Tips to Power Networking

How many times have you attended conferences and felt excited at the outset, only to leave feeling disappointed and wondering if you should have been doing something else instead, or spent your registration money elsewhere? An excellent article in the October issue of The New York Enterprise Report by Liz Lynch highlights 7 tips for networking at conferences. Here is a summary:
1. Consider events outside your industry. While you may always attend your annual industry trade show event, you should broaden your horizons and consider other events that will enable you to do cross marketing.
2. Clarify your goals. If you decide beforehand what your main goals are, it will help you decide what speakers to meet and breakout sessions to attend, as well as keynotes if there are multiple sessions.
3. Don't sell. Most industry experts agree that conferences are intended to foster real relationships and not sales pitches. It's better to make a good impression, and the selling can come later.
4. Focus your discussions. While it's nice to make small talk, find out why others are attending the conference and what they hope to get out of it. You may discover common ground, or ways to partner with someone else.
5. Get the right people to come to you. By speaking up at sessions, asking questions, and making it known to others what you do, you will attract more people.
6. Ask organizers for help. Don't be shy about asking conference organizers and staff for help, by asking for an introduction to a speaker or sponsor.
7. Get out of the conference venue. Take advantage of excursions and other convention activities which will take you to a new venue, such as a show or a restaurant. You never know who you might meet.

Dressing it Up in Westport - Paul Newman and the Greening of a Town

"Recycled barn wood walls, a fieldstone fireplace, soap and towels that are biodegradable; and, the food is eco-gastronomic: organic, healthy and — whenever possible- regionally grown.” (press for the Dressing Room)

We read with great interest a blog feature from Plenty Magazine (October 16th) about chef Michael Nischan, who recently launched with Paul Newman an organic restaurant in Westport, CT, called Dressing Room, in which all the food is sourced from local offerings. He has also led other projects aimed at the "greening" of Westport, such as a nonprofit called Wholesome Wave, through which a new farmer's market was launched in the summer of '06. "In addition to funding and managing the twice-weekly farmers’ markets, Wholesome Wave’s initiatives include developing a network of community gardens; piloting an edible mentorship program between the local schools; and brokering the Green Wave Farm-to-College program, a partnership between Vassar College, food services giant ARAMARK, and a handful of Hudson Valley farmers, to ratchet up the school’s farm-to-table offerings," the article states. Nischan, a native of Chicago, worked as a chef at many high-end restaurants before coming east, and has a philosophy of bringing people not only closer to their food, but closer to good food. His programs are ambitious, and depending on their success, may serve as a model for other programs on a national level. Let us know if you've other heard of other food initiatives similar to this and how they are being implemented --or, if you have tried the Dressing Room, what are your reviews? In the meantime, congratulations to Paul and Michael for a great green effort. Is it dinnertime yet?

Lights Out America

We recently learned of a group called "Lights Out America," a grassroots community group focused on conserving energy and slowing global warming. This Saturday, October 20, from 8-9 pm in San Francisco, the entire city is invited to turn out all non essential lighting for one hour, and to install one compact fluorescent bulb (CFL) instead. According to its home page: "We estimate that turning lights out in San Francisco for even one hour could save as much as 15 percent of the energy consumed on an average Saturday night." Los Angeles and Santa Barbara are also taking part on this day, and efforts are being made nationwide, culminating in a national "Lights Out," on March 29, 2008, from 8-9 pm. These events are inspired by a similar event recently held in Sydney, Australia, called "Earth Hour." In Sydney, 2.2 million people participated. Their one hour of lights out meant that 24.86 tons of carbon dioxide were not released into the air - the equivalent of taking 48,613 cars off the road for one hour! The web site (see links) features a blog, ways to get involved, upcoming events, and ways to donate as well. We think this is an idea whose time has come, and plan on participating. See you on Saturday...and lights out!

