On November 5th and 9th a gathering of great CSR minds is happening virtually. And while there are many interesting forums and conferences happening every day, this global summit is somewhat unique because its coming to a PC near you.
I’m especially happy its happening virtually because my favorite CEO, Jeff Schwartz of Timberland, is giving the keynote. If you, like me are out of town, you do not to have to miss it.
It makes sense that a summit on new models of social responsibility should take place making use of a new model of communications. And the event is environmentally friendly as well. By utilizing web conferencing technology, the live summit’s carbon footprint is minimized (because large events can have significant environmental impacts). According to the organizers:
This is a ground-breaking summit that is using the latest communications technology to reach everyone who can help add to the knowledge necessary to to make social responsibility the way all organizations conduct business.
The summit has all the makings of a must-attend event:
For social responsibility (or CSR, green, sustainability or corporate citizenship) efforts in large and small organizations, you might say we’re in the perfect storm. Just as all budgets are under severe pressure, key stakeholders are expecting organizations to be not just for profit. And the new social media tools raise the bar of communicating about social responsibility honestly and transparently, or risk being accused of “greenwashing.” Yet all organizations can reap benefits (branding, recruiting, marketing, etc.) from integrating social responsibility into the fabric of the business. This means there’s a big need for efficient knowledge sharing about what’s working and what’s not in the field of organizational social responsibility. This annual virtual (and green) summit is intended to:
- Expand understanding and visions about the business case for social responsibility globally
- Spark more organizations to think out-of-the-box when starting and or evolving their programs
- Share ideas and practical, how-to information on managing and communicating social responsibility programs on a budget that can work for organizations of any size, anywhere.
- Build a knowledge resource and avenue for ongoing dialogue and learning that will feed the agenda for future summits
One can register to attend The New Models of Social Responsibility Summit via WebEx or by Cisco TelePresence at one of these locations: San Jose, Chicago, Boston, NYC, Herndon-VA, Research Triangle-NC, Atlanta and Bangalore, India.
About Jennifer Kaplan
