As someone who sees the significance in celebrating the twice-yearly equinox and solstice seasonal changes, I'm happy that an incredibly cool organization is marking this shift and applying it to business.
Virgance (who bills itself as an "incubator that finds great ideas and turns them into companies that change the world") is yet again celebrating the upcoming equinox with party next week (Virgance Equinox). The intention of the gathering is to bring together social entrepreneurs, politicians, activists - all those who are focusing their efforts on doing good - to learn about all the new projects that Virgance is working on to shake things up. I went to the last Equinox party in April and had a great time! The room was filled with some of the best and brightest leaders in sustainability and technology around.
There are four companies within the Virgance umbrella:
- One Block Off the Grid - organizes big groups of people together who want to get solar energy, and gets them a discount
- GO Media - a community and network of blogs dedicated to helping you figure out what sustainability means to you.
- Carrotmob - a network of consumers who buy products in order to reward businesses who are making the most socially responsible decisions (watch this short video from a Carrotmob in March 2008)
- Lend Me Some Sugar - a FaceBook application that helps social activists and entrepreneurs compete for prizes
All of these companies are committed to creating major change, not only in business, but also in our overall society (exactly what we like here at EcoTuesday!).
I look forward to the day when all companies have this level of transparency and intention to serve the greater good.
Virgance is offering EcoTuesday participants a discount, so please join us! Equinox at the Temple Nightclub on Tuesday, September 15. Temple is well-known for its dedication to recycling and keeping its waste stream as minimal as possible. I look forward to seeing you all there!
On another note, what other companies are you aware of that are committed to serving the greater good of business and society, like Virgance?
