Greetings from the Program Desk
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Greetings!
Happy almost-Spring! In addition to our monthly e-newsletter the first Wednesday of each month, you can look forward to my reminders alerting you of all the important programs and events just around the corner. In today's program e-blast, NHBSR brings you a Q&A with Beth Tener, (who is organizing the Spring Conference's afternoon session, World Café), information on Wednesday's Webinar and a glimpse of our first Expanded Track Collaborative Webinar.  Please feel free to reach out to me at any time - I would enjoy hearing from you! Kate Luczko, Program Director NH Businesses for Social Responsibility | |
"Social Responsibility: Competitive Advantage to Competitive Imperative"Visit our Conference Website
Today we're talking to Beth Tener, a NHBSR member and
Principal of New Directions Collaborative who will be facilitating the
interactive dialogue in the afternoon of this year's conference. Beth has over
20 years of experience in the field of socially-responsible business and
sustainability and was previously the Executive Director of Sustainable Step
New England.
Q:
You'll be helping facilitate a World Café process at this year's spring
conference. What can NHBSR members anticipate?
A: If you've ever had the experience of attending a conference and
found that the most energizing parts were the informal hallway conversations
over coffee, you'll enjoy this conference. In a World Café, instead of a speakers and an audience, all
the participants engage in small group conversations about questions that matter
to your business and career. You get to have some great conversations, hear
interesting stories from many people in a short time and come away with new
ideas.
In a sense, this process builds on the lunchtime discussion
circles at previous NHBSR conferences. Participants rated them positively and
asked for more time for these conversations.
Q:
From your vantage point as a business sustainability consultant and trainer, why
do you think these types of dialogues are important at this time?
A: In 1998, I helped found Sustainable Step New England, which trained business and government professionals in
sustainability trends and the tools to take action. A lot of time was spent on
making the case for sustainability and defining terms. What I'm seeing these
days is that many organizations are committed and their focus is on how
to get results. Now, they want to know how to overcome barriers and what approaches,
technologies, and partnerships will really enable them to make progress.
That's why interactive conference formats like World Cafe are
timely - people get to talk with their peers to share ideas and learn together in
the context of their situation and the challenges currently on their plates. In
a typical conference format with break-out sessions, you might have three panelists
talking with 40 - 50 people in the audience listening. In a World Café setting,
you multiply the amount of sharing because there are over 50 small conversations
happening at once.
A blog I read recently stated that the Fundamental Law of
Conventional Conferences is: The sum of the expertise of the people in the
audience is greater than the sum of expertise of the people on stage. When you consider the diverse
backgrounds and years of experiences that everyone who attends a NHBSR event
brings, it's a huge amount of expertise that can be accessed. Each unique
combination of people talking creates new connections and new ideas emerge. At
the end, when we share the most exciting ideas and common themes, it will
provide NHBSR with valuable insights about our members' common goals and needs.
Q:
What inspires you to participate in NHBSR's conference?
A: As a speaker at past conferences and a member, I've been impressed
with the quality of NHBSR's events and with how steadily the organization has
been growing its membership. I'm curious about the potential for what this
group of businesses and people can do together to grow our businesses and
generate positive solutions to the pressing environmental, economic and social
challenges. How could we weave the network of interconnections to help all of
us make progress?
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Webinar Wednesday!
March 10th, Noon - 1:00pm
FREE for Members, $25 for Non-Members
"Aligning Retirement Plans with Company Values"
Michael Smith, Investment Advisor Representative for Progressive Asset Management and Rob Thomas, President of Social(k) will show webinar participants how to Include Socially and Environmentally Responsible Investment Choices in Your Company's 401(k) Plan.
This webinar will offer an introduction and explanation of the Social(k) 401(k) retirement plan platform offering more than 150 screened socially responsible mutual funds, as well as more than 4,000 conventional funds from which to choose.
Register now!
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First Expanded Track Collaborative Webinar
Clean Air - Cool Planet, "Counting Carbon: The Nuts and Bolts"
The Expanded Collaborative Track will allow NHBSR to work together with like-minded partners to provide in-depth, 2-hour webinars. This series will enable participants a deeper look at issues with presenters who are Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) & Sustainability experts.
Save the date: April 28th, Noon - 2:00pmRegister now!
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NH Businesses for Social Responsibility
31 Warren Street, PO Box 3562, Concord, New Hampshire 03302
603.391.7437, kate@nhbsr.org
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