Conference Bites

GreenBiz Innovation Forum 10/11-13 San Francisco

"It's very dangerous to believe that all great ideas are created within your four walls."
~ Mark Vachon, GE Ecomagination

"Great economics or great environmental performance? We want both."
~ Mark Vachon, GE Ecomagination

"You need to slow down to speed up in disruption."
~ Dorothea Seebode, Sustainable Innovation Expert

"Consumerism isn't inevitable, it's just where we've been."
~ as tweeted by Brad Bate

"Smart, resourceful people are everywhere, and the emerging global nervous system is helping good ideas spread faster."
~ Amory Lovins, Rocky Mountain Institute

For more info on GreenBiz Innovation Forum:

Publish

Cannes Lions Festival 6/19-25/11, Cannes

"Community, Crowdsourcing, Co-creation... the new 3C's of modern communication."
~Danny Devriendt, Porter Novelli

"Entrepreneurs are the new creative department."
~ as tweated by James Crawley

"Marketers aren't up against each other on YouTube... they're up against Lady Gaga and her 100M views."
~ Ali Ali, Elephant Cairo

"The best brands were born to make life better, not to be the most profitable."
~ SapientNitro seminar on Culture Clubbing

"It's the tweakers & the implementers in life, rather than the inventors who are the most successful."
~ Malcolm Gladwell, The New Yorker

"Stop thinking about 'ads' and start creating 'snackable content'."
~ Christian Haas, Goodby

"Those who come late to the party win... Apple, Facebook, Google as examples... not conceptual guys, but tweakers."
~ Malcolm Gladwell, The New Yorker magazine

"Authenticity is a bit like pornography, you know it when you see it."
~ Arianna Huffington, Huffington Post

Social Touchpoints are the "new magazine cover".
~John Battelle, Federated Media

"83% of consumers use less than 30 sites a month. As a brand, you have to think about how to become 1 of those 30."
~ Tim Armstrong, AOL

"Banners are for the palnet of the apes. Content is for humans (talking about AOL's Project Devil)."
~ Tim Armstrong, AOL

"Average Fortune 500 brand spends $200m a year on content, but not unlocking."
~ Tim Armstrong, AOL

"Today we are putting in place the new patterns for publishing. The people that come after us will follow those patterns."
~Porter Novelli Session, as tweated by Marta Majewska

For more info on Cannes Lions:

Green:Net 4/21 San Francisco

"We need a better rallying cry than“If we try really really hard the future is going to suck a little bit less."
~ Saul Griffith, Makani Power

"We need a proportional quantitative understanding of energy use, for everyone."
~ Saul Griffith, Makani Power

 "We sell a product that consumers can’t see, touch or smell and if they touch it, they die."
~ David Crane, NRG

"The Conundrum being worked on which we haven't come to grips with is that this is a product American consumer can not conceptualize."
~ David Crane, NRG

"Nuclear is the single most important Green thing we can do."
~ David Crane, NRG

"Due to Fukishima, we are caught in a netherworld (of NRC safety review)... a stunning setback for the environment."
~ David Crane, NRG

"This (the cellphone) is an overlooked solution to our energy and transportation challenges."
~ Sunil Paul, Spring Ventures

"Social networks have increased trust among people, making it easier for collaborative consumption"
~ As tweeted by OnGreen

"A million wells have gone dry in India in the last decade."
~ Rob Bernard, Microsoft

"Data centers are the fastest growing consumer of powers in developing nations."
~ Rob Bernard, Microsoft

"(Reguarding digital prototyping) I wish I could digitally simulate raising my kid... I would do stuff differently!"
~ Carl Bass, Autodesk

"(In design) if you knew at the beginning what you know at the end, you'd always do something different."
~ Carl Bass, Autodesk


For more info on Green:Net:

Fortune Brainstorm Green, 4/4-6 Laguna Niguel, Part 5-Final Morning Panel on “How do you rank?”

