W.I.N. In A Pomegranate World

By Paige Donner
Kristin Engvig, W.I.N. Conference Founder
"Nobody is a nobody," this is one of the nuggets of advice that Kristin Engvig imparted to her guests and attendees at the recent W.I.N., Women's International Networking, conference that took place in Paris the first week of October.
A conference already in its 13th year, Founder Kristin Engvig, a resident of Switzerland, has built her success upon the foundational principles such as compassion, caring, commitment and the ability to listen to one another, regardless of gender.
"We have the responsibility to really listen to each other. And when we're listened to, we become more responsible," said Engvig, during a recent interview. "I have discovered that when we are listened to, we become more careful of what we say. It's also a matter of creating an environment we feel safe in, where people feel OK to be themselves.  To be listened to is an incredibly empowering experience," shared Engvig.


W.I.N. Conference Founder, Center, and Team.
This environment of caring and sharing of global and authentic, is precisely what speakers and participants experienced at W.I.N. over the course of three days this October in Paris.
To help center and focus the 800 attendees, the morning plenary sessions began with piano recitals such as a musical selection from Chopin. The music set the tone for both calm serenity and focused attentiveness. And then the speakers let forth...
Women Are A Global Massive Business Opportunity
Speaker Avivah Wittenberg used an anecdote that resonated with all attendees: She asked how many guests carried a handbag or a purse? Every female hand in the audience went up. She then asked How many women drive cars? Approximately 90% of hands went up. She then asked, How many women drive a car that is designed with a space specifically to store a handbag? Not one hand was raised.
"We are not a minority. We are not a diversity. We are a huge, massive global business opportunity," she said. The current global purchasing power of women is $1.3 trillion, a figure that is more than India and China combined.
WWW = Web, Women, Weather
Conference speakers were asked to address the attendees on the three W's of the 21st century: Web, women and weather, otherwise known as tenchnology, women and climate change.
Roberta Coceo of Microsoft, Italy pointed out that there is a proven correlation between women's participation in the economy and workforce and a country's GDP. There is also a proven positive correlation between childbearing and countries where women are significantly engaged in the workforce.


Listening is Key to W.I.N.
Women And Climate Change
Royal Dutch Shell's V.P.  of Strategy, Dick Benschop noted that what keeps executives up at night is the need to attract and retain top talent, regardless of gender.  He noted that at shell, "diversity" means all the ways they are different, whether that's age, gender or ethnicity.
On renewables, he said, "If there's going to be an energy revolution, it should start on the demand side because on the supply side it will take more time to build or re-build the infrastructure. History has shown us that it takes about 30 years for new energy sources to become even 1% of the world's energy source."
The Gulf Oil Tragedy is a nightmare he brought up in his speech stating that the industry has a "moral obligation" to learn from it. In order to do this, "We need to attract the best minds and talent. We will continue to attract the best and most innovative women and men."

A Pomegranate World
Engvig, mother of a 9-year-old who herself lived 12 years in Italy before settling in Switzerland, noted that there is something "Really Big" happening  with women right now. There is a focus on the well-being of women. "As we listen behind the headlines and statistics about depressed, overworked and stressed women in the West or poor women in Africa, we know, deep in our hearts, that there is a human being, a unique individual behind each story, with hopes, dreams and destinies."
There are also issues that are endemic to women globally as well as regional issues such as water and hygiene in developing countries or maternity leave in N. America, or gender gaps in the workforce in Europe. For example, the World Economic Forum recently rated Italy number 72 in terms of gender gap.

Many of the conference attendees and speakers spoke of the shift from a pyramid world, where structures are top-down and hierarchical, to a pomegranate world, where the landscape is diversified, dispersed, organic.  The pomegranate landscape, coupled with this massive arrival of women into economic roles, has never been seen before in the history of the world. Reflecting on this, I think I'll take a(nother) piece of wisdom from Engvig, "Expect magic to happen!"

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Eureka! Audi Green Car of The Year Runs On Synthetic Diesel Fuel

 Audi, Rentech, Inc., and the Green Car Journal are partnering to drive two Audi A3 TDIs the length of California, powered exclusively by low-carbon, synthetic RenDiesel® fuel produced by Rentech, Inc. (NYSE AMEX: RTK). The tour promotes advanced clean diesel and demonstrates the ability of the Audi A3 TDI to run on synthetic clean diesel for greater efficiency and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. The Audi A3 TDI® is Green Car Journal's 2010 Green Car of the Year®.

