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We just finished an incredible two days at TechSoup’s Netsquared event N2Y4.  The conference at Cisco in San Jose boasted numerous creative social entrepeneurs and visionaries who are using mobile technology to tackle the world’s most challenging problems. The main event was a competition for 50 thousand in grant prizes, between 14 amazing projects tackling issues from getting appropriate and timely info via SMS text on phones for rural farmers in Cameroon (AMISProject ) to empowering everyday citizens to report and fix the problems in their local community - like pot holes and graffiti (SeeClickFix).

Our friend Chrissy Houlahan from B Corporation was in attendance and of course our partners at TechSoup did a fabulous job making sure it went extraordinarily well. Heard from some great speakers including Vinnie Lauria of Leflora and Marc Davis from Yahoo!.

The overarching message coming out of the event is that there is a tangible wave of change coming in society, through increasing the level of connection and transparency through widespread technology, citizens the world over will be empowered to address the challenges facing our world. Special kudos to Digital Democracy for their work shining a light on human rights violations in Burma and congratulations to the competition winners, Frontline SMS for their groundbreaking technology to harness the power of the most basic cell phone to help coordinate medical efforts in underserved communities.

The path towards better communities and a better quality of life is laid out, with technology as the rocket fuel to get us there; whether through brilliant mobile phone solutions in Chile and the Congo or BetterWork telecom solutions for non-profits to work more efficiently and effectively through their technology. It’s very exciting to be working on solutions that are making this world a better place.

Towards a bright future,

- Salem

Over 300 folks have packed it in for Day One of the national Business
Alliance for Local Living Economies’ conference. First off, Colorado is
rocking on local living economies, there are so many networks and great
things happening here.  Entrepreneurs and network leaders from Vancouver to Santa Fe, all over New England down to Charleston and all the way to France have descended on Denver for our conference!  It is clear that the local living economy movement is flying high and taking over communities all over North America and beyond.

Amazing panel of Local Living Entrepreneurs this AM led by BALLE Executive Director emeritus and now President of RSF Social Finance, Don Shaffer & including Melissa Hardy of BioFuel Oasis in Berkeley, and Michel Nischan of The Dressing Room in Westport, CT, and Susan Metteucci of the Southwest Creations Collaborative - don’t believe what you hear in the mainstream media, real change IS happening and the inspiration and positive attitudes are running at an all time high at their year’s BALLE conference.

Locally,

Matt

Orlando was green in more than one way today as the BetterWorld Train rolled into town.  In addition the spring monsoon passing through central Florida, GreenCities Orlando is the first installment in the GreenCities Tour (www.greencities.com), orchestrated by BetterWorld friend, customer and partner, Seven Star Productions.  There was a great turnout and the kickoff event set the tone for sure as it turns to Huntsville, AL and New York City later in the year.

It was great to see a number of familiar faces, including Mickey and her team from Carbon Concierge (pictured), we had just seen each other last weekend at BGI in Seattle.

I presented the newly minted BetterWork deck to an enthusiastic group, the BetterWork concepts definitely are hitting a chord with most audiences and we look forward to many other upcoming events where we will be evangelizing the BetterWork philosophies.  One of the great discussions today was centered around neighborhood or community temporary work centers where remote workers could get out of the house, stay in the general area (bike/walk/etc.), working alongside their neighbors and community.

In addition, fellow SVN member Terry Gipps added sage advice that we need to expand some of our definitions to include other GHG contributors and to not just focus on Carbon as the issue, also, mining for computers and devices is not sustainable and device reduction or minimalization should be part of the equation….great stuff!!!  Thanks to all who participated.

On to BALLE!

Matt

BetterWorld was out at the Soundry this past Monday along with the Sustainable Business Network of Washington to support a showcase of local artist talent and foster sustainable collaboration. The innovative space of the Soundry, a former auto body shop now converted into a public coffee shop, art gallery, and shared studio space for local artists and musicians provided a rich backdrop for the opening of their “Green is Beautiful” Sustainable Artwork show.

The Soundry has member artists from all backgrounds and disciplines, a result of a mission focused on getting artists out of their basements and into the community by providing affordable space and support. The art show itself highlighted sustainability with a focus on rethinking ‘junk’ and reducing what we discard by getting more creative with uses.

BetterWorld was thrilled to be there to support local artists who are focused on sustainability. We’re also excited about the shift towards working paradigms that are similar to BetterWork ideas. The Soundry itself is closely aligned with BetterWork priniciples of getting more balance and autonomy for the business professional; it supports and encourages a more rounded and wholesome lifestyle by providing a space for the many creative facets and artistic talents of its members.  Art and Sustainability, what could be better!

- The BetterWorld Team

Congratulations and a special shout out to our Action Learning Project (ALP) team from the Bainbridge Graduate Institute, Manan Shukla, Desiree Williams-Rajee, Stephen Yogi Rueff, and Libby Johnson McKee – for their efforts over the past 9 months to conceive and build the case for BetterWorld’s new corporate chapter, BetterWork: A New Strategy for Work. Focusing on the environmental, organizational cost and personnel advantages inherent to BetterWork (aka Open Work or Telegreening), our ALP team presented their final results to an energetic and receptive audience this past weekend as part of the end of BGI’s 2008-09 school year.

We have posted the presentation on our SlideShare site and will be posting the full report in the coming weeks, along with our new 2008/2009 corporate citizenship report, which will focus on these efforts and other areas that BetterWorld has been championing the past year.

Stay tuned for more information & please support BGI any way that you can so they can continue their work, turning out the leaders of the green economy: www.bgiedu.org

From the The BetterWorld Team

The BetterWorld train stopped off in Seattle yesterday and its always a pleasure to get together with the amazing team from Climate Solutions. They have a couple HUGE events coming up next week, check ‘em out if you are in or around the Emerald City:

EPA Rally: On May 21 at noon, the EPA will be holding a day-long hearing in Seattle – one of only two in the nation – on their recent proposed finding that global warming pollution is a threat to public health and the environment. Join Climate Solutions at a rally outside the hearing urging real action to stop global warming, build the clean-energy economy, and protect public health. For more details on the rally and what you can do, please click here.

Climate Solutions Annual Breakfast: Celebrate Climate Solutions’ 10th anniversary and join them in leading the new energy economy! Bill McKibben, Seattle Mayor Greg Nichols and Nancy Floyd will be speaking at this breakfast event, click here for more info.

What’s Going On at Climate Solutions: http://www.climatesolutions.org/solutions/initiatives

Donate To Climate Solutions: http://www.climatesolutions.org/donate

Brower Center

BetterWorld Telecom is partnering with East Bay Green Tours and the Sustainable Business Alliance to sponsor a space in the Sustainable Enterprise Cluster at the brand new David Brower Center in downtown Berkeley, CA. The grand opening event this past Sunday had hundreds of locals and nonprofit professionals exploring this inspiring new facility, named in honor of the legendary environmentalist David Brower.

A LEED certified and architecturally stunning building, the Brower Center was ten years in the making and is designed to create a vibrant community of like-minded individuals and organizations committed to a just and ecologically sustainable society. The building itself has several state-of-the-art conference rooms, a terrace, and an intimate 180 seat theater. On the first floor there is also a beautiful gallery devoted to art and photography that inspires activism and ecological awareness. A wide assortment of non-profits and mission driven businesses now call the Brower Center their home including: Earth Island Institute, Center for EcoLiteracy, Community Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF), Equity Community Builders, International Rivers and many others.

I’m excited for BetterWorld to participate in this landmark community of world changing non-profits and the opportunity we have to support the vision of the Brower Center, to foster collaborations between like-minded organizations and individuals, engage new people in advocacy and facilitate cross-sector communication and partnerships.

You can find us very very soon (a month or so) on the second floor of the Brower Center in the Sustainable Enterprise Cluster along with Green Jobs Network, Survival International, Green Wave Strategies, and our partners East Bay Green Tours and the Sustainable Business Alliance.

Check out the Brower Center at www.browercenter.org

~ Salem

Last Thursday, I attended a uniquely inspired event, the Green Business Camp. Orchestrated by Bill Baren and Patrick Dominguez, this was the first “unconference” of its kind. Besides an incredible opening address by Paul Hawken, one of the strongest leaders and thinkers in the sustainability movement, there were no other slated speakers. Instead, the participants were asked to propose a topic of discussion for the breakout sessions. My submission on “BetterWork: How Telecom is Changing Work” was one of the selected topics and an engaging opportunity to connect around the principles and impacts of BetterWork: reduced carbon footprint, increased employee satisfaction and retention, and reduced overhead through savings in real estate, equipment, and energy. Other topics included: New Media Strategies in the Context of Sustainable Business (Nick Aster, Triple Pundit), How Can you Become a Maven in your Industry (Bill Baren and Patrick Dominguez), and Are you “big business prejudiced?” (Cari Jacobs, with BetterWorld customer Saatchi and Saatchi S). Operating on a “pay what it’s worth to you” model, the event was highly inclusive and a great success.

Jacob

Matt and I recently became members of Full Circle Fund, an engaged philanthropy organization cultivating the next generation of community leaders and driving lasting social change in the Bay Area and beyond. I attended their annual member retreat in Monterey last weekend to dive right in. It was a wonderful retreat with an incredibly dynamic and talented group of motivated individuals. Full Circle Fund is composed of members from the private, non-profit, and government sectors who use their financial, social, intellectual, and political capital to support organizations in the following circles of focus: Education, Environment/Energy, and Global Economic Opportunity, with another circle dedicated to using technology to support and enrich their activities. I am serving on the Environment/Energy circle, whose current grantees include: Green Cities California, MOMs Dollar Store Detox Program, Imagine H20, and GRID Alternatives. One of their previous grantees is the highly successful and inspiring Ella Baker Center, who we are honored to have as a BetterWorld customer as well.

Jacob

We were fortunate this week to meet with Tom Kemper, founder at President of Dolphin Blue, at their offices in the Deep Ellum area of downtown Dallas.  Tom is a visionary, having started Dolphin Blue way ahead of the curve in 1993 in Dallas on the belief that we all can all be responsible in what we use.

Their products contain, at minimum, 20% post-consumer recycled material, (material used by you or another concerned individual, recycled through an office or home recycling collection program, used in the manufacturing of a new product, or re-processed to its current state).

Their packages and labels are made using only post-consumer recycled materials and are printed using only soy and vegetable-based inks.  They also provide a portion of our profits annually to local chapters of environmental non-profits, those contributions being directed by our customers.

Tom and I spent an amazing morning comparing notes about our journeys through sustainability and we look forward to partnering with Dolphin Blue on many fronts and working together to help make it a better world.  Please check out their site: www.dolphinblue.com

From the Big D,

Matt