YASC, but different this time

If you don’t hang around developers, you may not know that any acronym that starts with YA usually means “Yet Another”. In this case, YASC is Yet Another Sustainability Conference.

If anyone profited off of environmental concerns in 2007 it was the conference industry, where a rash of new energy efficiency, sustainability, environmental and green themed conferences hit the market. I found many of them useful, especially earlier in the year when the information was still fresh, but by the end of the year I found myself showing up, doing my part, and heading out. Too many corporate advertisements, too many canned speeches, and not enough real information exchange.

But with so many companies having to work their way up the same learning curve, and with so much innovation starting to happen, I think there’s still a need for people to be able to get together and share ideas and experiences. Since our business at isn’t conferences, we’re free to try something a little different. Based on our experience with “unconference” style get-togethers for developers, we think there’s real potential for that format of meeting in the sustainability space. And to see if we’re right, we’re going to hold on.

So if you’re around San Fran in early January (Jan. 10 to be exact), consider stopping by the first OpenEco Energy Camp. We’ve got over 200 folks signed up, including some big names and thought leaders from a number of area companies. In addition to lots of discussion time there will be book signings, videos and some food. It’s an experiment, but as its shaped up I’m more and more convinced that this type of get together has an important role to play.

Hope to see you there!