Stephen P. Giannetti, VP and Group Publisher, National Geographic Magazine
He broke his presentation into 3 sections. At National Geographic, they are focused on where the consumers are going. Then, he wants to share about what the organization does with their employees. Finally, how they will communicate the message as a sustainable lifestyle.
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Consumers want to feel better about what they have. They want to enjoy themselves and live their lives, while also knowing they are being good. 250 M people read the magazine and watch the cable channel. Really? Much greater reach than I expected or supposed. They are now referring to people today as a population that lives and has a “Valuable Life.” This means living life to its fullest while also taking on personal responsibility. Thus, aware of impact on the environment and living with the consequences.
There are also more opportunities for making a difference now. The slides he was using are very full with a tremendous amount of text. I have been typing by listening to him, but as I looked up at the slides, I am overwhelmed by the amount of text and columns and data and information. I think I will listen again, as I am distracted by looking at the slides. He stated they are focusing on the full-committed consumer or supportive consumer, which are now 41% of the population ( but not clear which population, the
US or the world?).
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National Geographic with their employees. Their new mission is to inspire people to care about the planet. I like this new mission, though it has been current for two years now. They want their employees to be brand ambassadors of trying to live this way around the world. This will help them to be more credible, as the employees will see this in their lives and not just in their message. Thus, they want attainable and sustainable goals. Their building is the first certified green building in the US, and they
have a lot of internal initiatives (such as aggressive recycling in the cafeteria, Earth Day initiatives, and other ways to professionally and personal live greener lives, great use of wind power). National Geographic Magazine reaches 6.5 M readers each month, and they are looking to make a difference in how they create and print the magazine, as well as how their work and stories support their mission. They will then work with the World Wildlife Fund to do an
internal audit of their green initiatives, as well as a new green section on their Intranet.
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Communicating green and how they leverage their brand. Their global Mission “Inspiring People to Care about the Plant.” They are a non-profit and all their income supports their magazines and worldwide cable channels (communications vehicles) and they then also support people and projects who support their missions. They will bring these people together and then brainstorm how they can better support and spread what they have learned about the melting of the glaciers and the recession of the Redwoods (from projects
of people who have walked across these areas to record this information). Climate Connections is a segment on NPR every morning, where they discuss articles and components from their work to further spread the word. They also licensed a cruise ship for a National Geographic expedition where passengers learn from their experts based on where they are traveling and what they hope to learn. He really encouraged
and praised the work they do, and recommended people look at the practical and free resources on their website. They also purchased the Green Guide, a print and online publication for health and practical suggestions for living a greener life. Their article in the July 2007 issue, The Big Thaw. It was greatly read and the feedback is that people decided to take action after reading it,
so from a financial perspective, it was somewhat lucrative for them. He also spoke about another magazine; National Geographic Traveler.
His content was very interesting, but toward the end it seemed almost too sales and marketing focused. There is a lot of great work they are doing. Being Green Is No Longer and Option was a focus. We then saw a preview of a new movie that National Geographic is about to release–Arctic Voice.
There were then questions. One asked about how to educate without just trying to make money. Everything they do goes through a group consensus filter. For them, ratings (on tv) and mission are not always synonymous, so that is why they partner with NPR and PBS and the like. Another question asked about how to address the green issues of perception vs. reality, and what is acceptable for them and for the consumer. At worst, things are left in the same condition, and at best they are left in better condition. The
people who asked questions came from all over the world (the Caribbean, London, etc.). Another question was about the brand — are more people coming to the brand and then looking at what their clients and advertising are doing. The corporate social responsibility (CSR) advertising is doubling. Climate change as a problem and the solutions, and there is a lot of misinformation there. He thinks Europe is ahead of us, though this is not my experience in England, where I did not see any recycling whatsoever three
weeks ago. Another question asked about education for children, and he stated that they are actively involved in curriculum development and a kids’ magazine, which is now the most read children’s magazine in the world. The question about fully recycled paper, and how expensive this is, is a great challenge they are striving to do (they are committed to 100% recycled paper in the future). Hilton in New York, has installed a fuel cell and encourages people to not wash their linens every day).
Technorati Tags: Green Guide, National Geographic Magazine, NPR, PBS, Stephen P. Giannetti, corporate social responsibility, WWF
Steve Etzler, Founder and CEO of Business Development Institute
He stated that there are 250 people here and 1000 attending live online.
He took a pole and asked people to raise their hands (corporate communications people, pr people, green people, etc.). The venture people did not really raise their hands, somewhat understandably. BDI presents conferences and sessions in the area of communications, and as an organization it sounds interesting.
They did not do any paper-based marketing–only. no plastic bottles, no plastic, and only using large water bottles with paper cups. Even the flatware is made from corn (how, he was not sure). The brochures were all from recycled paper, also.
