At the crux of it all on the entertainment side, as the Wall Street Journal recently described, was the messaging problem on behalf of the entertainment industry – something admitted to even by the lobbyists themselves.  Why? Maybe in part because the RIAA and MPAA relied on a message of American jobs; and how this put American innovation at risk – a message that, as it turns out, didn’t pull the public heartstrings or extend so far as to draw sympathy to those with a reputation for squeezing profits from artists and suing single moms millions for filesharing.

The original SOPA ad:

Over the last two years, the RIAA and MPAA have had their sights on something like this, putting millions into traditional beltway PR: lobbyists, press releases, status quo, looking to Internet control as a jobs issue, some wedge to give better copyright control.

The entertainment industry put $279.5 million into beltway lobbying- piddly compared with the Silicon Valley crowd, who put in $29.3m over the same period.  For all that effort they may have courted their D.C. influencers, but that support didn’t help against a surging public outcry.

What took them years to build up, the web-based grassroots movement fought against in a matter of days with an outpouring of information and opinion on the same medium that they defended – through YouTube videos, Net celebrities, and email campaigns.  Instead of “jobs”, the opposition spoke of liberty, freedom of expression, and even a concern for the security of the Internet itself.  These messages are both universal and extremely personal – ones in which nearly everyone has some stake.

As a result, 13 million people participated in the protest on the 18th. 50,000 websites went dark. Congress received 3 million emails concerning SOPA and the loss of Internet freedoms.  A tremendous outpouring of support that ultimately helped break the momentum behind the bill.

Rather than an acknowledgement of their miscalculation, the industry complained that that they lacked a big enough mouthpiece and couldn’t control the communications cycle (a spooky complaint coming from the incumbent owners of broadcast media and distribution, one that sounds an awful lot like a push for censorship).

The next battle is already heating up, and I’ll be watching to see whether ACTA supporters recalculate, or pursue PR as usual.

Here at the shop, we recently put to bed a content development and management project on behalf of a client.  Here’s the story.

Impec Group, a green facilities management firm, wanted to completely rebrand themselves in a narrow six-week window before a major industry trade show. As part of a rebranding team, Blue Practice was brought on to create web and marketing collateral to ready the new Impec site for the show. We had about a month to create all the written content for two-dozen web pages, three customer case studies and a brochure with three separate sales inserts.

We rolled up our collective sleeves and got to work by first developing a very aggressive timeline and coordinating with Impec and the other stakeholders on the project. To help speed our execution, we scaled from content generation to project management, quickly grasping that all the involved participants needed a voice in the final content. In addition to managing edit rounds, we ensured the project’s success by coordinating activities with Impec and our very talented marketing partners Crowded Ocean in the rebranding campaign.

The website and brochures were completed ahead of schedule and were well received. Many of Impec’s current and former customers complimented them on the professional and “big player” look and feel of the marketing materials. Impec also generated several new business leads at the show and credited the rebranding effort as a big part of that success.

Looking back, we’re very pleased with the new look and feel for Impec, and are proud to have been a part of this important milestone in their company’s history!

Tim introduces Mayor Lee at Greenstart

Yesterday was a tremendously exciting day for us, as we got to help kick off the Greenstart program – the first accelerator program dedicated to cleantech.  There was a packed house at the company’s new office at 22 Battery St., and we were especially thrilled that San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee came out to help us cut the ribbon.

Greenstart supports fast cleantech companies – startups that can generate revenue in 6 months or less – with mentorship, resources and introductions to capital investors.  In an industry that’s so often filled with long-term and cap-heavy investments, working with a group that’s as impatient as we are to get cleantech off the ground is incredibly fulfilling.

We not only got to kick off the program, but officially introduce the first four companies to join the accelerator: SmarterShade, a proprietary technology for smart glass that allows varying levels of light to enter through a window based on user controls; Sylvatex, maker of SmartFuel, a cost-saving, renewable diesel fuel; Tenrehte Technologies, maker of PICOwatt, a WiFi enabled smart plug designed to address the real‐time energy monitoring and control market; and Wa.tt, a free energy monitoring tool that brings together information from multiple energy accounts, automatically categorizes energy transactions, and helps manage energy use.

