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Paul Hawken to Speak at Green Business Camp

Bill Baren — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 15:39:06 +0000

In all of our entrepreneurial endeavors, we have made a commitment to “playing big.” What this means to us is that we DREAM BIG and then get committed to making those dreams a reality. Bring together 100 amazing green business owners and entrepreneurs to collaborate is the realization of the dream we envisioned last year.

ENTER PAUL HAWKEN

Patrick was reading “Blessed Unrest” by Paul Hawken a few months ago and it struck him that there was a connection between the themes and vision that Paul brilliantly articulated in his book about the unprecented green movement, and the ideas we had behind our Unconference. Wouldn’t it be great if we could join forces with Paul Hawken and work on building a new reality together?

Patrick dreamt big and made the dream a reality, with Paul generously offering to contribute his time, energy, wisdom, and inspiration to the event.

Green Business Camp will kick off with a powerful welcome address by Paul Hawken – the pioneering environmentalist, entrepreneur, and bestselling author, described as “one of the great thinkers of the green movement” by Wired Magazine.

If you know who Paul Hawken is then you know how exciting this news is. If you don’t know about Paul we invite you to learn more on out unspeakers page.

A SPEAKER AT AN “UNSPEAKER EVENT? WHY?
Several people have asked us this question - and with good reason. Why would we have a speaker at an event where we’ve been so adamant about NOT having any speakers?

This is not going to be your typical keynote address or welcome speech.

Paul’s talk will be a catalyst for the event that will infuse a sense of purpose to an entire day full of participant-led group discussions.

Paul will will give us all a sense of urgency as to why we green businesses and entrepreneurs need to come together and collaborate NOW in order to tackle global climate issues. As Paul told Patrick last week, “the time for heroes has passed, we need to find news ways to come together.” And, inspired by Paul’s thoughts and insights, we’ll then go through the rest of the day into exploring dynamic knowledge sharing and collaborative opportunities.

Here’s a short video of Patrick Dominguez addressing why Paul Hawken is the perfect person for this event.

Registrations Filling Up - We’re 70% Full

tanya — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 19:13:47 +0000

Latest news - Green Business Camp is officially 70% full (we’re taking a max of 100 attendees) so if you want to network and collaborate with local green businesses make sure to register as soon as possible to secure your spot.

A few other things you should check out:

GREEN BUSINESS CAMP GIVEAWAYS
Two great businesses have given us some swag to give away at the event.
One lucky business owner will receive a free year of hosting from Sustainable Websites
Another will get $250 to spend at GreenPostCards.com to take care of any eco-friendly printing needs you might have. (Think marketing materials and business cards!)

Are you interested in offering up a giveaway for Green Business Camp? Contact tanya@greenbusinessinnovators.com and send her your idea.

HOT TOPICS TO BE DISCUSSED
Be sure to check out some of the evolving ares of Green Business Camp that we’re really excited about.

Take a look at our great least of featured unspeakers (people who you will have a chance to interact with)
See what discussion topics have already been suggested
Be sure to submit your discussion topic

HELP US BUILD AN INNOVATIVE COMMUNITY
Last but not least we want to ask for your help in building an innovative community of green businesses.
If you haven’t already, please share Green Business Camp with your fellow green business owners and entrepreneurs.
Send them an email or you can Facebook/Twitter about us!

Also, follow us on Twitter and join our Facebook group. Or you can email or share this blog post with them.

Thank you for passing us us on to your friends and colleagues - building a community takes collaboration!

Go Green Online with a Sustainable Web Host

tanya — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 05:03:51 +0000

Ivan Stork from Sustainable Websites has become a great supporter of Green Business Camp.

This may be good news for you…

His company is providing a great giveaway for one lucky participant - a free year of web hosting and their Wordpress Pie Installation Service.

We decided to find out a little more about his company, their vision and why he’s looking forward to attending Green Business Camp.

As an experience “unconference” goer, Ivan is giving first-timers a great reason for attending.

• Tell us about Sustainable Websites.

Sustainable Websites is a web hosting company focused on the needs of green entrepreneurs. We are located in a green data center that saves energy and water, and reduces waste. We also offset 100% of the energy that we use. Sustainable Websites was one of the first green web hosts and remains fully committed to the triple bottom line of people, planet and profit.

Our office in San Francisco is host to meetups on open-source software such as WordPress and Ruby on Rails. All web hosting packages include a free open source software that can accelerate an entrepreneurs launch of their new company’s web site.

Our WordPress Pie installation service combines open source software with personal coaching to get web sites started faster.

• Why did you decide to participate in Green Business Camp?

I love talking with local businesses in cleantech and sustainability. I’ve been to several other Barcamps over the years. I find that it’s a distinctive conference experience, one that makes it very easy to authentically connect with other people.

• What topic did you suggest for Green Business Camp and why?

I haven’t thought of a topic yet but am looking forward to participating in sessions on clean technology and green web services.

~ Thanks Ivan, and we’re looking forward to hearing your topic and seeing you at Green Business Camp!

Are You Innovating During This Economic Downturn?

Patrick Dominguez — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 18:50:49 +0000

One of the great advantages to being a small business in the ability to be flexible and change direction easily and quickly.

We just took a major turn in our direction with Green Business Camp. And, since we want Green Business Camp to be based on collaboration and knowledge-sharing, we want to tell you what we did and why.

