Randy Pausch
Pausch delivered his "Last Lecture", titled "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams", at CMU on September 18, 2007. He gave an abridged version of his speech on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" in October 2007. The talk was modeled after an ongoing series of lectures where top academics are asked to think deeply about what matters to them, and then give a hypothetical "final talk", with a topic such as "what wisdom would you try to impart to the world if you knew it was your last chance?" Before speaking, Pausch received a long standing ovation from a large crowd of over 400 colleagues and students. When he motioned them to sit down, saying, "Make me earn it", someone in the audience shouted back, "You did!"
Hbomberguy
The livestream featured many notable guests, including U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, activist Chelsea Manning, actress Mara Wilson, journalists Paris Lees and Owen Jones, "Adam Ruins Everything" creator Adam Conover, author Chuck Tingle, Matt Christman and Virgil Texas of the "Chapo Trap House" podcast, "Donkey Kong 64" composer Grant Kirkhope, game designers Rebecca Heineman, Josh Sawyer, John Romero and "Night in the Woods" co-creator Scott Benson, youtubers Natalie Wynn, Lindsay Ellis and Jim Sterling, as well as the CEO of Mermaids, Susie Green. Colin Mochrie, Neil Gaiman, Cher, Matthew Mercer, Adam Savage, Hidetaka Suehiro and SonicFox also tweeted in support of the livestream and the charity. The livestream began with a goal of , but it passed that goal and several subsequent funding targets quickly. In the first 24 hours, the livestream raised over $100,000. In total, over $347,000 () was raised for the charity through the livestream, with over 659,000 people watching the stream. The official page for the Mermaids charity praised and thanked Brewis for the livestream. It was described by "The Guardian" as "an antidote to the worst of gaming culture", and praised in a motion lodged in the Scottish Parliament by Patrick Harvie.