Web 2.0 and the Green Space

I'm going to be in Chicago on November 6th (hopefully still able to feel the aftermath of an Obama hometown victory party...) and I'll be speaking at the MTO Summit, an industry learning event for Trade Show producers and marketers.  The topic is one that's very close to my heart-- web 2.0 tools, social media, and technology PLUS the green space.  

I'm going to do a little bit of background on Climate Change, from my Climate Project training sessions with Al Gore in Montreal.  Just touch on some of the big factors contributing to climate change, and highlight the science that's not in dispute.   The climate part of my presentation also has a bunch of great 'myths' taken from Wired magazine, that are great talking points.

The rest of the presentation will be about Web 2.0 tools for connecting people with a single cause, in this case, climate change and the green space.

I posed the question to my LinkedIn network recently and got some great answers:

What are some examples of web 2.0 tools being used in the 'Green' space?

What causes have been the most successful? 
What tools work for: 
A) Getting attention to a green issue 
B) Engaging and sparking action 
C) Soliciting and collecting donations

On another note, a variety of 2.0 tools can be used inside your business to green operations. For example, blogs, wikis and social networking tools can be used for effective paperless communication with staff and especially in recruitment. For green company initiatives, engaging employees through education and training is one of the most effective ways to connect with potential employees, and facilitate employee socialization and intra-company learning, all of which will improve retention rates as well as facilitate recruitment especially among Gen Y employees. An Aberdeen Group study found that 52% of organizations that utilize these kinds of Web 2.0 tools achieve a significant improvement in employee engagement. I know this doesn't answer your exact question, but its an important example of 2.0 tools being used in the green space
Jennifer Kaplan

A great example of an online application for green business is greenfly. It is a resource that helps designers and engineers assess the 'greenness' of a product they have designed by assessing the impact and 'recyclability' of their material choices. This last example is a web 2.0 application. As online tools continue to evolve we will continue to see such online applications with a related support community of professionals assisting one another in finding sustainable solutions to the problems of today.
Jason De Perro

This, in itself, is a neat example of Web 2.0 being used to solve a problem. Not a climate problem, but an information one. I used a social network, posed a question to friends, but also strangers, and got answers within hours. This could be a slower tool like a wiki, or a faster one like Twitter, but the ultimate end result is the sharing of interesting information and the engagement by those who care enough to share their insight. Imagine if I had that question in 1978?

Is it worth getting your 'firstnamelastname.com'?

I recently asked the question to my network of associates, colleagues and friends on LinkedIn and got some surprising answers. The majority favour 'Yes', indicating that for the relatively low cost, if you can get your domain name, you should. A few however had some other opinions:

Absolutely.
I own my name under several popular domain extensions. It's important for me to control and develop my own personal brand identity.

It is becoming more prevalent for HR Managers, Recruiters, Clients, Media and many others to look up people on various social networks or seek them out on search engines like Google, MSN and Yahoo. With your own firstnamelastname.com you are:
- in charge of your own personal brand
- able to promote yourself in page ranks
- able link to all your social network profiles
- able to update your accomplishments, career moves, etc. instantly
- able to showcase your portfolio, or relevant work examples and so on
There's no limit to what you can do and what you can achieve with owning your own domain.

your firstnamelastname.com page will become your live calling card, your resume, your personal brand, and your reputation guardian.
-Andrei Petrik

Yes. I didn't want to have to "fight" anyone for my personalized, branded .com, so I registered it years ago. At this time, people would see "under construction" on the site as I haven't decided what I want to put on it yet (I can be found on a variety of major social networks already)...but it's there and ready for me when I'm ready to work on it. Right now, my primary website is for my business - which is where my corporate bio is.... and I run both sites through Microsoft Office Live, which although is a template, I find it serves my basic needs just fine.

I felt it was important for me to own my personal domain so that someone else wouldn't get it. I'm very protective and controlling of my privacy and "my brand", as any good PR person should be. And my clients and future clients already know where to find me - at my business site.
-Jocelyn Brandeis

For less than $10 a year you can control your personal brand. What if someone with your name pops up as a serial killer, unethical businessman, a competitor or is simply in another line of work? When people think of that name, they should think of you and, if you own the domain, you control their perception.

Years ago I bought up mine and most of my immediate families. Not in use currently, but at least they are protected.
-Jay Lohmann

I do not necessarily agree with "radical transparency" but it is very important that individuals have more control over their external reputation. Just like a company would campaign their own brand to customers, individuals must do the same to their own internal customers (i.e. recruiters, employers, clients, etc..)
-Robert Saric

I believe it's worth it. Being in the media, my name is my brand. I'm hoping keeping my brand before the public will create opportunities.
-Ken Robinson

I think everyone should try to own their names. (I own my full name - kathleenmccabe.com and the name most people know me by - kathymccabe.com) If only to prevent others with same names from owning them. Though when I did more freelance writing I actually had an independent site at kathymccabe.com - I need to redirect that to the bio page on the site for my small business. My other URL is already pointng there. I have had both another Kathy McCabe and another Kathleen McCabe try to buy these URLs.

I'm thinking about buying my three-year-old godson his own URL as an X-mas present! Just so he has it for the future!
-Kathy McCabe