Designing a Poster for World Hemophilia Day

This is the centerpiece of my poster and this is how it came to be:

I posted an image of the graphic that the World Federation of Hemophilia provided for use in promotional posters, but I wanted to create my own take on it.  First, I envisioned a 3D globe that better represented the hemophilia world.  I think of the color red (representing blood), not blue.  I had an idea to create a clipping mask of a crowd of people in the shape of the continents and to make the water red, then create a 3D sphere with this image.
I found a good image of faces painted, each with a flag representing a different country.  I made modifications to fit my purposes.  First, I eliminated the borders from the faces image I found:

Then I found a map of the continents to use to create a clipping mask:

I placed the map image on a layer below the wallpaper of faces.  I selected all the white areas of the map layer and deleted them, leaving only the black shapes of the continents.  Then I chose the faces layer and created a clipping mask to get the image below:

Next, I found a water texture I could use for the oceans:

I changed the hue and saturation to make it red, then placed it below the layer of faces to place the water behind the continents:

I have Photoshop CS4 Extended, which has 3D capabilities, so I flattened my image (to one layer) and made a 3D shape from that layer.  Since I am making a globe, I chose a sphere shape.  At this stage, I began following a tutorial I found at psd.tutsplus.com:

I added 3D elevation/topography and clouds to my globe:

Finally, I added a shadow and reflection.  Now I have completed the centerpiece of my poster:

I have several ideas I want to try out next.  I thought about creating some paper dolls walking to the globe from the left, going around the back and appearing from the back on the right side, then walking along the surface of the globe in a (-shape and ending with one sanding in the vicinity of Norway.  I also thought about having paper dolls holding hands in a circle around the globe, but since the poster will promote a fundraiser walk in Wichita, I think the walking paper dolls are more appropriate.