Video of John Doerr Speaking on Climate Change at Spring TED Conference

We felt this is a must-see video on climate change. (See link) "I don't think we're going to make it," John Doerr proclaims, in an emotional talk about climate change and investment. Spurred on by his daughter, who demanded he fix the mess the world is heading for, he and his partners at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers embarked on a greentech world tour -- surveying the state of the art, from the ethanol revolution in Brazil to Wal-mart's (!) eco-concept store in Bentonville, Arkansas. KPCB is investing $200 million in green technologies to save the planet and make a profit to boot. But, Doerr fears, it may not be enough.John Doerr, a partner in famed VC firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, made upwards of $1 billion picking dot-com stars like Amazon, Google, Compaq and Netscape. (He also picked some flops, like Go Corporation and the scandal-ridden MyCFO.com.) He was famously quoted saying, "The Internet is the greatest legal creation of wealth in history," right before the dot-com crash. But now he's back, warning that carbon-dioxide-sputtering, gas-powered capitalism will destroy us all, and that going green may be the "biggest economic opportunity of the 21st century." So Kleiner Perkins has invested $200 million in so-called greentech, a combination of startups that are pioneering alternative energy, waste remediation and other schemes to prevent the coming environmental calamity. But Doerr is afraid that it might be too little, too late.

Creative Community Enterprises and Sunrise Advisors: Essential, More Than Nice

According to a recent article in The Chronicle of Philanthropy, only 31% of the money Americans donate to charities benefits poor people. The article reported on a study conducted by the Indiana University Center on Philanthrophy and financed by Google, and it also revealed that contributions to charities meeting the most basic of human needs, such as food and shelter, were just 8% of all donations from individuals. That's only $19 billion for the entire United States, less than 10% of what this nation is spending in Iraq on a similar time frame basis. The patterns of giving based on income and socioeconomic status also reveal that the least wealthy give at more than a 2 to 1 basis compared with the wealthiest Americans to benefit the needy.

While all who give, whether to the needy, or in other ways that benefit society (such as to education, the arts, cultural organizations, and beyond) are commendable compared to those who do not, it has been both our personal and professional experiences in our lifetimes that beautiful buildings, while indeed, well, glamorous, do not develop people alone. So however you and we give, and please, even when times are rough, keep doing so as we do, in this age of Katrina as more than a hurricane, but truly reminding us of real injustices throughout the entire land, and that the entire thinking and spirit of helping others, especially in real, urgent need, needs to be rethought and renewed. Beyond a hand out, rather a real hand up.

There are new ways we admire, even more as we learn more, and we call on others who tangibly care (not just talk) to walk the talk with us, and catalyze these new ways of human and spiritual renewal, rather than merely writing a check (or not) -- without thinking it through. Please seriously consider as one way we at Sunrise Advisors would like to devote our careers, earn our livelihoods, and join together with you and others in the real world, promising efforts of Common Ground in New York -- http://www.commonground.org -- and its pioneering efforts to not just provide shelter for the homeless, and admirable nonprofit pathways and programs -- but through the first Ben & Jerry's (surprisingly profitable?) social enterprise franchise and job training program in Times Square, Midtown Manhattan, some years ago (and several different, innovative initiatives since), transform individual lives with stability and hope. For more about this, please see the light at:

http://www.allbusiness.com/management/104917-1.html

We also hear some are getting caught up with semantics as to whether social enterprises can only flow from nonprofit ownership, or whether definitely for profit companies with a provably enduring environmental and social conscience -- like a Stonyfield Farm, http://www.stonyfield.com -- should be called something else. Who cares! Except that what we have read and witnessed in this regard can just be a lot of unnecessary, worthless background noise, sort of like Nero fiddles while Rome burns.

Please share this widely with others who both care and think, for you then help us through Sunrise Advisors -- http://www.enterprisesunrise.com and http://www.nonprofitsunrise.com
-- to survive and prosper in hopefully, doing well and doing good. And we want all to know, also, that the environment, as we see it is far more organic and local, and integrated in public health and well being than how it is often seen, as more of an abstract cause. So there really is a direct connection between our environment and offering that hand up to those in need.

Much of the spirit reflected in The Rise of The Creative Class -- http://books.google.com/books?id=4AcGvt3oX6IC&pg=PP1&dq=Richard+Florida&ei=fUEJR6uiHZW0pALopsiiDQ&sig=RUra7f-tg72SfXuFyJGLNJrGavo -- and other works by Richard Florida makes a similar case for arts for the public, not elites, too...as well as through addressing head on the issues of homelessness and poverty in America, and how these can damage the quality of life for us all. More on this quality of life, from a together perspective is inspired through Comeback Cities -- http://books.google.com/books?id=o5sbdWh_B8IC&pg=PP1&dq=Comeback+Cities&ei=pEIJR4qPJZrkowK-742nDQ&sig=jxJSx614tvcbkQz35ttAXJdBkpw (including an opening message by Tom Brokaw), and, with special relevance towards building an enhanced social enterprise economy and (truly) eco-system, a more recent book by Michael Shuman, The Small-Mart Revolution: How Local Businesses Are Beating The Global Competition -- http://www.smallmart.org -- related through a karma connection through time, history, and our hopeful future with an amazingly day-to-day and practical, yet profoundly pioneering work first discovered by us 19 years ago (and recently, deeply reconnected with...), Paul Hawken's Growing A Business -- http://books.google.com/books?id=3ZRpM_7lLUIC&q=Growing+a+Business+Paul+Hawken&dq=Growing+a+Business+Paul+Hawken&ei=O0YJR7nGBZeGpwLJhsjDDg&pgis=1

