We have finished up our participation in GreenBeat 2009 conference on the Smart Grid.  Vantage Communications was a strategic partner for the event, which provided me with a unique view of a major green conference that I would like to share.

1. “VentureBeat is doing its first green conference. Would Vantage be interested in participating?” Andie Rhyins, Publisher of VentureBeat

Actually, I answered yes, before Andie finished the question.  I knew if VentureBeat was putting together a show, this was a rare opportunity to be part of an important event from the beginning.  As the first GreenBeat event, we had a clean sheet of paper and the opportunity to provide a defining voice for marketing and PR that would help attract attendees, sponsors and speakers. It also was a bit scary knowing that our white board scribble and initial PowerPoints needed to be made into a conference with topics, speakers, attendees and press in very short order.

2. “Fw: Al Gore has agreed to come to GreenBeat” Matt Marshall

This was the header of a late Friday e-mail at the end of August. In less than 10 words, the bar had been raised for everybody. It also meant that we had to rethink our media outreach for the show. You may be asking why a conference run by a highly influential blog needs to do outreach to other media?  Part of the attraction of a conference for high-level speakers is the ability to reach a large number of highly influential people. Approximately 500 people attended GreenBeat in person. However, the number of people that read about the show can be in the hundreds of thousands. While VentureBeat does provide in depth coverage of the show to its readership, it is important to maximize awareness by being seen and heard on multiple channels. Media coverage for GreenBeat inlcuded the New York Times, CNET and Earth2Tech which has an aggregate audience in the millions. Immediately following the show, Techmeme  had VentureBeat ranked #5 of the sources most frequently posted to Techmeme.  This  was a higher ranking than even the New York Times.

3. “My name is Jim Rogers and I’m one of the speakers” Jim Rogers, CEO of Duke Energy

What as particularly impressive about GreenBeat is that despite the large number of high profile speakers and attendees, there was virtually no attitude or hubris. The CEO of Duke Energy attended without entourage, and the above quote is how he introduced himself. He made himself available to anyone who wanted to talk with him. Vinod Khosla was in the lobby for much of the morning available to talk to anyone. In his talk, John Doerr gave his e-mail and invited start ups to send him business plans. I attend many conferences and I never have seen a friendlier conference than GreenBeat. This is a real testament to Matt and the GreenBeat team. I look forward to seeing you at GreenBeat 2010.

In the not so distant past, greenwashing was a real problem. Companies left and right were making green claims; some were valid, some not-so-much. But from what I saw at last week’s Greenbuild, the greenwash ship has sailed. Companies get it now. And that’s a good thing, both for the industry and for consumers. Joel Makower actually showed up at the show “Searching for Greenwash at Greenbuild” this year. But he was more than happy to report he was wrong.

 I knew we were off to a good start at the show when I didn’t see any green (the color) booths this year. Companies are realizing that plastering your trade show booth with images of Mother Earth does not make you green.  This could be a result of the industry maturing or an improving economy. Rob Watson of Greener World Media was in attendance. This is his FIFTEENTH Greenbuild, so you can imagine the changes he has seen over the years. Based on his comparison to last year’s show, it seems the green building industry is alive and kickin’ this year, based on this comment, “While the atmosphere in Boston last year was one of fear and uncertainty, I would characterize the feeling in Phoenix as one of focus and ferment.”

There were also many exciting things to see in the building industry. Kate Nolan of Green Right Now reported on “Trend watching at the Greenbuild Expo in Phoenix.” She mentions GreenKonnect (which I am sad to say I missed!), noting “The newest entry in online aid is GreenKonnect, a search engine built for the green building industry. The Beta version bowed at Greenbuild Expo.” A quick search on the Beta site leaves me looking forward to the official launch.

All in all, Greenbuild was a jam-packed three days full of all things (green) building, complete with a few messages from Al Gore. As you can image, he too had an anti-greenwash message. And now, I’ll leave you with some food for thought from Mr. Gore. “We as Americans have the capacity to do what we put our minds to. We have the ability to solve this crisis. We can do it.”

Well, we made it! We’re in Phoenix for Greenbuild 2009, and we’ve already seen some exciting new companies and products on the show floor. Plus we shot some great videos for our clients, CALMAC and IES. Here is a video of our first day at the show:

We’ve got two days packed full of meetings and additional video shoots with Serious Materials and YKK AP, and somewhere in there we will head over to see Al Gore deliver the Keynote and Opening Celebration tomorrow night with Sheryl Crow. (And just in case you aren’t here in AZ, you can check out live streams on Greenbuild’s website.)

We are looking forward to meeting green building professionals sharing their visions for the future of the industry, as well as the editors and bloggers who write about it along the way. Melissa Hincha-Ownby of Mother Nature Network has already blogged about the event. Lloyd Alter of Treehugger is here, too. Along with 24,000 registered attendees, according to the records when the show floor opened at 5:30 this evening.

