On May 7th and 8th, 2008, all eyes will be on Sacramento, California as residents, policymakers and leaders come together for the Great Valley Center’s 11th Annual Conference, “Green Momentum: Prospering in a New Economy”

Thriving in a challenging economy is not easy. But at this conference, you’ll be exposed to dozens of innovative strategies Valley businesses and residents are using to move their communities and businesses forward.

Don’t miss this opportunity for unparalleled access to the community leaders and regional innovators who are shaping one of California’s fastest growing regions.

Featuring more than 45 breakout sessions and 100 expert speakers, this is your chance to learn how the Valley’s economy, communi ties, and environment will be shaped by the emergent ideas of sustainability, long term planning and collaboration. It’s the kind of inspiration you won’t find anywhere else.

Topics include transportation, land use, green building design, the economy, air quality, water, health care, and education.

Great Valley Center events bring together individuals who hold diverse views on a wide range of issues. The opinions expressed by speakers or participants do not necessarily reflect the views of the Great Valley Center,

Additional Information:
Program, exhibition and sponsorship information, contact Heidi Arno
For media related inquiries, contact Richard Cummings

FEATURED SPEAKERS

In visiting with a green manufacturer recently, he hopefully asked, "How much more will people pay for green products?"

My answer, "Not much. They pay for additional VALUE, not GREEN."

This is the same challenge conscientious, conservation business people are facing: how do we translate the green benefits into VALUE propositions that people can get instant gratification from?

Some are taking the tact of "glamor". Others, prestige and innovator status with bragging rights among the in-crowd. Others are selling the concept of savings from energy use.

Others are waiting.

Waiting for what? For compliance to kick in. For carbon trading to kick in. For carbon tariffs. For carbon taxes. For prices of oil to rise.

Watching and planning and waiting is what constitutes a "chasm".

This marketing term was coined by Geoffrey Moore who wrote the book "Crossing the Chasm" in 1999 to illustrate how high technology's early bell-curve product life cycle was broken with hesitancy at a predictable point.

2007-2008 is that "Chasm" for many green business-to-business applications.

The Chasm "The Chasm is a pause of undeterminate length in market development, when the early market interest has waned and when there is no preordained or natural customer among the mainstream market for the technology owing to its immaturity and lack of widespread deployment."

The early adopters have been corporations who have bought "test" units and they are testing them. They are communities who have instant savings from long term energy glut applications such as street lights or potential litigation from health impacts such as schoolbuses.

They bought. They're testing and sharing the results with the rest of us. We're waiting for the rules of the game to become clear before we buy more.

But some things are different between the green revolution and the technology revolution in the desktop computer era. We ARE living in challenging times.

Early Market "The gestation period of any discontinuous innovation, characterized by both excitement and undcertainty in the minds of both vendors and customers. Technology enthusiasts (innovators and visionaries) seek out superior solutions, explore them adn pronounce them fit or unfit for general consumption. They are the first customers for anything new!"

Consumers Are Ahead of Business

Recent research showed that consumers are ahead of business in adapting green solutions. They are recycling. Changing light bulbs. Buying organic. Walking and biking. Buying hybrid vehicles. Buying Energy Star applicances.

Businesses aren't putting systems into place for purchasing greener products. They aren't collecting used paper. They aren't replacing paper plates with permanent servicewater. They aren't buying hybrid cars. They aren't retrofitting HVAC systems.

Businesses are waiting for legislation that will affect their tax credits and their compliance behaviors.

Businesses are going to seminars and searching for case studies and testing demo equipment. And waiting.

That's the chasm.

The questions that must be answered is "Then what happens...?"

After the Chasm

Employees are learning about green solutions at home. They are replacing faucets, recyling their trash, measuring their electrical usage, locating biofuel fueling stations.

These innovators will be the leaders in the workplace when it breaks loose...and then, Katie bar the door!

They will be ready. Will you be ready?

The Bowling Alley

The Bowling Alley "Resumption of market development in specific customer segments who are adopting ahead of the general market based on addressing specific problems and on vendors' willingness to provide segment-specific solutions."

The specific solutions in the green market include hybrid vehicles, PV solar energy and organic food, among others. Very specific solutions that are well defined with immediate results that can be demonstrated.

