Get Ready for Voice Activation at BlogHer 07

I am beyond excited for BlogHer 07. At one point I thought about not attending. I had to balance the fun of a hot time in The City with working practically the next day in Vegas at the Sustainable Furniture show. When BlogHers ACT was added to the roster, I confirmed my ticket for Chi Town. I wanted to be at ground zero when BlogHer puts the power of blogs and women's hearts behind ONE topic for ONE year.

It will change the world. 

When explaining bloggers as a "media" to business, I often tell them, "Bloggers are like cats, if you want their attention you have to pet them, feed them or give them something to chase." For this cat, BlogHers ACT is the ultimate chase and that's why I'm going and that's also why it will work.

Women (still) are getting the back seat when it comes to being acknowledged. With the right topic tracked, however, BlogHers ACT will provide the acknowledgment women deserve and that will start a chain reaction like never before. Why? Because business is watching and reading blogs. What is written on the Internet cave wall by their key consumers carries clout. What women care about, business cares about. Notice how fast the Super Bowl went from frat jokes to practically Disney in less than three years. Women ranted, business listened and the Super Bowl, and it's advertising, went mainstream. That's clout.

And now that we have their attention... let's crank it up.

For example: Elisa reminded us of what has become marketing lore, 83% of the consumer dollar is influenced by women. In my industry (furniture) women influence 94% of the decisions. So, let's connect some dots. About 75% of the CO2 emissions are attributed to one industry - buildings and their furnishings. Think about it, what's more prevalent than cars - offices and homes. Then think about the raw materials and transportation needed to build, heat, cool, light and furnish that asset? Think too about all the wood that is required and where that wood comes from... If all we did was band and blog or buy FSC certified wood, we could influence how fast the furniture and the building industries would mend their ways. The standard does the heavy lifting, we just have to demand it.

Some of the good guys are doing it on their own, but that's slow and frankly we are running out of time to stop dangerous and irreversible global warming.

Business will always follow the money and with that leverage, we can change the world.

Comments

[Virginia DeBolt]

Great idea. Being a web standards advocate, I certainly get the point about standards in furniture resource use and manufacture. Is there some entity that sets the standards for furniture production that a person could write to?

[Emily]

What a fantastic post, and I can't wait to see you at BlogHer '07!!!!!! Voting close on Sunday for the BlogHers Act global initiative, so anyone who wants to have a say in what the year-long initiative will be, please vote right away!! Here's the link:

http://www.zoomerang.com/recipient/survey-intro.zgi?p=WEB226MTBXYEDJ

No need to be a member of Blogher to vote.

[Mary Hunt]

Virgina - there are many standards for product certification. FSC is the starting point for furniture, since most furniture is made of wood. That certification only covers the forest/raw materials, however, not the shipping, building, shipping, gluing, shipping... of the final piece.

The most inclusive of all environmental, social and economic concerns is SMART by the non-profit MTS. Not only does it cover the most criteria, but it's also been adopted by the most key industry associations. The USBC (US Green Building Council) approved it as part of the LEED certification and on June 26th, it became part of the Capital Markets Green Backed Loans. The Fireman's Fund also will give discounts to those who are certified under SMART. All of which gives it staying power.

[Mary Hunt]

Emily, I'm looking forward to meeting you as well.

Everyone - make sure you vote. The wisdom of the crowds will give us the best topic.

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