"There are 333 production level certifications, and there is a branding race to become the JD Power of this space."
~ Adam Lowry, Method

"99% of the time, the retailer buyer wants to improve a poorly ranked supplier, rather than just drop them."
~ Kevin Dooley, Sustainability Consortium

"This isn’t reward/penalty as much as it is best practice identification and sharing (reguarding the Sustainability Index)."
~ Rahul Raj, WalMart

"Every single rating system is a shortcut—none of them are really that great yet."
~ Adam Lowry, Method


For more info on Fortune Brainstorm Green:

Fortune Brainstorm Green 4/4-6 Laguna Niguel, Part 3

"We haven’t solved a pollution problem anywhere in the world without putting a limit on what can come out."
~ Fred Krupp, Environmental Defense Fund

"When your company name is Waste Management and all your custermers are talking about is 'Zero Waste', you better think about your business model."
~ David Steiner, Waste Management

"Any movement is a chorus of voices... we're lacking a business voice (to go with regulation, policy, ngos)."
~ Jeff Anderson, Clean Economy Network

"We need base camps... you can’t climb a mountain from the bottom."
~ Jeff Anderson, Clean Economy Network

"You can only be snarky for so long"
~ Jeff Anderson, Clean Economy Network on republicans and why they may actually support an energy bill)."

"Our policy is fundamentally action. We are large and broad enough to act as a proxy for policy."
~ Mark Vachon, GE Ecomagination

"We ordered 25000 EVS... the largest order. We want to be the tipping point in that space and profit from it."
~ Mark Vachon, GE Ecomagination

"The new game is who can create the most standard of living with least resource use. We are still playing by the old game's rules."
~ Michael Potts, RMI


For more info on Fortune Brainstorm Green:

Fortune Brainstorm Green 4/4 Laguna Niguel, Pre Conference Session

"It (sustainability) transformed the nature of the company... what we do and why we do it."
~ John Matthews, Diversey

"How can you sustain sustainability? Make it systemic. It's easy to be green when everyone is watching, but it takes more than CEO involvement. Having sustainability integrated into your execution is essential."
~ Wayne Balta, IBM

"I believe we are not going to get out of this... without big aggressive goals."
~ Nancy Tuor, CH2M Hill

Setting goals (without knowing exactly how we will get there) gives our company a north star."
~ Beth Stevens, Disney

"We charge each division for their emissions. It gets the focus on innovation in a way that wasn’t there before.
~ Beth Stevens, Disney

"Earthsmart solutions is a FedEx prog that offers a carrot... a badge of honor we want our (internal developmnet) teams to aspire to."
~ Mitch Jackson, FedEx

"People ask does it really pay? If anyone knows whether sustainability really pays, its WalMart."
~ David Lubin, Esty Environmental Partners

"If we waited for the perfect ROI, we would never do much in this space."
~ Paulette Frank, J&J



For more info on Fortune Brainstorm Green:

Energy ThinkIn Event at Frog Design October 27 San Francisco

"The World Wildlife Fund has its panda. Lance Armstrong gave us the 'Live Strong' yellow wristband to help fight cancer. What we're after is a way to help consumers worldwide relate to the smart grid in the same way... We're here to find our panda."
~ Jesse Berst, Smart Grid Consumer Collaborative

"We're lucky to have Frog Design, the cool kids, on our side in this."
~ Jesse Berst, Smart Grid Consumer Collaborative

"Whatever the symbol is, it has to be muscular, US-centric, with no question about patriotism."
~ Linda Schuck, California Institute for Energy and the Environment

"People won't rally behind conservation as a long-term strategy. Jimmy Carter's failure to rally Americans behind the idea showed us that."
~ Bob LeFort, Ember

"We need to reach a greatest common denominator, but not the lowest common denominator. We need to find a solution that is both compelling and engaging for those who aren’t already the archetypical 'energy conscious consumer'."
~ Steve Hauser, National Renewable Energy Laboratory

"We aren't just thinking of a brand for the energy conscious consumer. We are branding energy itself."
~ David Merkowski, Frog Design

For more info on Energy ThinkIn:

West Coast Green Sept 30 - Oct 2 San Francisco, Day 2

"When Washington didn't act on climate change, Arnold realized 'I've got to lead... (doing an Arnold impersonation on climate change) Action! Action! Action!'."
~ Cynthia Tuck, Cal EPA

"There is no better hangover helper than a bureaucrat with a power point."
~ Panama Bartholomy, Califonria Energy Commission

"Los Angeles is becoming the new Detroit: for EVs."
~ Panama Bartholomy, California Energy Commission

"My 25 years teaching fifth graders were the best preparation for the egos in Sacramento."
~ Fran Pavley, California State Senator as quoted by Panama Bartholomy

"How many administrations does it take to change a light bulb?"
~ Panama Bartholomy, California Energy Commission, talking about their efforts to upgrade lighting at the state capital

"A smarter planet starts with individuals and homes and moves to enterprises and cities."
~ Al Zollar, IBM