Other green and sustainable solutions, such as water conservation, zero waste, and green retrofits for buildings are harder, provide longer term or less obvious results -- and they will thrive in later stages of the technology life cycle.

Knowing which of your products can be attached to SPECIFIC market applications can help you tailor your marketing and your message to these "bowling alley" buyers.

The Tornado

The Tornado "A period of market hypergrowth caused by pragmatists adopting en masse a new infrastructure that renders the previous paradign obsolete. Remaining pragmatists now flood into the market, highly influenced by the market-leading solution and the company that sponsors it and will tend to behave as a pack."

Green building and development (NEW buildings) is a good example of one segment of the green space that has reached The Tornado stage.

Supported by the USGBC and other green certification and training programs, new green building technology has

• An infrastructure with deployable methods
• Is supported by architects and builders who provide third party endorsement and services
• Is supported by governments who mandate and will buy into the marketplace

New green building has crossed the chasm, has been applied to specific applications such as schools and colleges and state office buildings... and is now an accepted part of the architectural field with training, employment opportunities and materials suppliers all lined up for the ride back up to the bell curve apex.

Cities are strengthening the mandates across the entire development sector that all new buildings must meet tighter building codes that meet green building and sustainable community goals.

Translating "Computer Tech" into "Green Tech"

Times have changed. The challenge is different. Compliance issues are different. And the economic mix has changed. But the chasm concept is partly an observation about how people and how groups work when faced with new technology and CHANGE. And that doesn't change a lot over a few short years.

We will be bringing you more information about how green marketing fits this product lifecycle timeline in future articles and learning platforms.

Resources

The Chasm Companion by Paul Wiefels with a Foreward by Geoffrey A. Moore provides implementation guidance to "Crossing the Chasm" and "Inside the Tornado".

To Robert Hildreth, the sustainability movement has to move beyond just the environment in order to maintain its momentum. It has to become personal.

The most successful corporate sustainability initiatives operate on a micro level, encouraging individual employees to green their personal environments

...according to Robert Hildreth, vice president of global strategy at green-branding firm Saatchi & Saatchi - which maintains 153 offices in 83 countries with nearly 7,000 people.

Speaking at a conference in Rhode Island, Hildreth pointed to the success of Wal-Mart's Personal Sustainability Project (PSP), which his company developed.

"The green movement in general suffers from one of the largest communications problem that’s out there," Hildreth says. "We need to orient ourselves more around making the problem so compelling that it draws people in."

For example, Wal-Mart's PSP encourages employees to find small ways to green their personal environments, from recycling more to walking to work one day a week. One employee suggested turning the lights off in break room soda machines, a move that now saves the company $2 million each year on electricity bills.

Wal-Mart’s 1.3 million employees were asked to tackle a small problem that was important to them – quitting smoking, losing weight, recycling more, walking to work one day a week.

What doesn't work, according to Hildreth, is creating company "green teams" to develop big-picture programs that don't engage employees on a personal level. Green teams at some companies lack enthusiasm, "Nobody really cares about it; they’re just sort of doing it," says Hildreth.

---

How do you get employees to buy into change?

Even green and sustainable change?

Self-interest always gets attention, and when you couple self-interest with the need for getting comfortable with change, companies have an interesting opportunity to lay the groundwork for workplace greening.

By starting with an employee benefit program that saves money, energy or air quality AT HOME first -- you get personal buy-in.

For example, provide financial support for adding a solar thermal or solar PV system to employee homes. Out of this specification, buying, installing and maintenance process, a few employees will rise as leaders, and more employees will feel comfortable with the technology. And they will tell stories to their coworkers. And you will have stories to add to your employee meetings and newsletters.

There's reason to believe that educational research is applicable to this phenomenon. Siblings and fellow students learn from one another more than they learn from parents and teachers! Coworkers also learn from one another!

Once employees are comfortable with "change" required for the new green initiatives, and they see the savings in their own wallets, they will be willing and able to apply their knowledge at work. Everyone wins, you have happy employees, you have new leaders, and your employees have added new skills and knowledge base to their capabilities.

And you save money and natural resources in not just one place...buy many!

PROBLEM: People resist change.

SOLUTION: Personal experience at home is the foundation for change at work.

---

California's diverse population isn't always reflected in the environmental movement. Ethnic traditions and values vary. By exploring language differences and cultural values, we can serve our communities better and develop respect for the sustainable use of our natural resources. The following excerpt addresses the communication changes happening in the US media.

