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As part of the [[Human Potential Movement]], which was centered in [[San Francisco]], [[Werner Erhard]] created and ran the ''est'' ([[Erhard Seminars Training]]) system from 1971 to 1984, which promoted the idea that individuals are empowered when they take personal responsibility for all events in their lives, both good and bad. In 1985, Erhard modified est to be gentler and more business oriented and renamed it the Landmark Forum. In 1991, he sold the company and its concepts to some of his employees, who incorporated it as Landmark Education [[Corporation]], which was restructured into Landmark Education [[LLC]] in 2003, and then renamed Landmark Worldwide LLC in 2013. Its subsidiary, the '''Vanto Group''', markets and delivers [[training]] and consulting to organizations.
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Landmark has faced allegations of being a cult because of their attempt to convert participants to a new worldview and their recruitment tactics: they do not use advertising, but instead pressure participants during courses to recruit relatives and friends as new customers. However, religious experts have stated that Landmark does not meet many characteristics of cults because it is [[secular]], has no central leader, and tries to unite rather than isolate their participants from the rest of society. Several [[sociologists]] and scholars of religion have classified Landmark as a "[[new religious movement]]" (NRM), while others have called it a "self-religion," a "corporate religion," and a "religio-spiritual corporation". It is one of several [[Large Group Awareness Training]] programs. A study published in a book named ''[[Evaluating a Large Group Awareness Training]]'' compared the outcomes of participants in the Landmark Forum to a [[control group]] of non attendees. They found that participants had a short-term increase in [[internal locus of control]] (the belief that one can control their life), but found no long-term positive or negative effects.
== History ==
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