 OK. There are as many trademark symbols in that above paragraph as there are sentences but bottom line is that a consumer friendly car built by a household name automobile manufacturer was driven the length of California this week using synthetic renewable diesel fuel.

 

Audi Green Car of The Year runs on sythetic diesel fuel. Photo courtesy Steve Jennings for WireImage.

 

“California was the first state to implement a low carbon fuel standard, and we continue to see innovation, investment and job creation in our state because of this commitment,” said Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger who also had Mary Nichols, of the California Air Resources Board on hand for the Sacramento Capitol Steps press event.

The four-day, 1,000 mile journey kicked off on Monday in Eureka. The following event in Sacramento included a tour of the Audi A3 TDIs; a display of RenDiesel® exhibiting the ultra-clean nature of the synthetic fuel; and remarks by the Governor and executives from Rentech, Audi and the Green Car Journal.

 

L-R Mary Nichols, Bradley Stertz of Audi, Hunt Ramsbottom of Rentech and Gov. Schwarzenegger.

Audi has long embraced environmental stewardship, most recently with this clean diesel journey to demonstrate that RenDiesel® works with existing diesel engines and that today’s Audi TDI technology can achieve its customary performance using a synthetic fuel.

The emissions produced by combustion of RenDiesel® are lower in particulate matter (PM), nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur oxides (SOx) and carbon dioxide (CO²), compared to petroleum-based fuels. In addition, RenDiesel® produces fewer emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOC) than ethanol or traditional clean diesel and has the potential to be twice as fuel-efficient as a car running on ethanol.

All photos courtesy Steve Jennings, Wire Image.

The “Eureka! Diesel Driving the Future” will celebrate the 1,000-mile journey’s conclusion with a clean diesel panel discussion at the Peterson Automotive Museum in Los Angeles.

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Hollywood's Green Moguls Take Home Top Awards

James Cameron and wife Suzy speak on EMA Red Carpet at Warner Bros. backlot for Saturday's Environmental Media Awards, for which Avatar took home top Feature Film Award. Photo courtesy Ann Murray.

 

 

Ed Begley Jr. was also honored with top prize at EMA Awards for Life With Ed Tv Series.                                    Photo courtesy Ann Photo Courtesy Ann Murray.

 

By: Ann Murray

The green carpet rolled out for The Environmental Media Association's EMA Awards this Saturday at the Warner Bros. movie lot, which was hosted by Olivia Munn and Jason Ritter. The event, which was completely plastic water bottle free, honored environmental films and television series, tackled topics such as alternative fuel sources and even featured a live Native American Dance troupe.

Celebrity guests included the brilliant James Cameron and his beautiful and green conscious wife, Suzy Amis Cameron (famous for her own green fashion choices). They were both on hand when Avatar snagged the night's award for Feature Film. On the green carpet, Cameron explained the significance of how his film was shot and its overall environmental impact.

"Let's look at the big picture," he said. "Avatar was a film that took place in an enormous rain forest. Can't shoot big battle scenes in a rain forest. It was 100 percent CGI. There were a few people playing multiple roles so the footprint compared to the visual impact was very tiny. But ultimately it's a multi-hundred million dollar movie, there are a lot of people working on computers, and those computers are absorbing energy. There's no way you can say this movie was made with one watt of power. But you have to weigh the value of the film with the environmental impact in the public consciousness." - James Cameron,  on making Avatar

 

 

Rosario Dawson is all for Greening Hollywood. At EMA Awards Oct. 16th, Warner Bros. lot. Photo courtesy Ann Murray.

 

 

Warner Bros. backlot just before EMA Awards Oct. 16, 2010. Photo courtesy Ann Murray.

 

 

 

EMA Awards Oct. 16, 2010. Warner Bros. Photo Courtesy Ann Murray.

 

Other stars gave us the scoop on how their television sets are enviro-friendly and waste-free. Sarah Drew from Grey's Anatomy took tips from a fellow star on the set: "I was very inspired by Sandra Oh, because she never uses paper products on set," she told us on the red carpet. "She uses her own mugs that say "Oh" on it, and she has her own plates. I went out and bought a reusable mug that looks like one of those coffee cups. I also bring my water bottle to set every day."

Katrina Bowden took us inside 30 Rock's very serious green policies;  "Our show is green, we have done away with all plastic bottles," she said. "At the beginning of the season we get our own mugs with our names on it, there's recycling bins everywhere, efficient light bulbs everywhere. The same thing I am doing at home too."

 

Native American dancing at EMA Awards, Oct. 16, 2010. Photo courtesy Ann Murray.