Excerpt from Los Angeles Times: "A marketing puzzle in any language".

Traditionally, television advertisers and networks have believed that if they were not reaching Latinos through the two major Spanish-language networks, Telemundo and Univision, then they would connect with them through mainstream shows that have proved popular with young bilingual audiences such as "Ugly Betty," World Wrestling Entertainment's "Raw," and "American Idol."

Some believe that those strategies miss the sweet spot because they fail to recognize that the majority of Latinos living in the U.S. are bilingual and speak predominantly in English, while at the same time retaining their cultural roots.

Hoping to tap that rich, dual cultural vein, four fledgling networks are feeling their way to this elusive audience by targeting Latino viewers in English rather than Spanish. The biggest players are Mun2, operated by NBC Universal's Telemundo unit

The government-ordered conversion of broadcast stations to higher-capacity digital transmission, which must take place by February 2009, will increase the choice of channels and further fragment the market.

Read the complete story at the LATIMES

U.S. co-ops serve some 120 million members, or 4 in 10 Americans.

Cooperatives operate in every industry including agriculture, childcare, energy, financial services, food retailing and distribution, health care, insurance, housing, purchasing and shared services, telecommunications, and others.

With the increasing trend of family and friends sharing resources, cooperatives provide a natural marketing strategy.  Cooperatives depend on word of mouth to spread the word about good solutions, good providers, and they buy from one another, as well. 

Joining a cooperative can be a great boost for small and new business people who need to network and get those crucial "first users" for endorsements and recommendations...as well as ongoing market niche sales.

Cooperative business is a rural tradition that has spread through many urban industry niches, as well. Some of the successful cooperative niches include:

• Agriculture
• Food retailing
• Childcare
• Professional organizations
• Banks and credit unions
• Development funds
• Economic development
• Energy
• Health
• Housing
• Purchasing

SOURCES:

California is home of thriving cooperatives, especially in agriculture and food sectors. The California Farmers Markets are just one example of cooperative organization. There's also the Farm Credit Council, Rural Business, Rural Electric Cooperatives and even Rural Telecommunications.

But urban cooperatives are also thriving -- whether they are formal or informal.  Some city cooperatives include babysitting coops, daycare and preschool facilities, garage sale and flea markets, dog walking, carpooling...and even Friday night datenight card parties! 

Cooperatives are the epitome of word of mouth referral sales!

National Cooperative Business Association

Knowing your customer is the heart of marketing...but we get intellectually smug or arrogant or caught up in staring at a computer screen... and assume "THEY"  "just want something new."

Not so... even big companies like Ikea learn the hard way. And discarding wrong-sized products is just NOT green!

Green marketing is smart about right-sizing, right-coloring, right-thinking.

Julie Desrosiers, the bedroom-line manager at Ikea of Sweden, visited people's houses in the U.S. and Europe to peek into their closets, learning that "Americans prefer to store most of their clothes folded, and Italians like to hang." The result was a wardrobe that features deeper drawers for U.S. customers.

The American market poses special challenges for Ikea because of the huge differences inside the U.S.

"It's so easy to forget the reality of how people live," says Ikea's U.S. interior design director, Mats Nilsson.

In the spring of 2004, Ikea realized it might not be reaching California's Hispanics. So its designers visited the homes of Hispanic staff. They soon realized they had set up the store's displays all wrong. Large Hispanic families need dining tables and sofas that fit more than two people, the Swedish norm. They prefer bold colors to the more subdued Scandinavian palette and display tons of pictures in elaborate frames. Nilsson warmed up the showrooms' colors, adding more seating and throwing in numerous picture frames.

Ikea is particularly concerned about the U.S. since it's key to expansion -- and since Ikea came close to blowing it. "We got our clocks cleaned in the early 1990s because we really didn't listen to the consumer," says Kanter. Stores weren't big enough to offer the full Ikea experience, and many were in poor locations. Prices were too high. Beds were measured in centimeters, not king, queen, and twin. Sofas weren't deep enough, curtains were too short, and kitchens didn't fit U.S.-size appliances.

