers are actively seeking funding in the form of endowments or direct donations so that the AA-EVP will be able to award EVP and ITC research grants. The AA-EVP has been in existence for nearly twenty-four years, yet the objective of common public acceptance of these phenomena remains a formidable challenge. They know it will be achieved, but they also know that it will require the help of many people willing to learn and then teach others.

Lisa Butler telling the media at the White Noise DVD release party the "real" story about EVP.
Picture courtesy Universal Films

ITC experience
Tom and Lisa Butler's personal ITC research is focused on finding a way to better understand who is communicating, how the phenomenal voices and features are formed and why. They believe that the real value in working with these phenomena is in learning more about the greater reality and conclusively showing that the communicators are evidence of personal survival after so-called death. They come in contact with many people who grieve about the loss of a loved one, and who have found relief from that grief by hearing the voice of the loved one tell them via EVP things that only that person would say. They know that EVP is a powerful tool for teaching people that their loved ones are just fine in a new world, just as they will be when their time comes.

Lisa began recording first, after reading Sarah Estep's book, Voices of Eternity, by following the instruction to establish a routine of regular recording session in a quiet part of the home. That was in 1989. Up to 2002, the Butlers only recorded in controlled conditions, seeking to better understand EVP and improve communications with their etheric contacts. Today, the Butlers continue to prefer controlled condition recording for research, but they enjoy the occasional excursion into the field. They also know that the media requires such excursions for a more visual expression of EVP recording.

In 2000, the Butlers began using the video feedback method of developing optical energy for visual ITC. They have had considerable success using this technique and continue to experiment with ways that might improve their results. Examples of their work can be seen and heard in the Examples section of this web site.

Education
Tom Butler has an Electronics Engineering degree and Lisa has a degree in psychology. Both were corporate employees until their resignation and subsequent five year sabbatical that preceded their returned to the working world as Directors of the AA-EVP. Both have been deeply interested in metaphysical concepts, human potential and all forms of etheric to physical phenomena since childhood. Together, they have extensively studied many subject areas, including energy healing, mediumship, metaphysics and spirituality.

Tom Butler playing examples of EVP that were recorded for the White Noise DVD release party
Picture courtesy Universal Films

Public Relations
One of the more important roles for the Butlers, as Directors of the AA-EVP, is finding ways to bring information about the existence of these phenomena to the public. This has consisted of writing articles for publication, making presentations at conferences. They are also active in making media appearances to promote EVP. They have been on Coast to Coast and have appeared on the Montel Williams Show, Maury Povich Show, Entertainment Tonight and numerous other television programs.

Late in 2004, Universal Pictures contracted the Butlers to help them promote the movie, White Noise, and they spent a good deal of 2005 participating in many media events. When the movie was released in USA theaters, the web site had 80,000 unique visitors in a 24 hour period. Even a year later, the unique visitor count remains more than four times what it was before White Noise. Universal attended the 2004 AA-EVP conference with cameras, and interviews of attendees were used in both the commercials for the movie and one of the bonus features on the DVD. Each commercial ended with the Association's web site as a source for more information about EVP, and the world-wide release of the DVD included three bonus features about EVP, a "How to" with the Butlers and example hauntings investigations showing the Butlers at work.

As a public relations success, White Noise was both a spectacular success for making the term, EVP, widely known in the world, but it was also something of a social disaster in that it left millions of people more afraid of spirit communications than ever. The Butlers answered thousands of emails and letters in 2005, many of which required their assurance that work with EVP is not considered dangerous.

The Butlers also experiment with other ways to teach. This has included workshops that were really one or two-day intensives on how to record for EVP. Keep an eye on the News page of this web site for future workshops and events.

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