Conference Bites

CM Summit June 7-8 New York, Arianna Huffington Closing Keynote

Quotes from Closing keynote interview that John Battelle did with  Arianna Huffington, Co-founder & Editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post:

"We see the future as the linked economy.  You don't change human behavior with pay walls....we will always be free. Staying engaged, with complete transparency, is the way of the future."

"This (our current political situation) is really a teachable moment for leadership."

"Many well known people have sent op ed pieces to papers like the New York Times, because they want to, as you say 'sound off', not for the $150 payment."

On what Kissinger told her regarding her accent, "You are about to discover the value in the U.S. of complete and total incomprehensibility."

"Loopholes are like yeast...they are the only thing that makes legislation rise."

"Sleep your way to the top--literally, due to (the explosion of) sleep deprivation. Everyone is so exhausted, there is no time to connect with ourselves and our own wisdom, which is the most precious thing."

"Self-expression is the new entertainment."

For more information on CM Summit:

Economist: The Ideas Economy Mar 23-24 Berkeley

"The leaders in China are engineers. The leaders in the US are lawyers. Draw your own conclusions."
~ Paul Saffo, Visiting Scholar of Stanford University Media X Research Network

"The social rate of return on innovation is greater than the private rate of return on innovation."
~ Christina Romer, Chair White House Council of Economic Advisors

"I'm a fan of people talking to each other regardless of how crazy they are"
~ John Perry Barlow, Founder of Electronic Frontier Foundation

"Three key themes on innovation are need, greed, and speed."
~ Vijay Vaitheeswaran, Global Correspondent for The Economist

"One of America's great assets as a culture of innovation is our tolerance for failure."
~ John Kao, Author of 'Innovation Nation'

"Innovation is serendipity applied to scale."
~ Tyler Cowen, Professor at George Mason University

"Ideas are cheap, ideas are easy... it's all of the hard work and commitment that happens after the idea that is rare."
~ Scott Berkun, Author of 'Myths of Innovation'


For more information on The Ideas Economy:

GreenBeat's The Conference on the Grid Nov 19th, Part 2

"3 Mile Island wasn’t a nuclear disaster, it was a public relations disaster—watch out PG&E regarding Bakersfield."
~ Eric Wesoff, GTM Senior Analyst

"Germany, with the solar resources of Alaska, produces 52% of solar energy worldwide."
~ Eric Wesoff, GTM Senior Analyst

"If it releases quickly it’s a bomb. It it releases slowly it’s a battery. Safety is critical."
~ Tom, Xtreme Power

"The smart grid is the soundbite. Lets not get hung up in the hype."
~ Vinod Khosla, Khosla Ventures Partner

"If you have a way to reduce costs, or better storage, those are good opps, but they need to be based on reality."
~ Vinod Khosla, Khosla Ventures Partner

"If Obama is talking about this, aren’t we in the wrong place in the hype cycle?"
~ Sheeraz Haji, Cleantech Group

"When cars came out people said they would never work—they scared the horses. That ended up not being a problem."
~ Steve Westly, Westly Group Managing Partner

"Silicon Valley is about discovering the future and whoever finds it first wins. I am inpatient."
~ Steve Westly, Westly Group Managing Partner

"We are in a race about who is going to be the biggest (in cleantech) in the next century—is it us or China."
~ Steve Westly, Westly Group Managing Partner

"Thanks Steve (Westly) for saving us from the Death Star (Vinod Khosla)", after their optimistic and skeptical presentation."
~ Matt Marshall, VentureBeat Founder & CEO

For more information on GreenBeat:

GreenBeat Grid Conference November 18th

"3 things needed: put a price on carbon, put a price on carbon, put a price on carbon."
~ John Doerr, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers Partner

"Some say energy policy in the US equals the sum of all lobbyists."
~ John Doerr, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers Partner

"My teen daughter told me, 'I’m scared and I’m angry... your generation created this problem, you better fix it'."
~ John Doerr, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers Partner, speaking about what motivates him

"I am optimistic that (Obama’s) team is that good but I am also sobered by the reality."
~ John Doerr, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers Partner

