Hey Josh

Howdy Gentlemen!

Hey Bryan

So you found the place :)

Yeah, power of search was able to find the hidden email message with the link

nice.

People tend to show up rockstar late, so we're actually about 15 minutes from starting

How long have you two cats known eachother?

We usually tell bad pirate jokes in the first 15 minutes

ha.. arrrhhh.

I met Josh last year when he applied for a job with my design firm as a design monkey

well look at him go

I think it was before he was 100% uber cool

well, paid to be uber cool at least

;) <---- Josh

Hey Jeff!

haha awesome

Hey, Shea...

arrrrr....

Hi guys..

Hey, Josh.

trying to order some food here, just got back home after a 2 days in nyc

Whatcha getting?

haven't gotten that far

I apoligize if i'm loopy-- was in 10 hours of meeting yesterday and sleeping on planes gets old fast

i see mr brey, glad you could make it

I skipped all you can eat sushi for the chat tonight

meet after for it? lol

yep. waiting for the pirate jokes

OK, I'll throw out one of my two

Bryan, have you heard about the new pirate movie coming out?

nope

It's suppose to be so violent that it's rated Aaarrrrr...

ha haha ha

oh shit... i just lost IQ points reading that...

hey bryan, got my mail from my berry?

Do you know which Star Wars character is secretly a pirate?

Arrrr2d2

and Yo ho hoda

there's another few points Jeff

;)

Hey, now _that's_ funny... damn the IQ points...

yeah, that you'd be flying and catch up by friday. word.

I think Jason's rolling out tonight

looks like a good password Arrrr2d2

you guys all live in boulder?

Me, yes. Jeff, no.

I don't -- St. Louis

And as of next week I'll be moving to Maine

whooo hooo!

Boulder is great, but I gotta boogie on back to the Northeast.

The woods are calling to me

I read that many young gen x gen y love the northeast

as apposed to baby boom wants to go southwest

weird+

I grew up in New Hampshire, so it's where I gotta be

It's warm in the SW

Boomers like dry heat

our bones don't hurt yet

;)

global warming and las vegas might be a dangerous mix, ha that's where I live

OK, my turn for a pirate joke... What do you call pirate lovemaking...?

Buried pleasure... arrrrr

oh man

nice ;)

test

that's terribly great

I was in Vegas in the 90s, Bryan... Did my grad. work at UNLV...

neato, what grad department?

I'm going to Vegas in a few weeks for a bachelor partay

English... did some courses in poli sci, history and theater, also...

Jeff, why is your last name hyphenated?

Okay, food on the way

is this is? just 4 of us?

bachelor parties are awesome here, let me know, maybe I can meet up with you

McIntire is my wife's last name, Strasburg's mine -- we both hyphenated when we got married...

Okay, cool. That is quite egalitarian

Jason Trout is supposed to be showing up, and there are usually a few straglers from 7:45-*;00 (our time)

We went with that order because Strasburg-McIntire sounds like a small European country...

Strasburg on McIntire sounds like a nice estate

ha like it. glad you did poli sci, that was my major at UCLA

OK, not touching that...

Get those last few bad pirate jokes out, we'll start in two minutes

lol

just got that Jeff

I gave you too much credit...

It's been a long day

Hey Pete!

Hey guys!

Nice feature in Groovy Green Pete

Hey, Pete.

Too bad it had my pic, though-probably chased people away

Pete is a pro furniture maker and fellow greenie

No, you look all rugged.

Do you make sustainable furniture...?

You should mention it on the ol' blog Jeff

Jeff-yes locally harvested lumber, eco friendly finishes, etc

OK, so let's get this ball rolling...

Tonight's guest is Josh Spear, a self described Futuristic Cultural Anthropologist and coolster

<giggles>

His blog, JoshSpear.com, is a go-to spot for all things cool

He doesn't work for Nike, consults with big corporations and advertising and creative firms,

He was traveling all day and is seeing double, so alas, he didn't blog today.... Hi everyone!

