It was an impressive show this weekend at Ithaca, NY, where ~2,200 folks gathered for the annual Net Impact conference.
Adam Werbach gave a great talk on bringing sustainability to the masses — and finally connected to dots as to why Act Now! joined with Saatchi. I caught glimpses of a few other well received presentations, but the main event happened on the sidelines: this was, by far, the most networked, interactive conference I’ve attended in years. My hat goes off to Liz Maw and her team — well done.
General key takeaways from my perspective: green washing is dead, biofuels have been relegated to the fringes of the energy discussion, supply chains now dominate conversations at every level of corporations, and there’s an informal army of volunteers pushing progressive initiatives in companies nationwide.
If I left the conference with any reservations, it would relate to the fact that the majority of corporate sponsors/attendees present were Big Business, but didn’t seem authentically eco/socially-responsible. I heard a lot about “northstar goals” that are leading these companies to greater sustainability, but my gut said that it still felt a bit hollow.
From a personal stance, I believe this entire movement is about people finding purpose. If true, that core insight remains at the fringes of everyday corporate practices — it still seems to be about the bottom line, not the people helping you get there.
Though we’ve made progress, I think we’re at an inflection point where there’s much more to come. Hopefully it’s a completely different type of organization that integrates novel, meaningful best people practices at its core, and then builds the products and messages around the things that matter most. As they say, time will tell…