Ecofusion

Ecofusion: Newsletter Summer 2010

 

Greetings!  With the coming of the summer sun there have been some changes happening within Ecofusion and across the nation. 

 

Introducing Ecofusion, LLC

Ecofusion and emPivot, LLC have merged. We are now formally Ecofusion, LLC, a company that can create, consult, and support a variety of services in media, communications, and video content more efficiently and seamlessly.  

 

Our formal motto:

Ecofusion, LLC is a strategic communications and media company. We are dedicated to the support of public and private partnerships in the areas of sustainability, social enterprise, and green business.  To do this, we design meaningful green strategies and develop innovative methods to effectively bring about the change envisioned for our clients.   We utilize emPivot, the media property of Ecofusion, LLC,  to showcase high quality video of best practices and educational information on the environment and sustainability.

 

Our focus remains the same at Ecofusion:  delivering communication and marketing strategies, interactive development and website design, public relations and media outreach, video and audio production, brand development, project and event management and much more…. And, we encourage you to continue visiting and posting to emPivot.com.

 

Check out all of our exciting news and what’s happening now!

Ecofusion, LLC is working with the Gateway Arts District of Prince George’s County to rebrand their community. Ecofusion, in partnership with Spring13, was tasked to increase brand awareness and web presence for the unique and dynamic community.  In addition to the rebranding effort, Ecofusion is also creating all communications for Gateway that will be manifested through the use of traditional and non-traditional marketing while keeping consistent with Gateway’s sustainable pledge.

 

Other notable projects include: 

• Creation of personal video for The Edge of U2 on his efforts to build sustainable homes in Malibu, California.
• Working with EcoGreen-Living on their efforts to showcase, market and publicize sustainable building practices within Washington, DC. 
• Developing implementable “Greening/Sustainable Plan for I.L. Creations.  Our work led to I.L. Creations becoming the new food service cafeteria vendor to operate within the State Department; a contract worth between $30 and $70M.
• Implementing social networking solutions for the ReCharge America website.
• Advising George Washington University Men’s Tennis Coach, Greg Munoz, on implementing sustainable smart growth options for it’s tennis facilities.
• Creation of promotional videos for educational children’s entertainer, Eric Knaus, “The Great Zucchini.”
• Working with a variety of GSA contractors on sub-contracting opportunities for GSA projects.

 

Comings and Goings

Last fall Ecofusion said goodbye to Thom Wallace, an original Ecofusion and emPivot co-founder.  Thom has moved on and now works for the National Congress of American Indians. We wish him the best.  Coming onboard is Kelsey Valentine from the University of Southern California and Elizabeth Smith from Towson University, both of whom have contributed to Ecofusion for the majority of the summer.

 

Kelsey Valentine is currently a rising sophomore at the University of Southern California. Kelsey grew up in Washington, DC where she attended the Washington International School. She was an active member of her high school’s environmental club and has traveled to China to simultaneously learn about and raise awareness of the water shortage facing Beijing. She is currently studying Environmental Studies and Political Science at USC.

 

Elizabeth Smith recently relocated back to Washington, DC from her journalistic background in Miami, Florida. She now lives and works in Washington, DC while starting her senior year at Towson University earning her undergraduate degree in Environmental Studies. Her interests include energy use and the changes occurring in America’s energy infrastructure.

 

We would also like to recognize Shelly Morris for her continual work in marketing and public relations, which can be seen in Ecofusion’s case study of I.L. Creations. With her background in product development, market analysis and strategic planning Shelly was a very fit contributor to Ecofusion. After earning a Bachelor’s of Science in Mechanical Engineering from North Carolina A&T State University and a Master’s of Science in Engineering Management from George Washington University, Shelly is now successfully entering the Master’s in Business Administration program in Marketing and Strategy this fall at the Fuqua School of Business at Duke. We wish Shelly the best of luck.

 

Theodore Brannum (Theo) continues to contribute to Ecofusion’s GSA efforts. Theo earned a Bachelor of Arts degree at Rutgers University in Economics. While a student at Rutgers, Theo held several student leadership positions being chairperson of one organization and an active member in others.  Theo’s time with Ecofusion is split with his true passion, assisting inner-city youth get into college.  Prior to Ecofusion, Theo was the Programming Director at the Hoop Dreams Scholarship Fund.  Currently, Theo is employed with DC public charter schools as a college transition advisor through college alumni services.

 

In the News

As the nation continues to reach out to those affected by the BP oil spill, we are closely monitoring progressions made by local and federal governments as they aid in this environmental disaster.  With these progressions has come traction concerning the newly drafted climate bill and our nation’s attempt to diversify our energy sources. Ecofusion is following any progress on the matter as well as partnering with scholars involved. 