Already we’ve had a tremendous outpouring of attention to the event, here’s just a sample of the coverage that hit simultaneous to our event:

A New Cleantech Accelerator, Greenstart, Reveals its Inaugural Class
By Ariel Schwartz
For Fast Company

Ex-Automotive Executives Select Start-Ups for Green Incubator
By Josie Garthwaite
For New York Times

Incubator Provides a New Boost for Clean Tech Startups
By Sarah Laskow
For Good Magazine

Greenstart will make you wish you had a cleantech startup
By Matt Lynley
For VentureBeat

Clean-tech ‘accelerator’ Greenstart opens in S.F.
By Carolyn Said
For the San Francisco Chronicle

The office itself is really beautiful, and our friend Kimberly Rider did a fantastic job with the interior.  It features:

• Newly manufactured sustainable products The lobby entry floors are American Naturals collection of glazed porcelain tiles produced with Dynamic HD Imaging for a rustic look. The tiles are made with 71% recycled content and are GREENGUARD certified to be low-emitting. The main space flooring is made with Enviro-Cork, an environmentally-friendly choice for flooring, as cork renews after it is harvested from the tree. When harvested correctly, the Cork Oak tree is left completely unharmed in the harvesting process. Herman Miller SAYL Task Chairs (slated to arrive in October) are Cradle to Cradle CertifiedCM Silver and 93% recyclable.
• Vintage furnishings salvaged materials The Greenstart office was furnished with a specific focus on vintage furnishing and salvaged materials. The desks and conference tables are custom-made locally by Kevin Slagle Design Build in Oakland. The desks were made from fallen Redwood trees from property in Piedmont and the conference tables were made with White Oak from reclaimed sources. Furniture in the office is almost entirely vintage, breathing a second life into items that may have otherwise been destined for landfill.
• Energy efficiency The office boasts Energy Star appliances as well as energy efficient LED lighting.
• Indoor Air Quality The interior walls were painted with low-VOC paint from Kelly Moore and all desks and conference tables were stained and sealed with zero-VOC stains and finishes. The Herman Miller SAYL Task Chairs (slated to arrive in October) also produce zero air emissions (VOCs).

Mayor Lee cuts the ribbon

On June 9, the same day that San Francisco Mayor Edwin Lee decreed as “Cradle to Cradle Day,” the Cradle to Cradle Institute celebrated with an evening at the Intercontinental Hotel featuring two of our favorite heroes for the planet, William McDonough and Michael Bruangart.

Gathered at the event were people involved in the architecture industry, manufacturing, product development, Cradle to Cradle certified companies, journalists, and many more who have been inspired by their work and who remain concerned about the impacts of chemicals on our lives.

Echoed throughout the evening was the message that both Bill and Michael want to help realize a world where we can welcome newborns without seeing them as a resource problem, bucking the unspoken environmentalist mantra, “We have met the enemy and it is our progeny.”

Michael Braungart joked about the planets: one planet meets another, says: “Hey, I have this things called homo sapiens”.  The other planet says: “Don’t worry,  I had that and it disappeared.”   Michael feels it is sad that we need to feel bad about being here!

He said: “We should not question the existence of people. When we have fear, people get greedy. We should have acceptance and we should look at every child and say, ‘Welcome to the planet.’ We should not have to apologize for being here. This is my dream.”

Pictured left to right: Advisor Jessica Switzer, President and Board Member Bridgett Luther, Founder's Circle Member Yves Behar, VP Beth Rattner and the extraordinary Kira Gould

William McDonough and Michael Braungart

The proclamation is in honor of William McDonough and Dr. Michael Braungart, co-authors of the seminal book Cradle to Cradle, who are hosting an event together in San Francisco for the first time in years. The San Francisco-based nonprofit Institute they both co-founded is focused on making safer and healthier products for people and the environment based on the Cradle to Cradle concept that rethinks how we design, manufacture and reuse materials.

The text of the proclamation is below:

Cradle to Cradle Day

Whereas today marks the first day in several years that William McDonough and Dr. Michael Braungart, co-authors of the seminal book, Cradle to Cradle, are speaking alongside one another in the state of California; and

Whereas Cradle to Cradle represents a paradigm shift in sustainability and has been identified as one of the concepts and designs with the potential to unlock the next Industrial Revolution, and in so doing prove that we do not need to choose between a strong economy and a clean environment: we can have both; and

Whereas Mr. McDonough and Dr. Braungart have gifted the Cradle to Cradle product certification protocol to the San Francisco-based Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute, which is dedicated to a world where all products are designed and manufactured using only healthy materials and processes, and which has the potential to unleash the full potential of human ingenuity, transcend traditional limits to growth, and enable the prosperous world we all know is possible; and

Whereas it is recognized that asking companies to “do less bad” and minimize toxics, pollution, and waste simply postpones inevitable problems.  A smaller footprint still leaves a mark.  Instead, Cradle to Cradle helps make a company’s footprint positive, so the bigger, the better; and

Whereas Cradle to Cradle product certification helps ensure that companies strive to eliminate all waste, pay fair wages, steward clean water, and use only safe ingredients and renewable energy, all of which is crucial if the companies of the future are to make products that are good for the earth, and for people; and

Whereas Cradle to Cradle product certification is an open and transparent evaluation system that represents the broadest, most comprehensive product certification available.  The underlying methodology has been soundly tested and applied to nearly 400 products, resulting in carbon reductions of over 13 million metric tons and toxic reductions of at least one million pounds to date.