As you may have noticed, we’ve dramatically changed our pricing structure. Originally we were going to charge $125 (with a 25% early bird by April 10th), since full-day events like this are typically charging $95-$295. But just recently decided to change our strategy and charge $25 to reserve a spot. At the end of the event we’ll ask attendees to give what they think the day was worth to them.

It’s definitely a drastic change and we know it might sound crazy.

But, we did this for two reasons:

(1) We wanted to make the event accessible
We wanted to make sure that Green Business Camp was accessible to all small business owners. And, with the current economy we realized that the small amount of $125 might make this impossible for some people.

(2) Innovation is key during economic challenges
Bill and Patrick (two of the co-organizers of Green Business Camp) often advise their business clients to innovate in the way that they package their services and to re-think how to provide value in a tight economy. So we decided to practice what we preach.

With that said, sign up for Green Business Camp and collaborate with other green business on your mutual success!

See you at Green Business Camp on April 30th.

PS have a topic you want to suggest? Let us know by suggesting a topic

photo credit

Announcing the Green Business Camp UnConference

Tanya McCausland — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 22:43:48 +0000

We’re so excited to unveil Green Business Camp to you. Like you, we’ve been to MANY diverse conferences, presentations and seminars focused on green business. And although many of them have been wonderful and very informative we frequently left thinking “did that help me make progress with my business”, or “well, now what? How do I apply this new learning to me and my business?” Plus, we always felt like we managed to meet many of the other attendees; who we’re certain had some great experience and knowledge that we could have learned from.

From BarCamp to Green Business Camp
With this in mind, we decided to create our own event based on the creative spirit of BarCamp (a pioneering “user-generated” event born from the desire for people to share and learn in an open environment). We’ve created a mashup of BarCamp, green business, added a few additional tweaks …. and Green Business Camp was born. We’ll bring you the same powerful environment of creative, collaboration, and knowledge sharing, where you’ll make new business contacts and friends.

Let us tell you a bit about what Green Business Camp is …
Green Business Camp is a participation-oriented, entrepreneur-driven, one day “unconference” in the San Francisco Bay Area dedicated to the growth of green business. It will be taking place at the Greenv Sustainable Center in South San Francisco on Thursday April 30, 2009 from 8 am -5 pm. This event will give you the opportunity to network, collaborate, and share knowledge with 100 top green business owners and entrepreneurs in the San Francisco Bay Area. Ready to attend? Check out our registration page.

Never been to an Unconference?
Then you’re in for a lot of excitement! Green Business Camp isn’t your typical conference filled with PowerPoint presentations. Instead, in our innovative event program the participants themselves will create and lead event sessions. This will bring out the best ideas of the group and allow everyone to share knowledge and resources with other green businesses. Have a topic you would like to lead a discussion on? Want help with a business challenge you are facing? Or, perhaps you want feedback on a new idea or venture? Submit a discussion topic and get your own brainstorming team to help you.

This video gives you a taste of what an unconference is like. (One difference will be that their attendees are giving short pitches on their new startups, we’ll have breakout sessions for group discussion and brainstorming on topics selected by event participants.)

So what’s the agenda?
Most of the agenda will be created by participants during the first hour of the event. We’ll be pulling topics from the above document or you can bring business topics for discussions that you want to lead or participate in. All of these topics will be voted on and organized into a schedule and from there you will choose which you want to attend. From there, the topics that were voted on will be discussed in a 45 minute breakout session of approximately 20 people. By the end of the day you will have attended 5-6 of breakout sessions where you’ll have met a few dozen other interesting green businesspeople.

A good start and a good finish
The day will kick off with a special “Art of Networking” workshop to give you tools and techniques to more easily make new business contacts and future business partners during the event. We’ll end the day with a nice and relaxing wine tasting reception. OK, now join us!

How much is this whole doing going to cost?

In recognition of the current economic challenges, Green Business Camp has implemented a “pay what you can” pricing model. Secure your place at Green Business Camp for only $25. At the end of the event, you can pay what the event was worth to you and ONLY what you can afford to invest.

Sill not sure? Sign up for our newsletter and get on-going updates that will keep you informed. See you at Green Business Camp.

Join 100 Green Business Owners and Entrepreneurs

admin — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 05:01:45 +0000

GREEN BUSINESS CAMP IS NOW TAKING PLACE IN SANTA CRUZ!

>> Looking for Green Business Camp Santa Cruz 2009? <<

Click Here

ABOUT GREEN BUSINESS CAMP

Get dozens of new strategies, ideas and resources to help you grow your business
Create new collaborations and opportunities with like-minded small green businesses
Gain insights of dozens of other green business leaders into your biggest business challenges

Find out more about this unique unconference event.

NEWS ALERT: Paul Hawken will be giving a welcome address at Green Business Camp

One of the themes that Paul will be speaking on is that “the time for heroes has passed” - it is essential for green businesses, green entrepreneurs, and green nonprofits to come together and collaborate in order to accelerate the green business movement. (Learn more about Paul Hawken)

Join us for a powerful call-to-action from Paul Hawken to kick off a exciting day of collaboration and interaction.

BECOME AN “UNSPEAKER”

Several green business leaders have already volunteered to be “unspeakers” and facilitate dynamic group sessions.

Find out how you can lead a discussion at this unique unconference event

WHAT IS AN UNCONFERENCE?

One of the Green Business Camp organizers, Bill Baren, explains the Unconference idea:

If you haven’t been to an unconference before, check out this video from Startup Camp:

Sarah McLachlan Performs at Much More Music

admin — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 04:58:35 +0000

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