Making the triple bottom line (financial, environmental, and social) truly come to life is our purpose in this life, ours and hopefully yours. A friend of ours described it as the spirit of L'Chaim (the spirit of life, in a broad sense) which transcends all faiths and cultures. Now that's what, to us, further described at our Website, CCEs, Creative Community Enterprises are supposed to be all about. A real hand up!

Indeed, it is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness, as the saying goes. So, please, individually, and with and through community, beyond self, in the spirit of Paul Hawken, Michael Shuman, Richard Florida, Common Ground, and all who walk the talk -- Let's Go Forward Together!

Thanks for listening with both your heart and mind -- and to our insight and innovation through Sunrise Advisors, from which also flows, hopefully with you and others, a new kind of "together."

Veggie Voyage

I found the following story from the most recent Plenty Magazine e-news very inspiring. It's nice to know that in today's age of consumerism and "keeping up with the Jones-es," that some are making a conscious effort to simplify their lives and discovering they are much happier in the process, and also sending a message on how we can live in harmony with the planet. I plan on keeping up with their Live Lightly Tour web page, which also features a blog, photos, resources, and other interesting elements.


Matt and Sara Janssen know a thing or two about living simply. Thanks to a long-term business trip to Coralville, Iowa in 2005, the twosome realized they could happily survive on fewer material items than they owned. They slowly began to downsize their life, eventually selling their 1,600 square-foot home and resettling in a 385 square-foot apartment. Currently, 30-year-old Sara, 29-year-old Matt, and their 3-year-old daughter, Bella, are traveling around the country in an RV powered by corn oil for what they’ve termed, their Live Lightly Tour. Plenty caught up with Sara to discuss her new lifestyle, her plans, and her RV.

What was the biggest change you noticed when you simplified?

Whenever we’d go into our big house, all we’d see is everything that needs to be done—the lawn needs to be mowed, this needs to be fixed and cleaned. It was just overwhelming. We didn’t have a lot of time because we were working so much, so it just added to our stress. Once we moved into a small apartment, all those things went away and we had time to focus on family, hobbies, and Bella.

Why go through this entire transformation of simplifying?

The culture of America is to buy and consume. That’s what you see. If you go anywhere, [the impulse] is to buy, buy, buy. For us, simplifying is a matter of sanity. Getting back to not having a TV on at night meant we had more time to spend with Bella, and it made us go outside our house more. We spent more time at coffee shops chatting with friends, and at fountains with family. It just totally changes your perspective on life when you don’t have so much chaos around you.

How long will you be gone?

We’re planning on a year, but we don’t really have a time frame, and that’s the exciting part. It’s open. If we find something along the way that interests us, maybe we’ll come back to it.

Why are you doing the tour?

Our goal for the tour is to bring awareness to sustainable living, show people a veggie-oil system, and show them transportation alternatives. Within the green-living realm, transportation is a huge question; what are you doing to help the earth because gas is nasty and expensive?

How do you get the oil to power the RV?

We go to restaurants and knock on the back door, talk to the managers and say, “Hey, we have an RV that runs on veggie oil. Can we come in and fill up on it?” They often look at us strangely and it’s clear they don’t understand. Then they come out, look at it, and usually say yes. We have an on-board gathering and filtering system and we just fill up. It is like an elephant with a hose out of the front.

What do you think stops people from simplifying their lives like you did?

Part of it is fear. Fear of the unknown, fear of getting rid of stuff they might need someday. A lot of people find comfort in their material possessions. It is so deep-rooted that they don’t realize attachments they have to possessions, the stability of a full-time job, a house that their parents expect them to have, the car that their friends expect them to drive. There’s a fear of not impressing people, or a fear of failure. I always ask people: “If you want to do it, if you have a desire in your heart, if you want to travel one day, then why don’t you do it right now?” What’s holding them back is that they might fail. I say, “So what, then you go back to your nine to five job.”