Why shouldn’t there be a day to honor Elon Musk? If static electricity and bubble wrap are entitled to commemorations on the calendar (January 9 and 27, respectively), surely the visionary behind Tesla, SpaceX, PayPal and other high-tech ventures deserves a day.

That’s the question that Tesla pundit and superfan Anuarbek Imanbaev asked a group of his colleagues, and here’s the result of their conversation: April 20 will henceforth be celebrated as Elon Musk Day.

The festivities will be streamed live on the Third Row Tesla podcast and other online channels, but the main event is to encourage as many people as possible to tell their stories of how they have been influenced by Elon Musk. “The whole idea of Elon Musk Day is that people will go on social media, whatever platforms they’re on, and put up a post sharing either how one of Elon’s products or companies have changed their lives, and/or how they were inspired by Elon Musk that’s resulted in something they’re doing now,” Anuarbek explains.

“All the great people—we always appreciate them when it’s too late,” says Anuarbek. “Even Nikola Tesla, for that matter—he created so many great inventions, but he died broke in an apartment in New York by himself. Why are we waiting? Let’s do it now.”

“It’s just about showing appreciation,” Anuarbek continues. “I want Elon to know that there are so many people that are proud of him, that are backing him up, and want to see him succeed. And it’s not only about Elon—there are probably 80,000 people working for all his companies. I want all of them to know that we appreciate them as well. They’re inspired by the work, they believe in the mission.”

Anuarbek Imanbaev is familiar to Tesla followers as the reformed oil and gas exec who played an important role in bringing Tesla Superchargers to the Central Asian nation of Kazakhstan. His partners in establishing Elon Musk Day are: Eli Burton, publisher of the graphic novel The Adventures of Starman and co-producer of the Tesla Geeks Show podcast; Sofiaan Fraval, host of the Third Row Tesla podcast; and Ross Gerber, a Tesla investor and a frequent defender of the company on TV and online media. (In his latest appearance, Gerber argued that the company is in a better position than other automakers to weather the current health crisis.)

These tireless Tesla supporters will be happy to tell you in detail about how the Iron Man has influenced them. However, Elon Musk Day is not intended as a spectator event. You are invited to participate by tweeting, posting, podcasting or pasting on a pigeon your own story about how Tesla, SpaceX, PayPal (or Hyperloop, the Boring Company, flamethrowers or whatever) has inspired you, and influenced your own work (or play). Use the hashtag #ElonMuskDay to help spread the word.

Here’s my story: I began my journalism career chronicling the rise of the internet in the 1990s, and it was exhilarating to write about new technology that we knew was destined to radically remake society. When I was invited to join Charged in 2012, I saw a chance to once again be in the middle of a historic technological transformation—and this time, the new tech serves a noble cause: improving human health and preserving our environment.

I’ve been writing about the e-mobility transition ever since, and although I write about all things electric, Tesla has always been at the center of the action. Tesla is the trendsetter that generates public interest in EVs, and the goad that forces the recalcitrant legacy automakers to continue developing their own EVs. The company’s influence can hardly be overstated: if Tesla didn’t exist, there would probably be no viable passenger EVs on the market today (and I’d be writing about organic vegetables or some equally exciting topic).

In addition to print and online articles for Charged, I write Tesla-specific articles for the EVannex blog, and I’ve written a book about Tesla which is now coming up on its fourth edition, and has been translated into three other languages. So I’ve derived a bit of money, and a tremendous amount of personal satisfaction, from the revolution that Tesla set in motion.

Thank you, Elon!

Charles Morris
Senior Editor, Charged