For more information on the Institute and Cradle to Cradle certified products, go to: www.c2ccertified.org.

About The Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute

The Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute (the Institute) is a non-profit organization based in California focused on transforming the making and consumption of things into a regenerative force for the planet. The Institute uses design, based on the laws of nature, to help commerce create products that are safe for people and the environment. This rethinking of how we design, manufacture, use and reuse materials will spur a new era of research and innovation, simultaneously driving economic, ecological and social prosperity.

® Cradle to Cradle is a Registered Trademark of MBDC

We had a wonderful day with ALTe yesterday, who brought their plug-in electric Ford F150 to Sand Hill Road where we offered test rides to press, EV enthusiasts, the VC community and industry friends.

We also got to announce their partnership with Manheim to build out nationwide installation services for their system. Our coverage included a nice hit in The New York Times.

ALTe converts existing fleet vehicles to hybrid electric.  Turning a 14MPG truck into a 54MPG one is an amazing proposition – very excited for what’s to come with them!

CTO Jeff DeFrank with CalCars' Felix Kramer

Team ALTe aside the converted F150

• Assist in overall public relations support for client activities including day-to-day account management and client communication;
• Help oversee account tactics, create and deploy creative programs and manage internal teams, projects and deadlines for agency and client deliverables;
• Conduct and manage strategic media relations outreach on behalf of clients; develop, drive and tell stories about client activities in select media outlets and facilitate interviews with clients;
• Build relationships with reporters and influencers of key business, industry and environmental publications;
• Write media alerts, news releases and other marketing and media materials as needed;
• Support and develop new business, participate in new business meetings and recruit clients as appropriate

Among our benefits we offer a competitive medical plan, 401k, and the chance to wake up in the morning and feel like a superhero.  If interested, please send a brief introductory email to jobs@bluepractice.com

Prop 23 will block the amazing progress made through AB32 last year by risking our leadership in cleantech, killing job potential in a high-growth area and turning the clock back on important climate change policies.

Stalling AB32 because unemployment rates are too high, and mandating that job rates have to reach practically their lowest rates ever before we institute these policies doesn’t make sense.  Cleantech is one of the few growing business sectors in California.  We’ve seen it firsthand with our California-based clients in solar power, LED lights, the smart grid, advanced biofuels, energy efficiency the EV industry, green products, and our venture capital partners who have literally put billions into these categories. Our little company is a small sliver of the thousands of jobs aided by developing this sector – and there’s potential for hundreds of thousands more.

California is already an expensive environment for businesses, but government support has helped keep an amazing talent base here, putting California on the cutting edge of the cleantech transformation.  Don’t make Blue Practice have to relocate to China. Let’s keep cleantech in California, please join us in NO on 23!

Check out this presentation from Jay Bolus, the VP of Technical Operations from MBDC.  Jay’s presentation provides a very good description of Cradle to Cradle Certification and the benefits for companies and consumers.

Hope you enjoy.

The whole team was recognized by Governor Schwarzenegger and supported by leaders like Wendy Schmidt (wife of Google CEO Eric Schmidt) and YouTube founder Chad Hurley, along with Cradle to Cradle pioneers and supporters like Wal-Mart, SAP, Shaw Industries, Aveda, and Method, at a green-star-studded launch event at the Google campus.

If you have access to the Wall St. Journal online, I recommend reading Jim Carlton’s piece about the GPII and how it fits in with California’s regulations on toxic substances.

As a business advisory council member, we’ve been part of this transformation from the very beginning.  It is hard to believe that just six short months ago we were sitting around Jillian Manus’s dining room table hatching plans for this nonprofit organization with a small group of incredible people, including Warner Philips, Bridget Luther, Zem Joaquim, Adam Lowry, and Beth Rattner (now ED of the GPII).

Now, the GPII stands to empower others in helping develop products that do more good, rather than less bad.

The Green Products Innovation Institute, Inc. is focused on transforming the making and consumption of things into a regenerative force for the planet. GPII uses design, based on the laws of nature, to help industry create products that are safe for people and the environment. This rethinking of how we design, manufacture, use and reuse materials will spur a new era of research and innovation, simultaneously driving economic, ecological and social prosperity.

You can learn more about the GPII at the institute’s web site (cleverly designed by friend Yves Behar’s fuseproject), or YouTube channel.

Rubbing shoulders with Yves Behar and Bill McDonough. Two friends who are intent on designing our way to a better, healthier planet

Without these people, it just wouldn't be.