Watts Wacker, author and futurist to the world’s leading companies, regaled the 2010 SVN Spring Member Gathering with his insights into how the “digital native,” “techno geezers” and “neo-tribal behavior” is changing the future of business. You can watch highlights from his talk here. Click here to read more about his plenary.
Posts Tagged ‘2010 Spring’
Video: Watts Wacker’s “The Future of Business”
Thursday, June 3rd, 2010Video: Gunter Pauli’s “Blue Economy”
Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010At the SVN 2010 Spring Member Gathering serial innovator Gunter Pauli, co-founder of SVN Europe, Ecover, and Zero Emissions Research & Initiatives (ZERI), discussed the potential of turning innovations of the natural world into clean, sustainable businesses. In his newest book, The Blue Economy – 10 Years, 100 Innovations, 100 Million Jobs, Gunter crisscrosses the globe to find 100 of the most cutting-edge, compelling and promising technological innovations inspired by nature.
Watch highlights of his presentation here and read more about his talk here.
Spring Conference: Small is Beautiful vs. Scale Matters
Sunday, May 30th, 2010Friday night ended with a bang as Michelle Long of the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE) and Jay Coen Gilbert of B Lab engaged in a dialog on the issue of whether going to scale or staying local is more effective in building a sustainable economy.
Jay began with a humorous, but earnest, argument that ‘Bigger is Better’. He used examples to illustrate how scale can effect the whole on a greater level. He cited how employees of Wal-Mart, who had been discriminated against, came together to sue the company. He pointed out how as China invests in scaling solar the price per kilowatt will come under $1. And he pointed to one of the biggest challenges, and opportunities, for effecting change at scale – finding innovations that can help the 3 billion people living on less than $2 a day. He argued that these are solutions and challenges of such scale, that small, local initiatives could not effectively address them.
Jay Coen Gilbert’s “Scale Matters”
Michelle countered saying a local living economy is scalable and so to assume that “local” means “small” is incorrect. She also pointed out that ownership and stakeholder involvement matter and that a business should work with its peers and community. Being in business and having a sustainable community are about getting people to solve the problems which are in their own communities, enabling collaborations and getting rid of barriers.
A local business gives 2 ½ times more to the community than other businesses and is more likely to be accountable to its environmental impact, Michelle asserted. Humans are hardwired to work well in a small group dynamic, she insisted, while larger groups make the individual invisible.
In the end it is not scale matters or small is beautiful but a balance and combination of the two. This community conversation provided much fodder for continued discussions into the evening for many.
This post was written by Kirsten Bonanza of Create Better Impact.
Spring Conference: Sustainable Food Mavericks
Wednesday, May 26th, 2010From growing your own food in the backyard to changing the entire dynamic of the beef industry, there are a number of ways for you to have an impact on our food production systems. During the “Sustainable Food Mavericks” plenary, Doc and Connie Hatfield of Country Natural Beef and Patti Moreno of Garden Girl TV talked about their experiences changing the food game.
Doc and Connie Hatfield shared their inspiring vision to change the landscape of beef production in Oregon. Connie said, “Our passion is getting ranch families and farm families, and whatever they produce, out to market.” It is their dedication to building relationships with producers, distributors and consumers that has helped change every part of the beef industry supply chain in Oregon, so that there are now more family-owned farms and ranches in Oregon than there were 50 years ago.
Patti Moreno of Garden Girl TV has a more local vision. Spurred by a desire to teach her daughter about where food comes from, Patti created a backyard garden that has grown into a ¾-acre urban foodshed. Growing up in an urban environment, Patti didn’t know about gardening, and she said that her first attempts at a garden outside her Roxbury, Massachusetts home were (literally and figuratively) fruitless. Though at first she described herself as a “serial plant killer,” she finally had success with her orchard. “My first experience of eating an apple was a revelation, and I asked myself, ‘How much can I grow?’” Now Patti’s goal is to change our relationship with food. She says, “I want to empower individuals to have access to and knowledge about fresh foods.” While Patti’s work has centered on her own garden and her video blog teaching others about urban gardening, to be really effective, she says, this education needs to start at the city planning level.
How do you want to change the food game? Plant an apple tree in your backyard, or connect local producers with the market they need to survive. Or maybe take a few extra minutes in the grocery store to read the labels and see where your food is coming from – it will be worth it.
This post was written by Stephanie Lawrence who blogs about food at The Local Spoon. She currently works for a small non-profit that works to empower women in rural Haiti called Haiti Projects.