 

Mark Paul Gosselaar, on the other hand, told us it hasn't always been easy to keep a set's waste and energy consumption down, but that now being green on set is the norm. "So much so that when they gave my character a car, I asked that they made it a Prius" he told us about his time on 'Raising the Bar'. "They said "we'll get you a Prius!" but I don't think that would have happened years ago."

 

 

EMA Awards Silent Auction. Film Production and Eco Travel, a Natural Fit. Photo courtesy Ann Murray.

 

But if a film or TV series still finds it difficult to keep their carbon footprint in check, they might want to follow green guru Ed Begley Jr.'s guidance. "Contact EMA and get that green checklist for production," he told us. "It's simple things like recycling on the set, not printing scripts - if you have to print them, do so on recycled paper. Use pdf files. As an actor, I like to use pdfs. Shuttling people around, get a low mileage vehicle and more fuel efficient shuttles, buy green energy, have efficient lighting in the production office. Really it's as easy as checking out the EMA list."

In addition to "Avatar," "30 Rock," the documentary "Gasland" and Begley's "Living With Ed" took home top honors of the night.

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Ed, Avatar, 30 Rock, Disney, Bones Win Big At EMA Awards 2010

LOS ANGELES, CA, OCTOBER 16, 2010 – The Environmental Media Association awarded seven films and television programs for their outstanding contributions to environmental causes and green initiatives.  Avatar,’ ‘Bones,’ ’30 Rock’Recognized for Environmentally Conscious Programming Olivia Munn and Jason Ritter Hosted Exclusive Affair Attended by Eva Mendes, Natalie Portman, Jane Fonda, James Cameron, Ted Turner and more!  Presented by Toyota and Lexus, the awards celebrated the organization’s 20th anniversary and were held Saturday, October 16, 2010 at Warner Bros Studios in Los Angeles.  The evening concluded with a rousing performance by Kenny Loggins – who had the entire audience singing along.

Winners for 2010 Environmental Media Awards are:

 

FEATURE FILM
Avatar (20th Century Fox)

James Cameron - Director / Writer / Producer / Editor

Jon Landau - Producer

Mauro Fiore - Cinematographer

James Horner - Composer

 

DOCUMENTARY

Gasland (HBO)

Josh Fox - Director / Writer / Producer

Trish Adlesic - Producer

Molly Gandour - Producer

Matthew Sanchez - Editor

 

TELEVISION EPISODIC DRAMA

Bones (FOX)

Hart Hanson – Creator

Dean Lopata – Writer


TELEVISION EPISODIC COMEDY
30 Rock (NBC)

Tina Fey – Creator / Writer

 

REALITY PROGRAM

Living with Ed (Planet Green)

Ed Begley Jr. – Protagonist

Bud W. Brutsman – Executive Producer

Joseph Brutsman – Executive Producer

CHILDREN’S LIVE ACTION

Lights, Camera, Take Action! Backstage with Disney's Friends for Change (Disney Channel)

F. Michael Blum – Director/Executive Producer

Tracy Pion - Director

Lisa Poncino - Producer

Karen Inwood Somers – Producer

Anghel Decca- Cinematographer

Miriam Seger - Production Designer  

 

CHILDREN’S ANIMATED

Handy Manny (Disney Channel)

Roger Bollen – Creator/Executive Producer

 Marilyn Sadler – Creator

Rick Gitelson – Executive Producer

Stars in attendance included honorees 

Jeff Skoll (Philanthropist/Entrepreneur) andTed Turner (Media Mogul); Eva Mendes (The Other Guys), Amy Poehler (Parks and Recreation), Aubrey Plaza (Parks and Recreation), Daryl Hannah (Kill Bill: Vol. 1, 2), Erika Christensen (Parenthood), Frances Fisher (Titanic), James Cameron (director, Avatar) and Suzy Amis CameronJane Fonda (Monster-in-Law), Jason Ritter (TV’s The Event), Jessalyn Gilsig (TV’s Glee), Joanna Garcia(Gossip Girl), Kathryn Morris (TV’s Cold Case), Katrina Bowden (TV’s 30 Rock),Lance Bass (TV’s Dancing With The Stars), Mark-Paul Gosselaar (TV’s Raising the Bar), Michaela Conlin (TV’s Bones), Olivia Munn (TV’s The Daily Show),Rosario Dawson (Percy Jackson And The Olympians), Sam Page (TV’s Mad Men), Sara Rue (TV’s Eastwick), Wendie Malick (TV’s Hot In Cleveland), Wilmer Valderrama (TV’s That 70s Show), and more!

 

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