And he loves sushi

But, who doesn't?

Yup, he didn't blog about tonight's chat, but he will be making one afterwards

;)

With that, I will hand the stage over to Josh.

Give an introduction Josh, take as much time as you'd like, then we'll open the floor up for questions and general discussion

By the time I got home It was really too late-- but I'm glad there are a few people in here to get some conversations going...

Give it up everybody, for Josh Spear!!!

/cheer

/clap

woo, hooo....

/stomp

hoot hoot

Wow, now I'm supposed to talk...

yeah!

Thanks for the opportunity Shea

I've been working as a consultant for around 2 years now, blogging for more like 2.5

I often get the chance, and opportunity to speak to larger corporations specifically targeting youth culture

and since day 1 i've pushed them to be remarkable, and more conscious of their actions

Green is sort of at a tipping point into our everyday lives

more and more brands aren't just trying to leg up with a green product

they're actually starting to think about it in much bigger terms

Example:

Two weeks ago I was at Mcdonalds in Chicago

I was doing a presentation I call 'Brand Utopia'

essentially a crash course in, what would world (brand world) look like if it was made up of, well, my favorite brands

because I want to live in a world of, tivo's and american apparel

not comcast and gap

and more and more of the youth generation feels the same way

our 'youthiverse', as I call it

consists of brands like that

mini cooper and jet blue

not ford and united airlines

essentially at the core of their strategy

they're putting the customers experience before the value of the company shares

jet blue took a huge leap

they said, leather seats for all, TV, and we're not even going to charge for it

So, standing in front of 50 suits last week

I clicked the slide to a picture of a globe

our earth, from space

and said 'how many people in this world want to change the world? for the better, or in some way'

80% of the room raised their hands, about the norm

and then i clicked the slide to a giant ? mark

and said "How many of you know how?"

and to no surprise

nobody raised there hands

a company that serves 50 million people a day

50 million opportunities to do something

wants to change the world, but doesn't know how

so much of the green-talk in my brand utopia is, what would the world look like if companies enabled us to change the world?

Language wise, thing that are 'global' are too big to be my problem

so we depend on larger powers to make the change-- which is rarely done

there are the major .org's, but they're not even 1/10th as powerful as any of the fortune companies

in the ability to just, execute worldwide _______

so, what if they started executing change?

making small shifts in what they do, the food they serve, the type of message they send

because despite the villain bad rap mcdonalds gets

it's truely made up of a group of people, much like us

they just don't know how, or more importantly what to implement

Point of this to come full circle

in my brand utopia I talk about

What do we want

when it's products we want functional

we want limited edition

we want customization

but, we also want to change the world

and the companies that are enabling us to do that

which unfortunately are slim, like AA gave us an easy way to sweat shop free clothing, Toyota gave us a prius

we're becoming loyal to companies who say 'we know what you're thinking, and you can do this alone, we're here to help'

sure they make money, a killing

but it's in the products and services they provide that bring us closer to a green world

anybody home?

yep, just digesting...

nope, at the office

;)

the lights are on.....

too bad I can't show slides in basecamp

:)

at home

so, I suppose it'd be fun to use this time

to talk about ways product related companies

can enable us, consumers

to make change

because I come from a product experience backround I'm always pushing people towards it

it's not hard convincing them it's 'cool'

or 'needed'

it's just implementation, and ideas for execution

or we could tell pirate jokes, your guys call

so did they ask you for ideas of implementation and you are asking us to throw out some ideas?

I have told all my pirate jokes, so forget about that

I'm really just opening up the floor

to talk about eco, and green

in branding of product based companies

I have a question for people- do you think there is a risk in green being too cool?

Nike did 'considered', too bad the shoes are ugly, but they filled the demand

As in people getting burnt out on hearing about green?

and, at what point are things just green and not talked about?

