Mercer Island, WA (July 8, 2008) – As corporations and government agencies across the world move to green their operations, focus is now being drawn to the way they communicate – websites, emails, advertising, brochures, tradeshows and events – all are being scrutinized as the next big area for improvement in sustainability. Businesses in North America spend $65+ billion per year on print media advertising. The average office worker generates 2 pounds of paper waste per day. Paper and printing related expenditures typically represent 15 to 30 percent of every corporate dollar spent, exclusive of labor, according to the Institute for Sustainable Communication. Adding websites, email blasts, direct mail and events to the mix and the size of this communication activity is significant. However, few enterprises today can tell you the footprint of their marketing communication, print or digital. That is about to change.
 
Lisa Wellman Quote
 
"The non-alignment of media with message seems terribly ironic at a time when there is such an intense awareness of environmental responsibility and all things "green", said Lisa Wellman, CEO of SustainCommWorld, producers of The Green Media Show and Conference. "The current ad campaign supported by Al Gore, for example, tells us about climate change, causes and effects but demonstrates such a miss-alignment. If Gore wants to help eliminate global warming, how sustainably was his campaign produced? What is the carbon footprint for this campaign? According to Don Carli, our Conference Chair, it could be sizeable and is as yet unmeasured. Is www.wecansolveit.org a solar or wind powered website? It doesn't say so on the site. Is Gore using Green Media to get out his message? Green media is available and can easily fit into a $300,000,000 campaign."
 
Green Media Show and Conference Background Information
 
SustainCommWorld – The Green Media Show and Conference will focus on bottom-line solutions to address enterprise communication and sustainability including: increased brand equity; growing shareholder value; business risk reduction; supply chain activity; sustainability reporting; carbon foot-printing and more. The conference will offer top executives uniquely valuable perspectives probing every aspect of sustainable communications from initiating a sustainability program, best practices and implementation strategies, to sustainability reports. The Conference brings together thought leaders in sustainability with a focus on the graphic communication industry and marketing communications, their supply chains and relevant enterprise stakeholders.
 
The keynote speakers were chosen to deliver the big picture of sustainability as well as the tools needed for people to implement green initiatives the next day, next month and next year.
 
Don Carli Quote
 
"This conference brings together thought leaders in sustainability with a focus on the graphic communication industry and marketing communications, their supply chains and relevant enterprise stakeholders to discuss, challenge, learn and drive implementation of best practices in the greening of media," states Don Carli, Executive Vice President, SustainCommWorld and Senior Research Fellow at The Institute for Sustainable Communications.
 
"As Conference Chair, I am gratified by the quality of speakers wishing to impart the knowledge they have learned so far in their own green practices. For two days, attendees will be able to choose from an excellent selection of topics all focused on media plus bonus networking sessions on marketing, tradeshows and energy. The depth of experience is amazing, from less than two years to those who were on the green train early with over fifteen years of practice."
 
Mr. Carli will deliver a keynote address on the State of Green Media.
 
Expert Keynote Speakers Add Depth to Knowledge
 
An esteemed group of keynote speakers have agreed to address the conference, each bring a different perspective to the topic, from the purely environmental picture to how to take the country's largest retailer, Wal-Mart, and redirect its efforts to become sustainable and green.  Featured speakers are:
 
Lester Brown, Founder and President of the Earth Policy Institute
 
Lester Brown has been described by the Washington Post as "one of the world's most influential thinkers" and as "the guru of the global environmental movement" by The Telegraph of Calcutta. The author of numerous books, including Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization where he develops a vision for an environmentally sustainable economy, chapters, articles, etc., he helped pioneer the concept of environmentally sustainable development.
 
As one of the world's leading sustainability experts, he will provide a snapshot of global progress and what business needs to accomplish to do its part. This session will provide a basic factual framework for all that follows. Lester Brown speaks from first hand knowledge working at the top of global governments, assisting them in forming policy statements and actionable plans. His presentation and his recent book Plan B - 3.0 will provide reliable, well reasoned material you can take to the bank.
 
Tyler Elm, Principal, T.J.Elm and Associates
 
Tyler Elm formulated Wal-Mart's Supply Chain Strategy that has sent "shock-waves" through their supplier community when H. Lee Scott, Jr. President & CEO informed them that to continue to be a favored supplier, they'd have to meet items on Wal-Mart's scorecard. Tyler will describe his role in the process and how he got the "cross-silo message" out to the corporate movers and shakers.
 
As Senior Director, Competitive Strategy and Business Sustainability, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Tyler Elm had global responsibility for deriving business value for Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. by directing the development, implementation, and management of a competitive business strategy that derives economic benefits for the Company from improved environmental and social outcomes.
 
Joel Makower - Co-founder and Executive Editor of Greener World Media, Inc.
 
For more than 20 years, Joel Makower has been a well-respected voice on business, the environment, and the bottom line. As a writer, speaker, and strategist on corporate environmental practices, clean technology, and green marketing, he has helped a wide range of companies align environmental responsibility with business success.
The Associated Press has called him "The guru of green business practices."  Joel will use his recent survey to support his comments on the "the current state of interest and action in sustainability" in the business community.
 
Additional Speakers and Sponsors
 
Additionally, conference speakers have been drawn from Fortune 500 companies, leading advertising agencies, new media companies and government agencies.  Corporate sponsors of the event include Xerox, Eastman Kodak, ITN International, Pitney Bowes Emtex, Presstek, Quantum Digital, Printable Technologies, Anderson Cenveo, Community Energy, Appleton Coated, EarthColor, and Domtar. Trade associations and NGO sponsors include: AMA – Boston, Climate Action, Green Suppliers Network at the EPA, Printing Industries New England, PIRA International, Gravure Assn of American, NAPL, Envelope Manufacturers Assn, AIGA – New England, RISI, Nat'l Assn Quick Printers and IPA - Assn of Graphic Solution Providers. Groups are being added as the momentum for this conference grows.