BetterWork
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BetterWork Customers Events Green Festivals Green Telecom Partners Social Venture Network Uncategorized Volunteering
Case Study: Oregon 211info H1N1 Hotline
This week we had the pleasure of presenting our case study with Oregon 211_info_ – how 211_info_ and the Oregon Department of Health quickly and efficiently created a call center in response to the H1N1 influenza epidemic, creating a model for other quick-response, temporary hotlines. In the fall of 2009, 211info and the Oregon Department of Human Services, working with BetterWorld Telecom, created a comprehensive hotline with a supervisor, a staff of 20 temporary information and referral agents, continually updated information, partners in nurse triage and clinic support offices, and administrative help from 211info.... -
NISH 2010 Conference: Where Opportunity Meets Reality
We were fortunate and privileged to attend and participate in the NISH Annual Conference this past week in Anaheim. Over 2,000 folk from all over the country were on hand for what was a truly inspirational and uplifting program, all dedicated to helping people with disabilities to find more meaningful lives through meaningful work.... -
BetterWork Featured at Capitol Clean Tech EXPO
On April 20, Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Federal Communications Commission Chair Julius Genachowski and Sprint CEO Dan Hesse were on hand for the first ever Capitol Clean Tech EXPO in the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, D.C. The Clean Tech EXPO was held in honor of Earth Day and to showcase energy companies, non-profits and telecommunications organizations are showcasing advances in clean energy and environmentally friendly products and technology.... -
Obama Calls for Employers to Adopt BetterWork Concepts
This week, First Lady Obama held the first ever Workplace Flexibility Forum at the White House – with an array of speakers and corporate leadership in attendance, it is clear that there is a great deal of steam building behind this movement. If you have been following the BetterBlog and/or BetterWorld for long, you know that we have been advocating the same workplace change (less commuting, travel, more flexibility, less building/space specific activity) through our BetterWork framework, which we developed in concert with the Bainbridge Graduate Institute in 2008/2009.... -
Environment as Economic Engine Summit
We were fortunate this week to participate at the Nokia Siemens Networks' Environment as Economic Engine Summit, which was held at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. November 9-10. Speaking at the event were leading academics, trend analysts, as well as government and communications industry experts who were discuss and debating the wealth of opportunities offered by a sustainable business approach in the Information & Communications Technologies (ICT) sector.... -
West Coast Green 2009 Wrapup
West Coast Green was the place to be last Thursday through Saturday, and Matt and I were sure to be there. We connect with many current and met many new friends, partners, and customers at the largest conference on green innovation for the built environment. Held at the Fort Mason Center in San Francisco, 14,000 thought leaders and forward thinkers convened to engage in dynamic, big-picture, systems-thinking to reinvent business, laugh, make connections, affect policy, and create meaningful and lasting positive change.... -
Advancing Sustainability in The Bay Area
Late last week, Matt and I had a couple great meetings of note in the Bay Area, with a couple organizations doing amazing work in their own right to advance sustainability. Sun Light & Power First off we met with Sun Light & Power, headquartered in Berkeley, thanks to Mark Mumm for the tour and great discussion around how our BetterWork framework could advance Sun Light & Power’s mission.... -
Sacramento Sustainability Forum – September
We had another successful forum last week with Cecilia Jensen, Sacramento County’s Sustainability Program Manager, as our speaker. We’re continuing to grow our supporter base and bring in lots of new faces, agencies, businesses, and organizations. The venue this month was wild! We held it at Jon Affonzo’s Railbridge Cellars, and his second daughter had just been born that morning.... -
Community Leadership – 2 New BetterWorld Forums
California has been feeling the BetterWorld wave in a big way as we launched two new monthly community forums back-to-back in August. The Sacramento Sustainability Forum is a monthly venue for connecting businesses, non-profits, government and interested citizens in the Sacramento region in order to promote sustainability, share insights and resources, and support movement towards a more sustainable future.... -
BetterWorld Presents BetterWork at FCC Broadband Workshop
BetterWorld Telecom President Matt Bauer presented at a workshop on Smart Grid, Broadband, and Climate Change at the FCC recently. The goal of the workshop was to identify potential impacts of a National Broadband Plan on energy, the environment, and transportation. The workshop panelists explored how the broadband and communications infrastructure can play a transformative role in meeting national energy, environmental, and transportation goals, including energy independence, greenhouse gas emissions reductions and clean energy generation.... -