Here in boulder, whole foods is a brand that serves up good food to EVERYONE... you're an outcast if you don't shop there

I don't think gren is too cool as long as the green nazis are kept at bay

half the people don't realize it's any better for their bodies, or for the earth

they do such a great job of enabling us to shop green

I don't even think people think about it

they just positioned their product as better than the alternative, so what if it's wind powered!

well I totally agree that the youthiverse is into mass customization, and we all enjoy that...

as for mcdonalds they should watch jack in the box out with salads

I guess you have to think

dream for a second

I have always said that demand drives everything... if the companys give their customers a great experience, it will work

What if, the fortune 500 major companies

were the ones who changed the world

they were the ones who made awareness AND change about green issues

they have a heck of a lot more troops, AND face to face opportunites than any green orgs

we all know they're incredibly powerful

Josh-isn't that the ultimate goal? people not having to think if something is green or not because it is

totally

this is where I'm going

mcdonalds serves organic coffee, it's gross still, but organic coffee should be a norm

a company of that size could make shifts behind the scenes

and not even tell anyone, and change the world.

that would be good if they did it behind the scenes versus trying to play up the "green" marketing

it would land more authentic with the public

Yeah, but they are also driven by profit

Part of the value propisition in being green is getting to brag about it

nothing wrong with that IMHO at all

it's such a balance right now

people are afraid of 'trying to hard'

Exactly -- what's the incentive to go green without branding themselves as such?

Whole Foods got 10X what they spent on wind power in press

but also afraid of being the last to the party

more power to them, next time they will spend twice as much ad get even more of a PR ride

Plus, I think people want to know who is being green

it's a class of it's own right now

I'm using the green card, but part of my decision was for my own health. Lots of fumes, sawdust, etc-not just profit

LOHAS folks are pretty hard to fool, the greenwashers get picked out pretty quick, espeically now with the green blogosphere all over green news

Right Pete, but big companies usually don't have that luxury

they have shareholders who their only job is to bring big returns

now, being green can bring in more green ($), but you need a strong leader to pave the way there

sure they do-for the health of their workers and then lower insurance premiums

I'd really like to think

companies can push green to the norm

You're right Pete, but it all comes down to $ for them

healthy workers = less to spend on insurance = more money for stock holders

Would a company like Interface flooring serve as an example of what you mean, Josh...?

they don't do it because they love their workers, well- most don't. There are exceptions of course

Interface is great

I'm not familair with it

but, Toyota having a prius is

go back to the question

Strong green leader taking his company into a more profitable space (green)

do you want to change the world, yes?

how.. no idea...

Interface is a mega green carpet company

Creating more energy-efficient processes, using recycled materials, etc., because there's an economic incentive for doing so?

BIG company

the more brand that can make it easier on us, the better

I have a few friends

who are huge anti-sweatshop people

make their own clothing

Eliminating wastes is both environmentally smart and good for shareholders...

it's a nice thought

but it's not realistic

You know what companies really need to do?

Offsets!

;)

so how does a fortune 500 company go green without looking like they are "trying to cash in on the green movement?" I think Josh nailed with making it a clear directive that it is the new "norm" and they are ready to embrace change consistently

realistic is there being companies to go to for this stuff, capitalism is fine with me, if the offset is in positive change

well

two things bryan

first is

I don't think the green movement is anything new

they have to reach out to greenies first and foremost. They have to get the people who are the influencers on board with their greening

and I don't think it's going to be gone anytime soon

it's just a decision

I, so and so corporation, want to make a difference.

it's a call to arms, not a movement

because pretty soon, we can name companies that have a green aspect

It will be gone when it succeeds and it's not remarkable to be green, it's just what you do

I don't think the company needs to go 100%

they just need to offer a green alternative

clear

so right now we can count a dozen companies with a green element

that have any global impact

if that

but I really think it's about a lifestyle choice

I don't want to wear sweat shop made clothes

but I also don't want to make my own

and I don't want to mess up the enviorment any more

so, I'll drive a prius, one step in that direction

I personally wouldn't be caught dead in one though :)