"Half of the utilities we are working with are working with big box retailers to deliver new solutions."
~ Adrian Tuck, Tendril CEO

"Utility has a vital role to play because they can adjust price. Price is the key to the mass market."
~ Adrian Tuck, Tendril CEO

"The utility sales cycle is long, long, long... you have to be patient."
~ Frank Magnotti, Comverge & Clean Energy Solutions President

"No one understands what a kwh is. But everyone knows that 5 bars is better than 3 on your cellphone."
~ Adrian Tuck, Tendril CEO

"Consumer advocates rep groups who are afraid of variable pricing… we have to educate that group."
~ Frank Magnotti, Comverge Clean Energy Solutions President

"We need to become the most energy efficient economy in the world, regardless of carbon, due to scarce resources."
~ Jim Rogers, Duke Energy CEO

"I view us as a distributor of new technology... we can scale, deploy it faster and fund it."
~ Jim Rogers, Duke Energy CEO

"I look at the rooftop of my customer and I see, plant site."
~ Jim Rogers, Duke Energy CEO

For more information on GreenBeat:

CleanTech Open San Francisco, November 17th

"Can we raise the human condition of the two Billion at the bottom of the pyramid without raising our footprint?"
~ Gil Friend, Natural Logic CEO

"What are we really here to do... looking at our hearts as well as our balance sheets?"
~ Gil Friend, Natural Logic CEO

"Waste heat is so pervasive there is twice as much power that could come from it as from natural gas—twice as much as all the coal plants."
~ Matt Scullin, Alphabet Energy CEO

"Heart of clean tech is to take two problems and create a single solution. Micromidas’ plan: Sewage sludge + microbes = biodegradable plastic."
~ John Bissell, MicroMidas CEO

"Babies today are born pre-polluted with 200 industrial chemicals."
~ Rivertop Renewables

"25% of the smog in LA today comes from Asia."
~ Steve Westly, Westly Group Founder

"China is being more aggressive—planting enough trees to fill the state of Montana—150,000 trees."
~ Steve Westly, Westly Group Founder

"We can't afford to wait 10 years to see if policy levers will work. We need direct investment in tech."
~ Bill Weihl, Google Green Energy Czar

"We may run off a funding cliff next year after federal funding runs out."
~ Bill Weihl, Google Green Energy Czar

"Can we do for energy what has happened in tech with phones, cameras, etc... make it unrecognizable to Thomas Edison?"
~ Bill Weihl, Google Green Energy Czar

For information on CleanTech Open SF:

Morning Keynote at Green Tech Media’s The Networked Grid Conference Nov 4, San Francisco

The Networked Grid Keynote Presentation
Quotes from Andy Tang, Senior Director, Smart Energy Web, PG&E

"We believe that there will be 35 different electric vehicle models deployed in the next two years."

"A home in an a temperate area like San Francisco, plugging in a car is like adding 3 houses!"

"5% of the power plants in PG&E’s mix are unsed only 50 hours a year (out of 8760)!"

"I look at storage as tivo-ing electricity, Its time shifting without us having to change behavior.  Also a huge solution to the intermittency problems of renewables."

"We are facing a paradigm shift in terms of how we relate to energy… I would posit that we don’t."

"There is a nagging doubt in the back of my mind—a Kevin Costner field of dreams voice—if we build it, will they (the consumers) come… we have to focus on consumer adoption."

For more information on The Networked Grid:

Biz Tech Day SFO October 23rd

"Communities more often go wrong than right… a few toxic voices can poison it… the key is moderation."
~ Matt Mullenweg, Founding Developer of WordPress

"Pave the Cowpaths—see where people are already 'walking' and support that."
~ Matt Mullenweg, Founding Developer of WordPress

On partnering with bigger companies: "Companies have entire departments, usually called corp development, that are totally dedicated to wasting your time—if you get a whiff of that, walk away."
~ Phil Libin, CEO of Evernote

"Nobody has any idea what people will pay for."
~ Phil Libin, CEO of Evernote, on their (and everyone's) "freemium" business models