Sisterhood at SVN
Friday, May 21st, 2010This post is written by Madeleine Shaw and was originally posted on the Lunapads blog. Please click here to read the full post.
Suzanne and I are just back from an awesome road trip to Portland OR and Stevenson WA, where we attended our first Social Venture Network (SVN) conference. SVN is basically the North American nucleus of progressive business and social profit enterprise thought, and we are thrilled to be newly minted members of this fine organization.
But first, a word about Portland – how cool is that town?? We loved the unpretentious (yet deeply cool), crafty, entrepreneurial vibe (Vancouver is busily taking a page from its food cart culture), architecture and vintage signage, and excellent beverage selection (beer or coffee lovers, hello!) We visited our pals at Bitch Media (left – note the cool sign above the awning) and explored their artsy neighborhood along Alberta Street.
There were all kinds of extraordinarily clever and passionate people at SVN: I’d like to tell you about some of the women we met there.
Click here to read the rest of the post.
Thanks to the Hospitable Rob Thomas
Friday, May 21st, 2010
Rob Thomas of Social(k) hosted another great hospitality suite at the 2010 Spring Member Gathering. This limited edition poster was designed by the folks at Free Range Studios.
Spring Conference: Financial Strategies to Expand Your Impact
Wednesday, May 19th, 2010While 9am on a Saturday might seem a bit early to discuss investing strategies, David Berge and David Chen had a lively and entertaining discussion about how to make sure your socially responsible investments have the impact you want.
The financial models for high-impact investing are not new. They can be expressed in many different ways, but the basics for these typse of investments have existed for a long time. But to make sure your investment has the impact you envision today you must envision the environment tomorrow. David Berge of Vancity Savings Credit Union suggests that entrepreneurs need to look at least 5 years out and realize that the influence of minority and women on markets is significant now and will only grow.
He also offered up a few gems to keep in mind while raising money for a venture: Clarity of vision creates structure. Don’t argue that “the plan will happen.” Instead, argue that “the plan will succeed.”
David Chen of Equilibrium Capital Group came to impact investing and social venture later in his distinguished career, but his intelligent perspectives are clear and in line with how SRI should look. His main theme of ‘who you invest in and who invests in you are equally important’ sheds light on the challenge of deciding on who to accept capital from. When thinking about taking money, businesses should figure out if they are partnering with traders, investors, or owners.
He cited a situation where the investors actually moved into a companies office and were actively helping to bring in partners and deals. Further, he points out that having mutual values is important for a relationship.
The cherry on top of this session was the number of different ways these investors made suggestions which empowered the business owner, something you don’t often hear when pitching with someone for capital.
Click here to see the rest of our coverage of the 2010 Spring Member Gathering.
This post was written by Kirsten Bonanza of Create Better Impact.
Photos graciously taken by of Nancy Jo.
Spring Conference: Watts Wacker’s Future of Business
Monday, May 17th, 2010
When SVN’s Executive Director Deborah Nelson introduced plenary speaker Watts Wacker she explained why she thought this futurist would connect with the SVN membership. It wasn’t because he had an innovative take on business models or that he had worked across a variety of industry sectors. Watts was especially well suited to address the social venture entrepreneurs and responsible business pioneers of SVN because Watts understands the deviant’s advantage.
Watts had been studying SVN from the start of the conference on Thursday and by the time it was his turn to address the congregation on Saturday night he had some insightful observations to share about SVN. He noticed that SVNers smile a lot and he said he’d never been to conference with so much hugging. He appreciated that SVN is a “tribe” and encouraged us to develop more rituals and use more metaphors in our gatherings.
Watts then launched into his plenary. In front of a room of values-driven business people, he said that we must appreciate the difference between between values and beliefs. “When I head the words ‘I believe…’ I start paying attention,” Watts said.
In explaining exactly what it is to be a futurist, Watts cited John D. Rockefeller. Rockefeller, who had never been on an airplane, founded one of the first airlines. Rockefeller was able to differentiate between where he himself was going and where the world was going. We must make sure that as we push forward we envision a world that goes beyond us.
The conference theme of “Changing the Game” appealed to Watts, but he cautioned that first we must change the rules of the game and then also change the game itself. If we are trying to get to achieve x + 5 and all we think about is x + 5 then we’re just going to wind up with x + 2. Instead, we must visualize and plan for x + 10 and then dial it back to achieve x + 5.
