San Diego at Powershift 2011

Powershift 2011 kicks off today, bringing 10,000 people to Washington, DC to discuss, learn, and lobby for “green” and energy issues happening in the US. My students and I have traveled from San Diego to present Climate Change Research at the conference.  Our presence is important for many reasons, but for the sake of my business it is important because my students will be the few if not only high school aged students in attendance. As high school students attending and presenting my students are setting a new standard for the 10,000 college and post college attendees, and also blazing the trail for other high school students around the country. Our attendance also helps justify the need to engage and educate the youth on the environmental issues that our currently happening; the youth wants to do their part too and we need to help them.

This year’s Powershift brings speeches from former Vice President Al Gore, Van Jones, and current EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson…Why is it important to have such people speaking at a conference, is it like they are preaching to the choir? Well yes and no, speaking to choir yes, but they are also connecting with the choir on a personal level and showing them that not just the “average Joe” is trying to educate and bring awareness to these issues. Along with these speakers we will hear from Kal Penn, Kumar from the Harold & Kumar Movies. Which brings me to my next point, using the entertainment industry to educate and entertain our youth.

At Powershift 2009 “The Roots” rocked out with Powershift attendees in the name of being and going green. The concerts was filled and everyone from the older attendees to my students at that time rocked out with them and enjoyed the concert, but also became more educated and pumped up on being and going green. Powershift already has the right idea using entertainers to strengthen the numbers of attendance to such a controversial, yet important issue of going green. More often than not the youth need know that what they are doing is considered “cool” so what better way than to use the entertainers they see as “cool”.  I’ m excited to see who is lined up to perform this year, but I am sure whoever it is will reach those who already sure of their “green” advocacy to those who are just beginning to explore “green”, and I’m sure some new “green” advocates will be added to this list.

For more information on Powershift 2011 check out the official site here http://www.powershift2011.org/ and see for yourself how you can be educated and entertained at the same time. 

Sony Promotes Green Awareness

This weekend I received an email form Sony about an upcoming Social Media Camp they are hosting here in San Diego. My first thought was this would definitely be something for me attend to learn more about Social Media for my personal reason and knowledge for my current and future job. Working with the youth knowing as much as I can about Social Media will only make my job easier and help me to build a stronger relationship with them.  Learning more about Social Media will also help me with my recruitment for future students, and marketing and advertising for my program. This is especially important because my job is with a non profit organization and finding free to minimal cost ways of marketing is a huge plus and this money can be spent on program improvements. Most importantly Social Media provides a "green" marketing source, which is the main focus of my program.

As I kept reading the email, it said the camp would take place at Sony Electronic’s magnificent LEED certified building and this really wowed me and got my brain thinking; Sony has LEED certified building! LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. I had no idea Sony was doing their part to be more “green” and definitely didn’t know they had LEED build.  So now my brain went from just learning about Social Media to learning about Social Media and Sony’s LEED certified building.  Once I know the details to Sony’s LEED building then I can tell my students about it and potentially have a field trip to the building for 1^st hand knowledge and experience. The students will be able to see how a brand such as Sony can be green and for the environment, yet still be one of the top brand names in each of its industry types. As my students are already green conscious this can also give them ideas on green jobs that are not necessarily in the sciences but in technology, media, marketing, etc. I now have a major Brand to use an example for my personal business, educating the youth on green awareness through the entertainment industry.

I know can’t wait even more for this camp and I will am sure it will be a valuable learning experience. For more details on the camp checkout http://socialmediaclub.org/event/social-media-camp-san-diego