I think it's like a balancing act

because american ap' makes good clothing

it's not a hard choice to say

oh, hey look, eco clothing

it's... almost the norm now

they have what, 80 stores worldwide or something insane?

but the same people that make their own clothes

revolt and ride a bike everywhere

awesome, truely awesome

but not realistic!

they're not doing that to be outcasts

fashion in clothing changes, do you think that they will still be fashionable 10 years from now

they're doing that because they have no other conscious lifestyle choice to make, prius is good, but too expensive, and kinda ugly :)

yep

I do

they're not fashion, they're not even eco-fashion

they fufilled a baseline need

we all need shirts, and underwear, and socks, and hooded sweatshirts

and now we can easily find them, sweat shop free

it's only fashionable right now because of how they branded it

sex, sex, sex

but they're really just providing the clothes in

food clothes and shelter

and a good friend of mine says

yeah shelter!

"fashion is something you can put away in your closet, and 10 years later pull out and still feel comfortable putting it right back on"

these are t-shirts we're talking about

plane colored t-shirts

it's not going anywhere, I hate to make predictions, but they provided a baseline need for the soon to be eco-scared world

whole foods wins the prize for baseline in food

and the next person that steps up to the bat with eco-shelter, wins.

and for furniture?

totally

so think about

all the baseline needs fast paced humans needs

right now I can only think of a few things a day I use constantly, that keep me in my eco-lifestyle

I have to break the line all the time

because I have to be a normal person

and not make my own clothes and ride my bike to the airport

Offset what you can't green up

sorry, couldn't help toss that in

;)

offset is a great idea

but still

doesn't get a pass into my utopia

it's an alternative

not a baseline item to the fast paced eco-lifestyle we all want to live

No, but it's an easy bridge

like you said, most of us are regular people

yup

totally

we all go in an dout of this eco-sphere

we use our recycled paper towels

but love sarin wrap

I won't tell you how many leaky Jetta's I've drien in my day

:)

I know I have a specialized job, but your fast paced and a durable item like furniture seem to be at odds

explain further?

fast paced eco lifestyle vs a piece of furniture that you will own for YEARS and hopefully hand down to the kids-two different concepts?

no, just two different implentations into life

one is a daily need

food, clothing, shelter

one is.. a commodity

i'm a furniture nut, by the way :)

glad to hear that

george nelson for president

RIP

who?

how's everyone doing out there?

Thinking... hard... may I play devil's advocate?

you betcha

thanks, I'll read the rest later

Still thinking...

this better be good Jeff (lol)

I'm just hanging out, conversation is interesting just a little slow and tangential, not sure what to comment on.

I was thinking a lot about

Josh, did you tell the McDonalds folks any ideas for things they could do with those 50M customer interactions?

the 'perks' of being green

yeah

i don't know how much I can divulge

but they're willing, just careful

Do we, in any way, trivalize the challenges we face by referring to ecological consciousness as a "lifestyle choice?"

<does the thinker>

And I like the idea of encouraging consumers to "buy green..."

Is there room for fun in Green?

kermits fun isn't he

i'm a big fan of fun

ask ms piggy

all so serious and significant...

american apparel is fun

and sexy as heck

And I certainly understand the appeal of fun, and don't think it's a bad idea to associate green with fun...

word!

I think fun is an issue

but sophisticated is, too

Damn... it's just not sticking with me tonight...

issue?

I mean, an element

absolutly-so why not frame green as fun now with fun left for the future?

the ski green challenge is doing that

I guess what I'm hanging up on is the element of consumption...

good point

Are we saying "Go ahead and consume, but just do it differently?"

none of what I spoke about changes consumption, it just means they're consuming green, which is stilll.. consuming

If consumption is Cradle to Cradle, there is nothing wrong with it at all

Exactly... and isn't that the mindset that got us into many of our current predicaments...

if it's C2C, consume as much as you damn well please

beat me to it shea

We've never had that mindset before Jeff

It's always been cradle to grave

Shea, shaina still waiting on an invite...