PCC Natural Markets, Leading the Way
If you have been lucky enough to see Food, Inc. at the movie theaters, then you need look no further for a solution to the myriad of problems affecting our national food system than Seattle-based PCC Natural Food Markets. We were fortunate to visit yesterday with PCC, truly one of Seattle’s great treasures for over 55 years.... -
Sustainability Forum Featured in Sacramento Press
BetterWorld’s upcoming Sacramento Sustainability Forum was featured in the Sacramento Press yesterday. About 50 people are expected to attend the first forum, which is scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 20, at the Radisson Hotel, 500 Leisure Lane in Sacramento. They include local residents, environmentally friendly business owners, museum staff, architects, environmental engineers, developers and government employees.... -
BetterWork in DC w FCC � The Wilderness Society
Yesterday we had great meetings with both the Federal Communications Commission and The Wilderness Society, discussing BetterWork concepts and benefits for both the greater good and for individual organizations. We have been invited to participate in the FCC’s ongoing Workshop Series , which is bringing forward information and specific areas of focus, culminating in the National Broadband Plan.... -
The Wonder of Theo Chocolate
We were fortunate to meet a few days ago with Seattle-based Theo Chocolate, the only organic, fair trade, bean-to-bar chocolate factory in the United States. Truly a slice of heaven, Theo’s main location in Seattle’s Fairmont neighborhood is literally a pilgrimage for thousands of people every year, as tours of the facility and Theo’s special processes are held multiple times per day throughout the year.... -
Telecom Should be Green Leaders
President Matt Bauer at Light Reading BetterWorld President Matt Bauer gives key note presentation at Light Reading event: Green Telecom East- Transition to a Conference, reinforcing the opportunity and responsibility of Telecom to pave the way towards greater sustainability. Touching on the various industries that will be affected by a true shift towards sustainabililty and effective implementation of telecom technologies, Matt reinforces this necessity for a shift by everyone, with the Telecom industry leading the way.... -
Craiglist Foundation Bootcamp
“Imagine 1500 passionate people gathering together to change the world. That’s Boot Camp – a fun, intensive one day gathering where people learn how to bring their ideas for stronger communities into reality.” Salem and I had the great pleasure to serve as volunteers at Craigslist Foundation’s Boot Camp last Saturday.... -
Our Visit with the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR)
“Inspired by Faith, Committed to Action” is the greeting that awaits you enter ICCR’s offices on the 18th floor overlooking the Hudson River on NYC’s Upper West Side. Quite literally, ICCR was the genesis of corporate responsibility and accountability & we were there this past week to learn about ICCR’s past and present initiatives, as well as to discuss BetterWork concepts and how that might help ICCR and its members deliver on their long-held commitment... -
Sustainability Bronx-Style
The BetterWorld train this week pulled into the Bronx to visit our long-time and valued customer, Sustainable South Bronx. A pioneer in the truest sense, SSBX has been at the forefront of urban sustainability, education and inspiration since its founding in 2001 by lifelong Bronx resident and leader, Majora Carter. Sustainable South Bronx (SSBx) is a community organization dedicated to Environmental Justice solutions through innovative, economically sustainable projects that are informed by community needs.... -
The Wonder of Full Circle Farm
This week, we had the great fortune to descend on the bucolic valley of Carnation, Washington and home to one of the largest organic community supported agriculture operations in the country. We are excited to have Full Circle Farm as a new BetterWorld customer and look forward to helping them continue their amazing story forward as they expand the grow their operation.... -
Our Visit to Bastyr University
This week I visited esteemed Bastyr University with our Seattle Affiliate, Gina Diamond. We were hosted by Bastyr Development Relations Coordinator, Kathy Coffey pictured with Gina below and with great directional help from fellow Hoosier, Greg Goode, who is Chief of Staff to the President. Bastyr is a leading institution in the world, focused on natural health and applied behavioral sciences and the main campus just north of Seattle, is truly beautiful, set in a state park & within an old monastery.... -
Sustainable in Portland
We were in Portland yesterday and had the good fortune to meet with Desiree Williams-Rajee (who helped author the BGI-BetterWorld BetterWork white paper) with the City of Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability. It’s amazing to see first-hand the level of commitment that the City of Portland is making to many areas of sustainability, going far beyond the lip service that many municipalities are paying to the area of sustainability, administering mature programs from recycling to compositing, energy efficiency and weatherization....
