Portland Sustainable Lifestyle Expo

We recently learned about the launch of a new sustainable lifestyle expo on March 28-30, 2008, at the Portland, Oregon Expo Center. It looks, to use one of our favorite retro terms, "way cool." Entitled the "Better Living Home, Garden & Lifestyle Show," the event features a soundstage for music and special performances, a Toyota mobile interactive hybrid tour, an EcoMetro Pavilion, and a kids and gardeners corner. While the speaker list and sessions have yet to be announced, we've no doubt that this will be a very unique and cutting edge conference, particularly since Portland is truly a city at the forefront of anything eco.

We have visited Portland and were impressed with its renovated downtown and waterfront areas, walkable neighborhoods, and friendly atmosphere. As a former English major and book lover, I became obsessed with Powell's bookstore and must have been in the place for at least 2 hours, and that was just on the first visit. Not to mention the wide variety of excellent restaurants that are constantly being reviewed by The New York Times, probably resulting in large numbers of New Yorkers relocating in order to get more real estate for the money. We were also particularly struck by the fact that most of the city transportation was free, with designated sponsors getting an audio "plug" during the course of your ride. OK, these people have got the right idea....anyway, back to the conference.

According to the conference home page: "The idea of the Better Living Show is to give you access to local resources that will improve your life. The show highlights eight core topics: lifestyle, home/garden, transportation, food/beverage, clean tech, eco adventure, recycling and conservation. All presented in an entertaining way like you've never seen before. From layout and lighting to the food and speakers, the Better Living Show will be unlike any show--green or otherwise--that you've ever seen. The Better Living Show is destined to become the premier sustainable lifestyle show in the country. Show producers Michael O’Loughlin and Stephanie Frisch are veterans of consumer shows and understand what good show design, presentation and marketing can do for attendance and exhibitor success."

We plan on keeping up to date on conference developments and are eager to learn who the keynoter will be and how many attendees are expected.