"American customers were buying vases to drink from because the glasses were too small," recalls Goran Carstedt, the former head of Ikea North America, who helped engineer a turnaround. Parts of the product line were adapted (no more metric measurements), new and bigger store locations chosen, prices slashed, and service improved. Now U.S. managers are paying close attention to the tiniest details. "Americans want more comfortable sofas, higher-quality textiles, bigger glasses, more spacious entertainment units," says Pernille Spiers-Lopez, head of Ikea North America.

SOURCE: Read the full story about Ikea's business experiences at BusinessWeek.com

The "Green Room," was the nation's first fully-outfitted, eco-friendly residence hall room. The idea began when the San Rafael-based Strategic Energy Innovations (SEI), approached environmental student leaders here about outfitting a UC Berkeley residence hall room with Energy Star appliances through a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy. SEI is a non-profit group that helps schools, businesses and other entities meet energy conservation goals.

Read more about the campus tour that featured green applications and educational materials at CaliforniaGreenSolutions.com
 

Guide to Best Practices in Corporate Social Responsibility - Vol. 1

- View TablOf Contents - View Guidebook Index

From the publishers of PR News comes a guidebook that you and your team have been waiting for: an insider’s guide to PR’s role in Corporate Social Responsibility. From executing a CSR program to maintaining one to improving upon existing CSR initiatives, the Guide to Best Practices in Corporate Social Responsibility is designed for communications executives at all levels and at companies of all sizes who understand that CSR is no longer nice-to-do, but must-do. And a “must-do well.”

Put your organization and yourself ahead of the pack by implementing cost-effective, high-return CSR programs. Order you copy now of PR News’ Guide to Best Practices in Corporate Social Responsibility. This guidebook includes lessons learned, smart CSR strategies, communications blueprints and guides, case studies and viewpoints from CSR experts.

The PR News CSR Guidebook covers the following:

• CSR: The Nuts & Bolts
• Developments & Trends in CSR Communications
• Developing an Integrated CSR Strategy
• Proving CSR’s Worth to Senior Management
• CSR & The Media
• CSR & Other Stakeholders
• CSR During Crises
• CSR Reports
• Case Studies
• Measuring Your CSR Programs
• CSR Resources for the PR pro

PR News does not accept returns for any of the PR Press Guidebooks. All sales are final. If you receive a damaged or defective book, please contact the Client Services department at 888-707-5814; clientservices@accessintel.com for a replacement.

$399.00 per copy - Order your copy online or call 888-707-5814

Internal marketing is often overlooked in strategy sessions and top management priorities.  Marketing your message to employees, supply chains, investors and current customers are often neglected if not avoided altogether in the mad dash for new customers.  But organizations thrive because of their  CURRENT stakeholders and many of those stakeholders resent being taken for granted. 

They need reassurance, talking points to virally market your company to the many, many people they can influence face to face.  Including themselves!  Do you face a talent shortage in an innovative marketplace?

Many organizations continue to face a talent shortage even when the headcount is right. There are enough people, but not enough of the right talent mix. Great talent comes into the organization and a few years later, if not properly developed and trained, that talent will be out the door. Not a lot of discussion about it, they will just leave and take their skills to an organization that cares about who they are and how they can develop their talent.

According to the Wall Street Journal (1/28/08), “Companies haven’t been grooming talent and training enough employees for promotions and now have a mismatch of talent.” It is like the organization is wearing mismatched socks, right colors, wrong pattern.

Retaining, motivating and developing talent is the job of a good leader.  And good leaders are needed at every level of management -- from the board room to the maintenance room.  With today's high tech platform, every job has become (or should become) more talent based as tools are leveraged with insight, observation and innovative problem solving.

Ten Talent Tips

1. Understand future needs of the organization and business units
2. Have a method in place to identify key talent
3. Give existing talent stretch assignments for development
4. Reshuffle roles in the organization, people will learn new areas
5. Make training and development a priority, even in the tough times
6. Find out what skills are missing and fill the gaps
7. Acknowledge and appreciate the great talent that you have
8. Re-look at your mission and vision, are they bold enough to attract and retain?
9. Implement coaching for development
10. Become a mentor to aspiring talent

These talent tips from Valarie Willis at Bluepoint Leadership Development are part of the internal marketing -- part of social responsibility to your own family.  Don't let your company or organization suffer from the "cobbler's family had no shoes" syndrome.  Bringing your message to your people can reap long term profitability and vitality far beyond the marketplace!  

RESOURCE:  Bluepointleadership.com