Check back here daily for a round-up of news and views from the show. Next week, we will do a show wrap up. And we’ll be Tweeting live from #Greenbuild09 the rest of the week – follow @catrionaharris, @mariegoltara and @toryk for your green building fix this week.

In the latest issue of BusinessWeek, there is an in depth piece on cloud computing – Cloud Computing’s Big Bang for Business. One of the sidebars includes a piece on Coca-Cola as an example of a company using a cloud-based system to streamline distribution. In a nutshell, 12,000+ store merchandisers (the guys in the red trucks that stock the Diet Coke at your local grocery store) no longer have to pick up instructions at the warehouse every morning before they head out on their route. “Using smartphones and a cloud computing setup…they stay in constant touch with their bosses and the company’s information storehouse. At the end of each stop, they complete online surveys that give the company a complete picture…in real time.”

This article is one of many recent cloud computing articles, which can make it look like cloud computing is the answer to almost any business problem imaginable. But can cloud computing alone ensure correct, on-time deliveries and solve all of the supply chain problems within large organizations such as Coca-Cola?

In PR, we are always mindful of the hype cycle…when a technology becomes the hot new thing and then becomes over-hyped. Often the interest in the new technology can overshadow the many other technologies it takes to provide a complete solution. For companies like Coca-Cola, the cloud computing infrastructure needs to work in combination of a large number of IT and supply chain management hardware and software.  Over time, reality sets in and the technology loses its youthful allure. Even as the technology matures and gains more widespread adoption, it likely will not be considered as newsworthy as the latest thing.

For example, I recently wrote about RFID, which not too long ago was considered a red hot technology.  Today it’s used for solving multiple business problems ranging from tracking items from the warehouse to the distribution plants to the store shelves, and everywhere in between. Using RFID, if a Coca-Cola employee were to pick up the wrong pallet, he would immediately realize it before hitting the road. More businesses are adopting RFID, even though  it is not garnering national magazine coverage like it once did.

Cloud computing and mobile devices are very important business technologies that justifiably are  getting national magazine headlines. But it’s also important  not to forget that these technologies are only a small piece of a much bigger puzzle.

Last night Pepcom put on their first EcoFocus event in New York City. And in the Flatiron District, almost 200 press and analysts came for free food, drinks and to experience demos from eco-friendly companies looking to get their name out there. Known for putting on mostly Mobile and Digital Technology-focused events, Pepcom moved into the new, clean tech space – and I think most vendors and attendees would agree it was a success.

While some may not be totally sold on global warming and much of the green talk that surrounds us today, this event clearly was evidence that green is more than a fad, it is an area of true innovation and growth. The vendors at last night’s event inlcude big names, like Toshiba, Lenovo and Benjamin Moore, who are recreating the wheel to become more environmentally conscious. But there also were smaller companies, such as SOMS Technologies (our client), CALMAC (our client), Green Roads and Pisat Solar, who were showcasing their innovation and passion for the environment.

The faces behind these businesses, both big and small, have a common goal – to make a positive impact on our environment. They are challenging convention, and working to change our oh so traditional behaviors to become a smarter, savvier, more eco-conscious society.

Clean technology isn’t only an expanding industry. But what this event clearly demonstrated is that it is an area of true belief, one that people have a renewed passion for. Most importantly, it is one that is and will be making a significant, positive impact for years to come.

Attention all folks attending CTIA in Las Vegas. Our friends at Qik will be hosting a Tweet Up on Wednesday,  April 1, at 7-10 pm.  The location is at the Las Vegas Hilton, the Pool Area on the Third Floor. The Hilton is connected to the North Hall of the Convention Center.

This is a great opportunity to connect with people interested in the intersection of social media and the mobile industry. This also is a great opportunity to build on the success of the Tweet Up at Mobile World Congress.

You can sign up and get more information at http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=69119667494. If you are not on Facebook, feel free to post in the comments section if you are interested in attending. I will pass the information to the folks at Qik.We will post updates here on Vantage Points and on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Check for hash tag #CTIA on Twitter.

For more information about networking events at CTIA, check out the awesome list from Mobilslate and the Mobile Monday events:

Mobileslate: http://www.mobileslate.com/ctia

Mobile Monday: http://www.mobilemonday.net/

Update: DIDX is opening their event on Wednesday, April 1, 7:30-9 pm @ Gordon Biersch, 3987 Paradise Road. You can RSVP here and learn more here.

Look forward to meeting you there.

Nine months and two Facebook redesigns ago, Jennifer Kutz wrote a post about the Wisdom of the Crowd Goes to a Trade Show. She discussed the trend of trade shows opening the show agenda selection process to their audience.  She mentioned one proposed panel in particular: Privacy and Personalization – Oxymoron or the Perfect Match?, for the SXSW Interactive show in Austin, and invited people to vote for that panel.