"Be a pain killer, not a vitamin."
~ Matt Mullenweg, Founding Developer of WordPress, on what it takes to get money for your services online

"Choosing what not to do is often the hardest thing."
~ Panelist

For more information on Biz Tech Day:

West Coast Green, Day Two & Three

"Almost all building products are state of the art... for the 19th century."
~ Kevin Surace, CEO, Serious Materials

"If you want to build national awareness, spend a billion dollars in one year, or else you’ve got to get a movement going."
~ Kevin Surace, Serious Materials

"When we start labeling everything with a carbon footprint, the public will decide. Market forces are great that way... the public will drive it."
~ Kevin Surace, Serious Materials

"The US peaked at making 45% of the world’s good (after WW2), now we are at 18%... China will pass us in the next few years. I refuse to manufacture US goods in China. Period."
~ Kevin Surace, Serious Materials

"I absolutely believe in globalization. The rest of the world deserves to grow and prosper in their lifestyles. I pray they don’t do it the way we have. We have to give them the technology to leapfrog us."
~ Bonnie Nixon, Director of Environmental Sustainability, HP

"I am equally keen to invest in workers in Chuangdon as in California."
~ Dan Kammen, UC Berkeley

For more information on West Coast Green:

RMI - Natural Capitalism Panel Responses on "What gives you hope?", October 3

A hopeful sign: "The book Natural Capitalism is doing better now than it was ten years ago. The literacy is incredible now in terms of sustainability."
~ Paul Hawken, Author

"Our society has moved beyond a fearful funk. Our psychology has shifted."
~ Amory Lovins, RMI

"The story of stuff is changing to distribution, invention and manufacturing. The means to invent & DIY innovation are in everyone’s hands."
~ Janine Benyus, Author

What gives you hope: "The right getting on board with 'Creation Care' represents a pivotal shift—the rest just has to play out."
~ Amory Lovins, RMI

What give you hope: "It is suddenly incredibly cool to be inventing in the CleanTech space."
~ Janine Benyus, Author

On optimism vs. pessimism, "Every time you argue with reality, you lose. This is where we are. We shouldn’t bemoan it."
~ Paul Hawken, Author

"I couldn’t write it better. By the end of act 2—you are fucked. So you come back after intermission. That is where we are."
~ Paul Hawken, Author

What gives you hope: "We shouldn’t doubt our kids for a second."
~ Paul Hawken, Author

For more information on RMI:

RMI - Natural Capitalism Panel , October 3

Amory Lovins' intro now includes his confession that he walks the earth with "Full Frontal Nerdity".

"With this audience, I feel like we can just cut loose"
~ Paul Hawken, Author

Four principles of Natural Capitalism: "Use less; Change the materials; Sell services; Create capital mechanisms to heal the future."
~ Paul Hawken, Author

"I visited six cities recently that want to become a bio-mimicry hub, for commercialization."
~ Janine Benyus, Author

"We want to give people the tools to understand their design choices… it is all about digital prototypes."
~ Carl Bass, CEO, Autodesk

"This panel isn’t setting the demand curve for the future—it’s the people out there doing the product & building design."
~ Carl Bass, CEO, Autodesk

"The CleanTech industry greatly under uses information technology."
~ Carl Bass, CEO, Autodesk

"Natural Capitalism was introduced as one of Bill Clinton's top 5 books, also Ashton Kutcher's favorite eco title." (to great laughter)--Michael Potts, RMI

"Walmart knew more about water and waterless toilets than any NGO, because for them, its money".
~ Paul Hawken, Author

"While some ask if this a fad, we are now at the 'don’t back up, severe tire damage' stage, and people realize it."
~ Carl Bass, CEO, Autodesk

"We need to find better ways to scale than one business and one sector at a time."
~ Amory Lovins, RMI

"Has anyone here ever known an ex-environmentalist? Once you have this awareness, you don't go back."
~ Ray Anderson, Interface

"Preach the gospel at all times. When necessary use words."
~ Amory Lovins, RMI

For more information on RMI: