You don't always know all the ways that your work matters. Two decades when I was working as a corporate photojournalist, I interviewed a female meteorologist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, CO. She had participated a field team studying the newly-disovered ozone hole over South America. We discussed the need for more powerful visualization tools to transform the complex atmospheric chemical measurements into meaning, and the role of the government's national network of supercomputers in supporting that task.

The following year, I journeyed to CERN, the superconductor-supercollider center in Switzerland, to learn about the new protocol -- HTTP -- being developed to improve physicists' abilities to globally share voluminous information in more meaningful ways. I spoke there with mid-career physicists who were devoting their attention to improving the global scientific communities' networking and communications tools -- soon to become the World Wide Web.

While sensing the importance of these developments as I wrote about them, I didn't immediatelyl grasp the total future shift each implied. I did learn to appreciate the power of data in the hands of an inquisitive mind. These many years later, I appreciate that we don't always know what questions matter the most until we -- or others coming after us -- discover the answers. The key is to keep asking questions.

October 15th, 2009 -- one of the largest social change events on the web. On the eve of this annual event, 7,787 blogs in 140 countries have registered to participate. Makes me realize it's time I get serious about blogging on this topic. Have spent hundreds of hours reading this year - and wondering if the economics of fear are finally turning the tide. While I'm an eternal optimist, I think we're in for a lot more pain.

Climate change is no longer a threat. It's a fact. Carbon-fuel shortages are no longer a distant possibility - they're virtually around the corner. Water resources treated by thirsty nations as endless are proving to be anything but. 

The world is awake to the dangers, and Copenhagen looms with its promise of global cooperation. But the run-up to it is worrisome. China and other developing nations seek offsets so as not to see their economic growth stifled by emissions limits. Here in the U.S., cap-and-trade legislation sits sidelined in the U.S. Congress while health-care reform takes center stage. Obama is unlikely to carry the mandate he needs to make the meaningful commitment needed.

Take action today. Tell your senators the world can't wait for clean energy! Visit http://www.change.org/actions/view/tell_your_senators_the_world_cant_wait_for_clean_energy

Tight budgets make for tough choices. For me, the recession has been a time of re-examining everything in my work and family life, making the hard decisions that are so easy to overlook. How big an operation do I want to build? How can I provide the best service to clients while being prudent with expenditures? What strategy adjustments will best help me AND my clients emerge from the recession ahead of competitors? 

One result of this for my business was a decision to return to my roots  and spend more of my business time as a content provider -- for clients and for myself. 

I get really excited developing marketing strategies snd materials hat do double-, triple-, and quadruple-duty. I also love the contact of pitching stories to the press or meeting prospects at trade shows and conferences. And the virtual versons of all of this on Twitter, LinkedIn, etc., give new meaning to the term MULTILOGUE!

But at heart, what all of these elements have in common is COMMUNICATION. It's the common thread in everything I've ever done.There's nothing like getting into the heads of prospects, customers, or other constituents and translating product or service messages into things they care about.

That said, you can expect more communications from Multilogue in the weeks ahead. We're launching the Multilogue e-zine soon, and are creating an schedule of videologs and podcasts for on marketing technologies. These will appear in the Resources section of this Website. I'm also creating a library of earlier articles, links to books I've authored or co-authored, and samples of my corporate writing work.

Please tell me what marketing issues trouble you the most. Add a comment here anytime! 
Janet A. Smith

Sitting through a long day of 18 cleantech entrepreneur pitches to a VC panel, I was struck how shallowly most dealt with the market for their wonder-widget. Of course, identifying potential market, a unique value proposition, and a go-to-market strategy are never easy. There's as much art as science involved.

But without the due diligence to know whether a proposition has legs, technologists may never find the backing to get off the ground!

By week's end, we should have important new federal legislation -- the American Clean Energy and Security ACT (ACESA). It puts a price on carbon emissions, a cap for creating them, and a mechanism for trading credits for reducing them. Money talks, and now the real change begins!

The Center for American Progress this week published an economic assessment of how ACESA and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) will impact the U.S. economy. The authors, Robert Polin, James Heintz, and Heidi Garrett-Peltier, of the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) at University of Massachusetts, Amherst, forecas $150B per year in new investment, including 1.7M net new jobs per year over the life of ARRA. Their detailed analysis also includes the following investment forecasts by energy area:
1. Energy efficiency: $80B/year
2. Smart Grid: $44B/year
3. Public Transportation: $5B per year
4. Cogeneration: $5B/year
5.Renewable Energy:
   On-Grid: $30B/year
   Off-Grid: $8B/year over 20 years
   Nonelectric renewable energy: $3B/year
   Alternative motor vehicle fuels: $5B year

View a copy of the report here.