As SXSWi just completed, I thought it would be fun to fill you in on how things turned out. Our efforts to get the word out about the panel was successful. Privacy and Personalization – Oxymoron or the Perfect Match? received enough support that it was selected. The Guardian featured the panel in an article: @SWSXi: The impossible balance between privacy and personalisation?, and called the topic: “one of SXSWi’s core conversations.” The picture on the top left of this post is from the panel courtesy of the Guardian.

The experience also gave us an insight into the power of blogs and social media to create conversation about key issues.  We used Facebook and Twitter to point people to Vantage Points to get the word out. Rather than asking or pitching people to vote for our client, all we did was to discuss the topic and offer people a link to vote. This was a departure from the traditional PR model. But we believed facilitating conversation was more appropriate for topic and the SXSWi show audience.

The wisdom of the crowd approach has extended to voting for awards. This year, CTIA is allowing people to vote for its Emerging Technology Awards and Best of Show.  One of  our clients, Ditech Networks is nominated for its cool mStage platform which allows people to use their voice to access web applications in the middle of a mobile phone call.  You can read more about it in Technology Review. If you would like to vote for mStage for Best of Show, follow this link and choose mStage (third from left on the third line) as one of your favorites.  Feel free to check out and vote some of the other great nominated products too. It is good to part of the crowd that leads.

Update: Tweet Up location: The Las Vegas Hilton, the Pool Area on the Third Floor. The Hilton is connected to the North Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Attention all folks attending CTIA in Las Vegas. Our friends at Qik will be hosting a Tweet Up on Wednesday,  April 1, at 7-10 pm.  This is a great opportunity to connect with people interested in the intersection of social media and the mobile industry. This also is a great opportunity to build on the success of the Tweet Up at Mobile World Congress.

The location is still being determined. You can sign up and get more information at http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=69119667494. If you are not on Facebook, feel free to post in the comments section if you are interested in attending. I will pass the information to the folks at Qik.We will post updates here on Vantage Points and on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Check for hash tag #CTIA on Twitter.  For more information about networking events at CTIA, check out the awesome list from:

Mobileslate: http://www.mobileslate.com/blog/2009-ctia-spring-networking-events/

Look forward to meeting you there.

The best part of a global show like Mobile World Congress is that you get tuned in to how the rest of the world lives. When it comes to mobile phones, most Americans expect to carry one phone and sometimes will carry a Blackberry for e-mail and regular handset for phone calls. After watching one person after another pulling out a never ending variety of handsets over the course of the day, I started polling people as to how many handsets they were carrying.

The typical person from EMEA or Asia was carrying a minimum of three phones. One person pulled out four, jokingly said (I think) that he had one for each wife. The typical explanation was a Blackberry for e-mail, an iPhone for applications, and then a Nokia or three depending on countries (and marital status). This could explain the relative health of the mobile phone space.

As for iPhones, universally, they were jail broken (manually “adjusted” to allow it to used on any mobile carrier’s network). People looked at my AT&T iPhone with a mixture of pity and disgust usually reserved for naive children. Invariably, they would show me a great application, then shake their head and say that I can’t get it because my phone was “on network.”

Social networking on mobile phones seemed to be in the early adopter phase. While I saw plenty of tweets and Facebook updates, I did not see many people using their phones to deliver them.

As the next major wireless show, CTIA, starts in less than a month, we will report back if there is a major difference in phone habits from the U.S. based attendees in Las Vegas.

This year, I used the power of social networks to expand my Mobile World Congress experience. In past years, I took a tunnel vision type approach to the show with my experience the sum of previously scheduled meetings and press briefings at the show.  With social networks, you get the sense of being part of a larger experience.

Following other Mobile World Congress attendees on Twitter gives the effect of flipping across multiple channels where you tune in and out of different people’s show experience. Before the show everyone is preparing for and traveling to the show. The effect is like the opening number of a Broadway show, where everyone sets up their roles in the show – like Putting it Together from Sunday in the Park with George. It is hard not to get caught up in the anticipation and the sense that you are part of something bigger.

Each day before I arrived at the show, I checked in on Facebook and Twitter to see what my Tweeps were up to at the show. It ranged from reporters who were providing real-time reports from a seemingly endless run of handset and OS press conferences to hung over people that missed their first meetings of the day. If it was happening people were tweeting it and it created a fascinating kaleidoscope.

Readers of Vantage Points know that I was part of arranging the first Mobile World Congress Tweet Up (an in-person meeting of people on Twitter and other social networks). The Tweet Up was an opportunity to share opinions about the show and the future of mobile. It also generated over 300 hits to Vantage Points. Between the Tweet Up and posts on Facebook and Twitter, I now am part of the global mobile community, although I never had met most of the people before the show.

As we move from Mobile World Congress to CTIA, I intend to build on expanding this social approach to trade shows. Look for a Tweet Up in Las Vegas, and more interaction with the global mobile social community.