His presentation discussed techno-savvy geezers, tribe-building marketing, and how influence and expertise have become incredibly fluid values in our society. We must embrace uncertainty as a driving force and understand that the acceleration of obsolescence is an opportunity and a challenge.
Watts Wacker – The Future of Business
Click here to see the rest of our coverage of the 2010 Spring Member Gathering.
Photos graciously taken by of Nancy Jo.
Spring Conference: Portland Sustainable Business Walking Tour
Thursday, May 13th, 2010During the conference, Portland Mayor Sam Adams encouraged members to explore the growing community of sustainable businesses that have setup shop in his city. On Sunday nearly 30 SVN members did just that and headed into Portland’s revitalized Pearl District to see the city’s sustainable businesses up close on SVN’s off-site visit, “Portland: A Sustainable Business Walking Tour.” Organized and guided by Eric Friedenwald-Fishman and Brian Detman of Metropolitan Group, who also sponsored the walk, the tour was led by the City’s most innovative green business leaders and visited cutting edge green building projects and leading socially responsible business from all sectors - from winemaking to theater to shoe cobbling to architecture.
View SVN Portland Sustainable Business Walking Tour in a larger map
The tour began at the offices of Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architects (ZGF), a nationally recognized architecture, planning and interior design firm. Peter van der Meulen, Craig Briscoe and Jan Carl Willemse told us about ZGF’s work in Portland which includes the design of Portland’s own MAX rail system.
On our walk north we learned about Portland’s vibrant cycling community. With dedicated bike lanes all over the city, cycling is often one of the fastest ways to get around. Eric explained that he often bikes to meetings and that he’ll sometimes be the first one to a meeting if others are driving and need to spend time searching for a parking spot.
The next stop was the headquarters of KEEN Inc., manufacturer of hybrid footwear, socks and bags. The company strives to demonstrate integrity and leadership, especially on social and environmental commitments, while promoting an inclusive outdoors community. As KEEN President and CEO James Curleigh explained, they consider anywhere without a roof “outdoors.” The company encourages a healthy work-life balance – note the drum set, frisbees and video games scattered throughout the office. James gave a quick presentation extolling the futures of the hybrid life, be it embodied in a sandal design, a business model, or a building layout. He showed us around the offices and explained how some of the materials used for the interior were either salvaged or recycled.
As we walked to our next stop, one of Portland’s newly reinstated streetcars rolled past. When the City decided it wanted to reincorporate streetcars into its public transit mix there were longer any U.S. companies making streetcars. United Streetcar was founded in 2007 to build Portland’s new streetcars and today it is building streetcars at its facility just outside of Portland.
Although we had missed the matinee, we stopped by Portland Center Stage, the city’s leading professional theater company. Located in the historic Portland Armory, the facility is the first historic rehabilitation on the National Historic Register, and the first performing arts venue, to achieve a LEED Platinum rating. Before Center Stage moved in there had been talk about knocking the building down because its lack of windows meant it wouldn’t be a viable commercial or residential space but wound up being perfect for as a theater complex. Today the Armory has three stages with over 300 performances a year.
Our tour returned us to the ZGF headquarters and we headed to the top of the 22-story mixed-use building. Amid wind turbines and solar panels we heard from the Oregon Environmental Council, the Portland Sustainability Institute, the Portland Development Commission and the Oregon Sustainability Center. These are the folks who work to make Mayor Sam Adams’ vision of Portland as the greenest city in North America a reality. They pitched the City Portland as the place to be if you’re looking to locate your business in an eco-friendly and progressive environment with plenty of educated workers.
We capped the afternoon’s festivities with a rooftop wine tasting of Chardonnay and Pinot noir from Oregon’s own Stoller Vineyards. Winemaker Melissa Burr poured and explained that Stoller is one of fourteen Oregon wineries that have taken part in the Carbon Neutral Challenge, a joint effort of the Oregon Environmental council, the Oregon Wine Board and Oregon wineries. Cheers!
Spring Conference: SVN at Multnomah Falls
Tuesday, May 11th, 2010For those early risers at the SVN Spring Member Gathering who braved drizzle and drowsiness on Saturday morning the reward was beautiful. Standing 620 feet tall, Multnomah Falls spills over the Oregon side of the Columbia River Gorge.
Pictured from left to right:
Conference speaker Alicia Korten of ReNual, Carla Culos of Renewable Partners, SVN’s own Lars Olson, Rose Yee of Green Retirement Plans, Philip Kranenburg of Kranenburg Capital Management, and John Heymann of New Level Group.
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