He then thanked people on the staff and those sponsors who gave space and other forms of leadership for this event. What a wide range of sponsors: corporate and non-profit and government. Engaging and energetic kick-off and welcome.
Adrienne Garland, VP of Marketing, PR Newswire
She explained how BDI and PR Newswire bring groups and people together in marketing and communications, especially with corporate social responsibility and the green movement.
Her speech was very good, excellent, actually. However, she read it word-for-word and it did not come across as authentic or heartfelt. If only she would have looked up and engaged the audience more, it would have continued the momentum Steve began.
Her description of some of the products that PR Newswire offers made it seem like a goldmine of resources. I will have to check it out later.
Technorati Tags: Adrienne Garland, Business Development Institute, Green Communications, PR Newswire, Steve Etzler
I am sitting in the Microsoft Executive Customer Briefing Center at 1290 6th Ave. in Manhattan, waiting for the Green Communications: The Case Studies event to begin. I recall seeing this in the Social Media Club email and website, but the title did not strike a cord in me until I received a call from Howard Greenstein yesterday encouraging me to consider
attending. Billed as an event that bridges the area between corporate communications and green / corporate social responsibility initiatives, this is directly within my area of personal and professional interests as a corporate communications instructor at NYU Stern School of Business.
While I am awaiting the beginning of the event, there are a few things about this space that strike me as somewhat unusual.
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Firstly, for being in a large conference room at a Microsoft facility, I am surprised there are so few power outlets. I have one of the only two near any of the seats that I found in the entire room (which I scouted out as I arrived early).
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Another thing that surprises me is that I am the only one with a laptop out and in use. Not that I expect others to be liveblogging this event (can I ever stop my research once I have started it??!!), but for an event that targets corporate communications people, I wonder if more traditional note-taking strategies (I see lots of pads of paper and pens) are still more commonplace. Nevertheless,
live and learn.
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Another thing that I find somewhat interesting is that there is not any publicly available wifi that I can determine. There are lots of available streams, but they all require authentication (which I as an attendee do not appear to have). Of course, without live wifi, this liveblogging will again be done using Ecto, where I will maintain things as written and post them later in the day when I again have wireless.
Ahh, two others now have laptops out . . .
Technorati Tags: Green Communications, Howard Greenstein, Social Media Club
I just learned about an interesting discussion happening over on the Harvard Business School blog, How Much of Leadership Is About Control, Delegation, or Theater? The space for entering comments is open for another week, so go take a look.
This comes from some of the wonderful work by Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert I. Sutton on evidence-based management. How does leadership effect performance? What evidence is there to support it? I have been interested this for a long time, and especially since I will be teaching a class in the next few weeks on at NYU’s SCPS.
While I am very interested in the evidence that is out there, I also realize that all the evidence in the world won’t make a difference if it is somebody else’s evidence and does not fit within my experience and my own goals and objectives; thus, I plan to take an action-learning perspective to this class (rather than just reading “the book” on the subject, as if there were such a thing out there). After all, can evidence ever really exist only “out there?”
Technorati Tags: Developing Leaders, evidence-based management, Harvard Business School , Jeffrey Pfeffer , NYU, Robert I. Sutton , SCPS
I applaud Chris Garrett's post today, Forget About Perfection, Just Do It. If we wait to blog or write or publish until everything is perfect, we may well miss the opportunity to have anything ever written at all. Chris' guides include keeping momentum, the benefits of now versus later, striking while still being original, and reducing opportunity cost. They are all valuable.
Even if we want to be seen as an authority, which is a theme I am beginning to come back to again and again, then we still need to start someplace. If I did not begin writing about expertise last week, I would not have noticed the pattern I just noticed and now have a third reference to it in this post. Now I have something else to say and develop about it, as I have the beginning of some track record in this area (cf. Chris' momentum, benefits now, etc.).
A number of years ago, when I was working on a graduate degree in English and American Literature at Hunter College, one of my classmates and future professional colleagues, Karen Graham said a profound statement that I come back to again and again. While we were struggling to finish our theses, she said (perhaps borrowing from a faculty member), that sometimes good enough is good enough. Excellent point. Sometimes we have to write and get it done and out the door as there are other things in life that demand attention, time, and resources. I may want to write the perfect blog post or Great American Novel or most sublime philosophical point that will have friends and colleagues alike in profound awe for years to come, but if I waited until then, I may as well remain illiterate.
After all, perfection is a long time in coming.