Yes, absolutely...

Also, every one of our jobs has to do with consumption of some sort

well there is something to be said for REDUCE, re-use and recycle

I just sent it Josh, the misspelled email, right?

yes

I've been cutting back alot lately.

Screw reduce

downsize and downsize

I don't want to reduce, I want to consumer green

;)

I kid, reduce is good

but it's not going to get us there

do less harm is still doing harm

Sustainability sucks.

who wants to be sustainable

i'm a big fan of regenerative

thats the big point

stopping consumption

Lke Bill McDonough says "Who wants to say their marriage is sustainable"

or abundance communities

is a heck of a lot more difficult

that changing what the consumption is

we have more than enough

Regenerative is where it's at

werd!

yep!

now we are ahead of the curve

And I'm certainly not suggesting we try to stop consumption... that would be a fool's errand...

Everyone back to the caves!

osama? you in here?

I think we're probably on the same page... that's why I brought up Interface...

they set the goal of eliminating waste in their production process...

and identified things like oil as wastes...

With that goal, they still wanted to make floor coverings that people wanted to buy...

want to buy but can feel good about the decision

Yep... exactly... and not just feel good, but actually do good.

Interface's CEO Ray Anderson is the one who coined the phrase "Doing well by doing good..."

that's why I love that Green is good for the bottom line. If we don't get the greedy on board, we'll get no where

heh

Greed, for a lack of a better term, is good

Yep -- that's what got me so excited about the concept of natural capitalism...

great book

Show the business people that there's money to be made, in fact more money to be made, by treating natural resources as finite...

and acting accordingly...

Changed a bit...

“Green, for lack of a better word, is good. Green works, green is right. Green clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Green in all its forms, green for life, money, love, knowledge has marked the upward surge in mankind — and green, you mark my words — will save not only your company but that other malfunctioning corporation called the USA.”

cool...

<fingers snapping>

Well, we are coming up on 8pm PST. Before we wrap up for the night, are there any last questions/comments for Josh?

OK, now what about the folks that don't give a damn about being fashionable, and are just fine buying sweat-shop produced goods...

they die off

Or they just come along for the ride without meaning to

we'll sneak 'em in the back

or shea adopts them

or even knowing that they are coming along

exactly

will continue to ponder how fortune 500 companies can be leaders in the transformation of the planet...

when everything is green, even the rednecks will buy organic Skoal

Nothing against rednecks, I count a few as very good friends

;)

And, of course, Skoal is biodegradeable... so I guess we're OK...

OK then, I'd like to thank everyone for coming out tonight, especially our guest Josh Spear

:)

A big hand for Mr. Spear!

/cheer

cheer!

woo, hoo...

wooo hooo!

thanks for sticking around everyoe

Thanks Josh, gave me alot to think about and read

Make sure to come back next week, same Bat time, same Bat channel

are the floors slanted?

Thanks, Josh... I love to think hard...!

I won't be here, I'll be driving my moving truck then but I'll have a guest host lined up.

Jeff, want to be the guest host?

;)

Sure... do I just have to show up?

Thanks again for coming out Josh. I think we all came away wtih a lot to think about

You have to show up and pretend you are important by starting things up and shutting them down

that's all I wanted to do

stir some thoughts

and get paid

thanks for having me shea

(muhahaha)

This transcript will be posted on besustainable.com

well, one out of two ain't bad huh?

;)

mcdonalds will probably sue me for talking about them

:)

I should buy McDonalds stock for all the Big Macs I eat

oopps, did I just say that?

;)

yeah you should

just pour some hot coffee in your lap, they'll shut up

i should buy sushi stock

OK, we're officaly over, so now we can tell pirate jokes

Arrrrrrrrr

Britney Spears is preggers again

arrrr.... good nite gents... namaste!

later guys

The second coming of the Apocalypes

g'nite

Thanks for coming out Bryan and Pete!

Avast, maties...!

I have to run as well, work beckons

'night!