The first EcoTuesday in 2010 was a wonderful success in San Francisco. Approximately 130 participants came and introduced themselves, and Maura did a great job at ensuring that everyone in the room had just enough time to share about themselves.
To kick off each year, I like to invite a speaker who will discuss San Francisco's sustainability initiatives and share how business owners can make the most of what will be happening in the months to come. Wade Crowfoot, then Director of Government Affairs for the Mayor's office, clearly explained the Mayor's overall "green" platform last January. Last week, David Pascal, President of Carbon Collaborative, captivated the crowd with his detailed knowledge of city and state policy and suggestions for those who'd like to forge relationships in the very specific axis of the government space and the clean tech sector (in particular).
Prior to his work with Carbon Collaborative (which began as an economic initiative of the city to bring together many types of advocates to foster new strategic policies in climate change), he worked with the City of San Francisco as the Clean Tech and Green Business Advocate.
During his presentation, he contrasted the highs and lows of past "booms" to the current clean tech innovation cycle, through the lens of technical risk, market risk and execution risk.
"Clean tech companies have much more daunting challenges than the companies of might have had to face in other innovation cycles," he said.
David shared details of how companies can work with cities and local government, too. "When I was working with the government sector, there was the Four M's. Models, Media, Money and Mandates. Models are relatively easy. That goes hand in hand with Media. If you have a political leader who has a communications office, the Models make for great media coverage. Money - there was a time when there was more money. In San Francisco, we have a solar incentive program, we have incentives for biotech and other programs, we have a loan fund. Some cities have reactive development agencies that help companies get going. The last thing is Mandates. Those are the heavy-handed government enacted policies that all companies need to implement (like the policy that companies can't use styrofoam)." All of the Four M's create new opportunities for businesses to innovate - and work with local and regional governments.
The event ended with a small group of regulars sharing how EcoTuesday has impacted their lives and careers over the past few years. It inspired me to create a new area of the twice-monthly newsletter called "EcoTuesday Success Stories." We'll feature two stories per month, and link it to your company website. Has EcoTuesday helped to create new business opportunities for you? Brought you new clients or created awareness about new vendors? Please share your success story in 100 words with us!