Technorati Tags: Chris Garrett, Karen Graham, Great American Novel, authority, expertise
Business Week has a great article today about how some of the top bloggers make a pretty good living running their blogs. Selling ads, traffic, community involvement, hard work, and filling a need that was not determined before they started their work (and hobbies, in many cases). There are a lot of great ideas here, and I can’t wonder how this article will increase their traffic
(and thus revenue and their claim of expertise, since after all they are all expert at making a living doing this work), while at the same time making it more difficult for others to enter the field and make an impact. Consider, how can somebody take on Microsoft or Boeing or ExxonMobil or Harvard at their own games with their head start, brand identity, and financial stability?
While this can be done, perhaps the lesson here will be to learn what opportunities exist within each one of our lives and then plug away at what we like, since our passions are our greatest urge and support in success. It should go without saying that there is not a clear measure for determining what is success, but I feel I have to say it nonetheless. If we determine what constitutes success in our own lives, then we are already well ahead in the striving toward our dreams.
Now, the only question that really remains is, What is success for me?
Technorati Tags: Business Week, What is success for me?, top bloggers
This weekend, I was able to spend some time outside working on a brick walkway that had to be adjusted since the driveway was recently paved. I rebuilt the end of the walkway, cutting the bricks and adding several bags of sand to fill the gaps and help hold everything in place. I thought this was a pretty good job for an amateur, especially as I have never been trained in laying bricks, landscaping, or even gardening. I read some books in cutting bricks, and then went off to the Home Depot, since they told me I can do it and they can help. Yes, I actually spent the little free time I had this weekend working on this project.
Why would I want to do this? 
Most of the work I do all week is behind a computer or in front of groups of people. I do intellectual and academic work full-time, whether in instructional design, organizational communication, theory development, or research. I love working with all of this, yet it is rare I can ever see any immediate results of my work. I get excited with it, but the results are often far in the future with my writing and audience.
Laying bricks? I can see the results of my labor immediately. If they are not what I wanted, I can redo them (as I in fact did several times). I can get it just right and then stop. Not so with theory. Not so with project plans. Certainly not so with communication or research. Ironic that to get immediate satisfaction and sense of accomplishment, I have to spend my free time doing strenuous, physical labor. This is not what I thought would be the case before I started working on and finishing the four graduate academic degree I have. What they never tell you in college . . .
Technorati Tags: communication, instructional design, laying bricks, physical labor, what they never tell you in college, theory development
My teeth have been bothering me for a few days, and chewing hard food was starting to become uncomfortable. Having recently gone to the dentist about 3 weeks ago to have an old silver filling replaced as well as two bondings for my teeth where my gums are receding, I thought that perhaps something was stirred up in my mouth, and began anticipating a larger round of dental work.
Before I scheduled the appointment, I decided to floss. With some popcorn coming out from a movie I saw a week earlier, as well as the discomfort from not having flossed since the dental work itself, my teeth no longer hurt. As it turns out, it was the stuck popcorn itself that was causing the discomfort, with the pain signaling to my body that it had to be addressed. Rather than look for the simple solution, I was ready to have major work done.
I wonder how often I (we?) fail to notice signs and keep plugging away at other solutions that have little to nothing to do with the cause? The dentist would have found the problem, but the cost and time and efforts would have far surpassed the little it really took me to resolve the issue myself. There seems some lessons here beyond the value of periodic flossing . . .
Technorati Tags: popcorn, flossing
I just saw Time Magazine’s list of 50 Best Websites 2007, and love looking at these lists to see how their research (or preferences?) match or differ from my own. I wish they would explain their methodology for selecting them, but it is a popular magazine, not an academic one, so their processes may not be as rigorous (based on traffic, a large survey, focus groups, etc.) as one may like (or even care).
While I use some of the ones they list, including LinkedIn and Twitter (both of these links go to my information on their sites), most of them I have never heard of. I am by no means going to set myself out as an expert on websites (popular or otherwise), but I wonder how they separated the 50 Best from the 25
Sites We Can’t Live Without. These are the bigger players (including Amazon, del.icio.us, Flickr, Technorati - once again, with links to my own pages), and while there are also a few sites here I do not use, I wish they could have organized these into a handy single-page
chart as well.
One last thing that is so important for keeping current online that Time seems to have forgotten — date stamp all lists and pages! With information being created at an unheard-of speed, it is vital people can easily determine how current information is. Blog programs do this for us automatically. Outlook dates and time stamps emails. Document management systems, credit card processors, and even Google all follow suit. Seems somewhat ironic, I think, given Time’s own name, they neglected
this.
Technorati Tags: Amazon, del.icio.us, Flickr, LinkedIn, Twitter, Technorati, Time Magazine
I went to the Pharmacy today to get some more meds to treat my bronchitis, and I saw an interesting product line in the window I have never seen before: Funky Farm. Yes, Village Apothecary carries the British funky fragrance that smells a bit more civilized than the nifty packaging shows.
Technorati Tags: Funky Farm, Village Apothecary
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