 

Props to those Making a Difference

Ecofusion would like to highlight two companies that we believe are impacting our communities:  3BL Media and Mission Markets.

 

The first is long-time user of emPivot, 3BL Media.  Greg Schneider and his team continually promote the advancement and promotion of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and sustainability through their effective communication distribution system.  As an aggregator of green content, we recognize 3BL Media as one of the best distributors of green content available.  We wish them great success.

 

The second company we would like to highlight is Mission Markets.  Mission Markets was co-founded by a friend of mine, Steve Rocco.  Mission Markets operates a private investment exchange facilitating transactions within the social and environmental capital markets. The Mission Markets platform provides companies and organizations with access to funding and impact investors an efficient way to evaluate, invest in and monitor sustainable investment opportunities.  We wish Mission Markets great success.

 

For more insight and news stories, visit our website and follow us on Twitter and Facebook. 

 

 

Best,

  Chace



Google Earth Now Embeddable

Since Google Earth launched a few years ago Ecofusion has produced a number of public information campaigns related to conservation and renewable energy using the virtual globe technology. In fact we like to think we’ve pushed the envelope since the beginning of virtual earth’s appearance in the web 2.0 world, launching one of the very first google earth video campaigns and download-able file packages working alongside of SkyTruth - Upper Green River Valley - A View From Above , with over 20,000 views of the video product on YouTube and a 5 star rating from the Google Earth community for the KMZ file production.

Now Google Earth is making it easier to show Google Earth products on the web with embeddable gadgets, similar to embeddable videos from YouTube and other video sharing sites. As widgets, gadgets, and APIs become more effective, leveraging the power of Google Earth will be more effective as it becomes more accessible for non-technical users. Removing the step of making viewers and users download and launch Google Earth will be critical for dissemination across the web.

To show just how easy the Google Earth team has made the step, we took the KMZ file location for a new PEW’s Campaign for Responsible Mining Google Earth product just released today and plugged it into the easy to use gadget maker provided by Google. (Shown above).

Video & Multimedia Package for Wilderness Society’s Better Energy Campaign

 

Last year, Ecofusion worked with The Wilderness Society and SkyTruth to produce a multimedia package for an online public information campaign called, Better Energy, about oil and natural gas drilling in the Rocky Mountain West.

The idea, highlight the impact of the hundreds of thousands of oil and gas wells that are impacting western lands, while also providing the tools and information for stakeholders to plan for and encourage responsible energy development in the Rocky Mountain West.

In order to complete this project we worked with SkyTruth and the Wilderness Society to develop a multi-component approach that integrated Google Earth as the critical tool for representing the issue at hand. Here are the components we delivered for the project:

• 5 Google Earth Files for each state showing oil and gas leases for the last 100 years, including a time lapse animation for Wyoming between 1900 and 2007. Download the files here (Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico, Utah, and Montana)
• Production and development of a three and a half minute mini-documentary called The Rocky Mountain West: Natural Gas and Oil Drilling (seen above)
  
• A shorter 40 second call to action video incorporating similar components

It's all about the economy, the green economy that is. Green jobs are big talk right now, but businesses have to start somewhere. Based in Brooklyn New York, Green Spaces provides the incubation space for new green startups. We've helped this great initiative launch their Green Business Competition, the first of its kind in the Big Green Apple. Our strategy and creative team helped drive a rapid logo, brand, ad, and site development and deployment strategy.

Launch the Site

 

 

At Ecofusion we have been working in the on-line public relations realm since the late 90’s to promote “good” ideas and even “better’ actions. Of course we have noticed that the amount of information to which people are privy has grown to be enormous since then. How an organization, business, cause, or product gets noticed for its authenticity is a challenge everyone faces now, more than ever. So when we approach qualifying or quantifying return on projects, we think about an ROI, or a Return on Inspiration.

The big idea is that most people (corporate/NGO boards, product managers, fund raisers, program managers, and communications experts) want the most effective ROI, Return On Investment, when they spend a lot of money on campaigns. Rather than see it as just a Return on Investment, we are saying, you’re paying to inspire people to take action, so more importantly, what Return On Inspiration are you getting?

Click to read more ...

 

This photo is almost a relic now. A year ago Yahoo announced its green cab program in New York City with its celebrities at the podium. While not the start of corporate and hi-fashion green promotions, it sure was a memorable moment. Green cars, celebrities, a major web giant, all staged in front of the press in New York Times Square; “green” hype at its best. Green had arrived, and right in the middle of America’s iconic media center.

In the last few years with the spawn of the “green rush” what has happened around us as a result? Awareness, sure. More green buildings, definitely. Increased investment in clean tech, absolutely. “Green fatigue” setting in because of various levels of Obsessive Compulsive Environmentalism? Possibly.

Click to read more ...