As AVI Publishing’s CEO, and my deep desire to become enriched in “all things Sustainable”, I made the 3000 mile journey from New York City to the scenic coastline of Northern California. The Monterey Conference Center and the Portola Hotel & Spa, located in the heart of historic Monterey, was the breeding ground of unbelievable inspiration. Four full days, filled with intense learning, networking, thought leadership programs, think-tank applications and remarkable lectures was the nature of my experience. Every aspect of this event was fruitful. Every person I met was inspirational. Every idea I captured had its merits. Here are some highlights of my experience – and its only the first two days:
Monday June 7th – 9AM-12PM Workshop:
Driving Sustainable Culture Change Through Employee
Engagement
Led By: Mike Mercer
Monday June 7th 1:30-4:30 Workshop
Breaking through the Green Clutter: Groundbreaking Campaign Sells Sustainability through Cereal, and Urges North Americans to “Get on the Path.”
Led By: Maria Emmer-Aanes, Marty McDonald and Hilary
Tuesday June 8th – 9AM – 10:45AM – Lectures
Welcome and Morning Kick Off:
Gil Friend, CEO/Founder, Natural Logic, Inc.
SB’10 opens with a look at some of the key market drivers and trends shaping today’s sustainable business marketplace.
The Unfolding Green Brands Landscape:
Notes on the Trendline
Annie Longsworth, President, Managing Director,
Cohn and Wolfe
Updating research presented at SB’07, SB’08 and SB’09 Cohn & Wolfe will present new research that explores specific behaviors and attitudes that are driving (or preventing) purchase of sustainable
products, as well as the latest public perception about which brands are the best at being green.
Re-Defining the Metrics of Success: The Emerging
Measures of Qualitative Growth
Hazel Henderson, Futurist & Economics Iconoclast,
Ethical Markets Media
Hazel Henderson, a well known and globally respected futurist, economist, syndicated columnist, consultant on sustainable
development presents some of her newest thinking on why GDP
is no longer a serving us as the ultimate measure of progress.
Responsibility AND Profit: From Corporate Responsibility to Responsible Profit
Jason Sau, CEO, Mission Measurement
Jason Saul will outline five types of social innovation that turn social change into powerful business strategy. Combined with experience-based best practices in impact measurement, these innovation
strategies make measuring the business and social value of CSR program practical, timely and relevant to your company.
Design for Behavior Change: Helping Consumers
Co-Create a Better World
Bruce MacGregor, Managing Partner, IDEO.
SB’10 opens with a look at some of the key market drivers and trends shaping today’s sustainable business marketplace.
Today’s Data Explosion and the Drive to Radical
Corporate Transparency
Paul Herman, Founder/CEO, HIP Investor
Dara O’Rourke, CEO/Founder, GoodGuide
Cynthia Figge, President, COO and Co-Founder, CSRHUB
Jay Golden, Co-Director, Sustainability Consortium
One of the prime drivers behind sustainable brand innovation at the moment is the explosion of new data initiatives that promise increased clarity to all stakeholders on the comparative sustainability
of various materials, suppliers and brands.
Tuesday June 8th – 11:15 – 12:30
Open Innovation: An Apropos Paradigm Shift for Sustainable Brand Innovators
Henry Chesbrough, Professor, UC Berkeley
Open innovation is the use of purposive inflows and outflows of knowledge to accelerate internal innovation, and expand the markets for external use of innovation. Dr. Chesborough provides a look at the idea of open innovation as a backdrop to this year’s launch of GreenXChange, an open sustainable innovation coalition launched at Davos in January.
GreenXchange AND the Effort to Speed Eco-Innovation
Kelly Lauber, Director, Sustainable Business &
Innovation Lab, NIKE
GreenXchange, spearheaded by 10 companies and social enterprises
including Nike, Yahoo!, IDEO, Mountain Equipment Co-op, salesforce.com, the Outdoor Industry Association, and others, is a groundbreaking initiative geared to empower companies working to protect the environment to share their research — legally — for social good and mutual profit.
Recycling the Cup: Systems Thinking and the Importance of Getting the Questions Right
Peter Senge, Director Center for Organizational Learning, MIT Sloan School of Management / Ben Packard VP Global
Responsibility, Starbucks Coffee Company
As part of Starbucks Shared Planet goals, Starbucks has set a bold goal to develop a recyclable cup solution. The company has enlisted MIT Professor Peter Senge and his expertise applying systems theory to approach this situation.
Solutions Innovation to the Rescue: Making the
Waste = Resource Connection
Brooke Farrell, Co-Founder , RecycleMatch
Today, companies of all kinds are focused on the triple bottom-line of people, planet and profit to create a sustainable business. Finding
the competitive edge often means revisiting and challenging “the way it’s always been done”. Focusing on zero waste goals can go a long way to re-setting stakeholders points-of-view while lowering
costs and environmental impact.
Kids AND Parents: Why the Longterm Market for Sustainable Goods is Stable
Tom Feegel, Founder & Principal, GreenMyParents
Jordan Howard, Film Maker, GreenMyParents
How do you get 1,000,000 kids to help their parents save $100 at home? Traditional media doesn’t take kids seriously. Green media is worse. It slaps green onto an existing brand or celebrity by telling kids to “recycle” or “save energy.” The $100 MM Kids Campaign demonstrates that kids, even before they can have a real job, can do the work of sustainability at home.
Tuesday June 8th – 2PM – 3PM – Workshop
Extended Producer Responsibility: Establishing Boundaries,
Tackling the Challenges
Ben Packard, VP Global Responsibility, Starbucks Coffee Company
Seetha Kammula, Founding Partner, Simply Sustain
Tuesday June 8th – 3:15PM – 4:15 PM – Workshop
Open Innovation / GreenXchange in Action
Kelly Lauber, Director, Sustainable Business & Innovation Lab, NIKE
John Wilbanks, Vice President of Science, Creative Commons
Everywhere you turn, there was somebody of interest. People, brands, remarkable ideas, and this wonderful open-forum is the type of setting that is required for positive change. The overall feeling was exciting, in the sense that people returning home will actually use the knowledge and wisdom acquired throughout this experience, and actually apply it. I know I will. Sustainable Brands Conference is a must for all entrepreneurs, executives, marketers, publishers, consultants, and so much more. Be prepared to come excited, get filled with wisdom, have a ton of fun, and leave feeling accomplished. I cannot wait for SB’11… Hope to see everyone there!
Sustainably Yours,
Abraham Slavin
CEO – AVI Publishing, INC.
That looks amazing! Cannot wait for the next event.