Print
Email
Print Edition Stories
MHT's Julie Donnelly: FloDesign Wind Turbine grows in Mass.
UMass Boston launches Entrepreneurship Center
MHT's Jackie Noblett: Lessons from the 2007 IPOs
About 150 people turned out at the Seaport Hotel in Boston to discuss the state and future of cleantech at Mass High Tech’s Clean Technology Forum this morning.
The event, which featured a panel of executives in the industry, covered a discussion about whether cleantech’s success hinges only on economic factors or also on eco-conscious priorities of “going green.”
Geoff Chapin, founder and CEO of Next Step Living, noted the need for “creating communities of adoption.” He pointed out data that indicated when five percent to 10 percent of people are doing something, others consider partaking in the same activity also. Cleantech promoters need to “create the sense that other people are doing this,” he said.
Chapin joined four other panelists, including David Douglas, senior fellow at the Breakthrough Institute and former chief sustainability officer at Sun Microsystems; Jonathan Guerster, CEO, Groom Energy Solutions; Tom Pincince, CEO, Digital Lumens; and Ted Stimpson, CEO of Imagitas Inc. John Loughnane, a partner at Eckert Seamans, moderated the panel.
Guerster noted that in some cases, companies will takes action to adopt clean technology, regardless of whether it makes financial sense. “It’s a statement. It’s fashion,” he said.
Ted Stimpson, who runs Imagitas’ marketing services company, which sends out change-of-address mailings to new movers, said that timing plays a role in clean-tech adoption. When people are moving, it can be a crucial time for marketers of cleantech companies to target people who are more open to change and more open to spending money. “People are willing to consider, perhaps like no other time, energy efficient purchases.”
The Clean Technology Forum follows on the heels of Mass High Tech’s publication of its second annual Cleantech Directory.
Comments
If you are commenting using a Facebook account, your profile information may be displayed with your comment depending on your privacy settings. By leaving the 'Post to Facebook' box selected, your comment will be published to your Facebook profile in addition to the space below.
RSS Feeds