"IBM has a super computer that is about to take on jeopardy champions."
~ Al Zollar, IBM

"Building to code is doing what's legal but we need to build beyond code to meet the crisis."
~ Panama Bartholomy, California Energy Commissionas tweeted by Kimberly Madrigal

"The button said 'Yes we can', it didn't say 'I sure hope he can'."
~ Panama Bartholomy, California Energy Commission quoting Van Jones

For more information on West Cost Green:

West Coast Green Sept 30 - Oct 2 San Francisco, Day 1

"Hope 2.0 is about what each of us does everyday, not just at the ballot box one day."
~ Van Jones, Center for American Progress

"Hope may be a renewable resource, but it is on a long cycle. (Forty years from MLK's death (in the year I was born) to Obama)."
~ Van Jones, Center for American Progress

"Teach your children everything you know, and let them teach you everything you forgot."
~ Van Jones, Center for American Progress

"Washington D.C. will not be the engine of change... if we are lucky, it will be the caboose."
~ Van Jones, Center for American Progress

"If an offshore wind turbine goes down you don't have a massive windslick."
~ Van Jones, Center for American Progress

"Everything that is good for the environment, is a job."
~ Van Jones, Center for American Progress

"If you want to see a change, a transformation occur, you have to lead it."
~ Doug Davis, Intel

"Intel buys renewable power equivalent to taking 185,000 cars off the road."
~ Doug Davis, Intel

"We need a new design assignment as a species. What does 100% fabulous look like?"
~ Bill McDonough, William McDonough + Partners

"Design is the first signal of human intention."
~ Bill McDonough, William McDonough + Partners

"We will move from being consumers to prosumers, both producers and consumers of energy."
~ Andres Carvallo, Grid Net

"There is an ecosystem developing to make the smart home a reality. The smart meter is PG&E's enabling investment."
~ Andy Tang, PG&E

"We have one way grid today, we need to have two way grid very soon."
~ Andy Tang, PG&E

"I am rededicating my design firm on the bottom 2 Billion, not the 2 Billion at the top that is designed for today."
~ Bill McDonough, William McDonough + Partners

For more information on West Cost Green:

Gridwise Global Forum September 21-23 Washington D.C., Part 3

"75% of energy usage takes place in the top 20 megacities of the world. 40% of that is consumed by enterprises."
~ Wim Elfrink, EVP Services & Chief Globalization Officer, Cisco

"Two technologies made for each other: The electric car & the smart grid. The car is the killer app…(but) if this is a niche market, like a Prius, it will be a failure. Tying the car to the grid is the key to SmartGrid equaling energy independence. Because it offers a way to connects nuclear energy and renewables to our oil usage."
~ Robbie Diamond, President and CEO, Electrification Coalition

"I don’t know how many people are walking around saying 'Man I really wish my grid was smart'."
~ Rob Atkinson, President, Itif

"You need smart regulation—government with a vision—that will dare to be disruptive."
~ Wim Elfrink, EVP Services & Chief Globalization Officer, Cisco

"(We have tools) that  collect, process, report, and reflect but what’s missing is the trigger to take action based on that reflection."
 ~ David Merkoski, Executive Creative Director, Frog Design

"It's going to be a lot harder to make consumers make the decisions rather than to have our technologies make right choices."
~ Jesse Berst, Executive Editor, Smart Grid Newsletter

"What are the metrics—not the results from the 25% of energy geeks, but from the broad base of customers?"
~ Alex Laskey, President and Founder, OPOWER

"We need to get the cars beyond the early adopters—to real consumers, in the 50,000s. Regions need to bid for the chance to get government support on the infrastructure, like bidding for the Olympics, otherwise you will be in the hybrid rut."
~ Robbie Diamond, President and CEO, Electrification Coalition

"We need to figure out how to turn up the crank on the innovation cycle—if it takes you three years to make the customer rate case, its not enough—we need to scale up our existing pilots."
~ Lars Lee-Potreck, EMEA Sales, eMeter

"I am looking for plug and play windmills at Home Depot, though maybe not in the next 18 months."
~ Fiona Sim, Director of the Intel Open Energy Initiative, Intel

Key question posed by Marc Gunther: "Does it have to be sold or can we just work it out in this room?"
~ Marc Gunther, Contributing Editor, Fortune Magazine

One answer from earlier in the day: "Smart meters don’t save energy, consumers do."
~ Fiona Sim, Director of the Intel Open Energy Initiative, Intel

For more information on Gridwise Global Forum: