http://www.slashgear.com/linkedin-password-hacking-confirmed-06232653/

The Value of a LinkedIn profile

I have a LinkedIn account and I think it’s wonderful! It makes me feel so good that I want to dance! The reason why I’m so excited about having a LinkedIn account is that it allows me to network with other people that are in the fields that I would like to get into. Also, it allows me to bounce some ideas off of people who are doing what I’m doing and people that have knowledge that I do not possess. The only cons that I would say is that your resume needs to match your linkedin profile, if it doesn’t then a potential employer might think that you’re not being very honest. LI is very important to me professionally because I plan on pursuing my Masters in Healthcare Administration and I’ve gotten some great feedbacks from people in my network. I am a member of several HR and green networks but I don’t speak much in the group. Since, I’m still learning and feel that I can contribute, I prefer to listen and analyze people’s comments. I research some of the information that is out there and it helps me in my personal knowledge-base.

Going Green: A Twitter to follow

www.goinggreen.com

One of the things that I’ve noticed with twitter is that small businesses that utilize this free social media without any overhead. The “company” that I’m looking into doesn’t have any products of their own. They simply use a keyword search that is related to sustainability and the environment. One of those keywords is “going green”. Since this term, going green, gets thrown around quite a bit, it’s easy to see why they came up with this company name. First of all, there is no overhead other than having their own website. While the price may vary for having your own website, I’ve looked into one myself, and it cost around $5 per month. Going green charges companies to advertise on their webpage. Just a handful of different advertisers per month gives them a huge net proft. This is a clever idea that I would like to look into myself, Simply put, goinggreen.com is doing nothing more than creating an advertising webpage. A webpage that uses a keyword search “going green” to connect an already establish niche, combine that with people/ companies that are interested in going green, you have a business with a very small amount of overhead cost.

https://twitter.com/goinggreentweet

Facebook Summary

One of the great marketing tools is Social Media (SM). Social media is a great way for small, startup companies to create a clientele and expand their customer base. This doesn’t affect their overhead cost, and let’s face it, small company oppositions are stacked against them in their infant startup phase. One of the things that I’m so passionate about is the environment and being sustainable. Every business uses natural resources, whether it is directly or indirectly, those resources are consumed and continues to deplete. I feel, a lot of people would agree, that the ability of a company, individual or institution to remain sustainable is by reducing overhead cost. Companies generally use the word efficient when it comes down to their operations. One of the things associated with a green startup company is that you already have the natural resources. So what I did was expand my blog to include ways to make money. I called the Facebook (fb) fanpage “Making green by going green”. While there’s a lot of options to generate income by going green, not every option will be a “good fit” for everybody. How does someone in an urban setting create a compost business, when land itself is not readily available? How does someone who uses the public transportation system generate revenue? As you can see it’s not a “one size fits all” scenario. On my fb page, I have several links to different areas of business potentials. This will allow people to select which option they want to pursue.

Something’s to take away from my fb page, there needs to be other methods of advertising, while fb is great, most of the time, you are in your own world. If you have a lot of “friends” then the possibilities are higher, but that’s always the case. There needs to be a link to other social media that I’m apart of. I would add it to my LinkedIn account. There’s a lot of people that are on the same niche. I didn’t have to much time to spend with friends because people didn’t go into detail other “liking” the page. The recommendations that I would give is to create a fb page but also use other social media and make sure they are all tied into each other.

http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Making-Green-by-Going-Green/320715458024179

Ford Fiesta

Fiesta in Spanish means party, but ford in the united states to some have various jargons. Coupled that with the fact that people are skeptical of corporate America. It’s no wonder that companies have to rely on other methods of advertising rather than the traditional route. Europe has always been a trendsetter in pop culture for a lot of the world, that does include the United States. Europeans tend to copy Americans and vice versa. Ford played to that thought process and decided to launch it’s vehicle in Europe. Also, here in the states, we sometimes don’t get products that are manufactured directly to other parts of the world. Therefore, ford allowed social media, trust (word of mouth advertising), pop culture to allow american’s an opportunity to see what they were “missing”. With all the rave reviews, people here were excited and crave an opportunity to utilized a product that they didn’t have access to, or so they thought. The power of social media utilized through trust, trends and topographical makeup allowed the Fiesta’s buzz to increase. The online user has already been engaged, the next step is to engage the offline users. Well, the seed of trust has already been planted with friends, family and relatives. As human beings, we tend to have the inability of keeping our mouths quiet when it comes to enthusiasm. People tend to tell others of how they are doing so word of mouth advertising has taken off. The trust factor is already available, therefore people will continue to reach and touch and no money was ever used through the traditional advertising method.

Multi-Generation Workplace

Is there diplomacy between Generation X and Generation Y people in the workplace? It’s a question that has long been in the thought process of Human Resource, Sociology and Psychology experts all over. How does a two different value sets differ and how are they the same? There was an opportunity to reach out and get to know what the Generation Y people thought, since, I’m a Gen. X person. In particular, I reach out to a fellow co-worker who I used to work with but now I’m in a different office. Quite an intriguing set of answers come from this young lady.

Amanda is a liberal person and is very open-minded, but one of the challenges was the point of views. We didn’t agree on something’s in terms of work procedure. The work itself was pretty detailed and as an older person, I’m more detailed and take time out then an individual with “youthful enthusiasm”. Another thing that was noticeable is the obvious, the maturity level between the two of us is day and night. Please don’t get me wrong, at times she can be mature and I can be immature, but overall it’s the proto-typical  behavior exhibited by people in those age groups. Another issue is the use of social media at work.

For a Generation X person like myself, I rarely use social media while at work. My co-worker on the other hand, she has her social media pages up all the time, however she is able to get her work done. But, I do feel that it does add to the mistakes that she makes. As a company, we do have social media outlets but it’s not something that most people would know about. The challenges of the social media are how can we open up to potential applicants? Most of the time we advertise in Greensheet, Cragislist or the tried and true method of Word-of-mouth. These do get our name out but does it generate as much information as we would like? Clearly, the resounding answer is NO. The company uses sales, just like any other company, but the main difference is the retention of business. Without retention, this company would not be sustainable.

How does a company like ours reach out to people, in the case of the Generation Y and younger crowd, we utilize facebook to connect to people. Also, in April, we had a contest of accumulating the most “likes” on our website and that allowed us to have more publicity. For the older crowds, we would advertise on greensheet and while this isn’t considered social media, it does help in the process of multi-source advertising.

In this day and age of instant notification and the availability of information. Law Enforcement can utilize the social media to help combat crime along with the ability to serve. Various police agencies have different policies on social media, but from a law enforcement standpoint, whenever lives and property are saved then it is a very positive tool to use. The other question is how can police department’s utilization of social media consider hurtful? The only downside is when officer’s use social media and it portray’s the department in a negative light. A couple of articles and videos will certainly help shed some light on social media and law enforcement.

http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/05/19/3972529/dfw-area-law-enforcement-agencies.html

Supporting Videos to both sides of the story:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JfrromWDs8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAUIGnNQ29c

Last but certainly not least our last stop was the Trinity River Audubon Center. Dana Wilson, Volunteer Coordinator, was our guide. She gave us a brief history of the project and described how the facility is located along the Trinity River on land that was once a deep woods landfill. The land was a legal landfill then was an illegal landfill and now it’s reclaim land.  Some of the features for this building are walls that are made from 60% concrete and 40% fly ash, east Texas bamboo flooring, and a vegetative roof. Also, insulation for the walls are from reduced denim  blue jeans, angled glass windows through-out the building to help with birds from crashing into the building. The building also has a 33,000 gallon cistern to help with rainwater collection and some waterless urinals to help conserve water, cradle to cradle furniture, and solar panels to help reduce the need for electricity from the grid.  There are a number of hiking trails along the property that make this place so serene.

 My first thought of this place was “An oasis in the middle of the concrete jungle known as Dallas County”. Some of the funding for this property was from The City of Dallas, The Meadows Foundation, The Eugene McDermott Foundation, the Boone Family Foundation, Nissan North America, and the Garden Club Committee of the Junior League of Dallas.

John James Audubon was a bird artist and a fanatic of these creatures. This place is a paradise for nature lovers and most importantly bird lovers. As several of the students trekked a hiking trail, we came across a few “footprints”. Some of the interesting conversation was trying to identify the creatures that left their mark via a footprint. The fascinating thing about this facility is that it’s absolutely sustainable in it’s practices but it also connects the past with the future. That connection is preserved through the hiking trails and the scenery that it provides. The oasis from the concrete jungle of a major metropolitan area.

Courtesy: Amari Roskelly

Courtesy: Amari Roskelly

Courtesy: Amari Roskelly

http://www.trinityriveraudubon.org/site/PageServer?pagename=Home

Paul Westbrook (Texas Instrument’s Manager of Sustainable Development), had a vision of being sustainable almost 2 decades ago. He not only had a vision of how to be sustainable but he also wanted to provide that data to others in hopes of promoting sustainable practices. The same factors that can be reduce in Mr.Westbrook’s household can be applied to his employer’s place of business, specifically the Richardson FAB building. The major components for waste reduction fall under the these 6 categories:

1. Energy

2. CO2

3. Emissions

4. Water

5. Materials

6. Waste

According to Mr.Westbrook, “the Richarson FAB (RFAB) building cost $330 milion to build but after implementing these 6 categories of sustainability,they expect to have an Annual savings of $4 million per year”. At the RFAB, waste recycling is at a 95% rate for Hazardous and Non-hazardous waste. Another impressive feature about the sustainable practices is the sharing of energy use between Semi-conductor facilities. While the data is voluntary, anonymity is just as vital so no individual company gets singled out as “the guy who was not efficient”. It gives each company an opportunity to try and improve their waste reduction. Being able to recycle waste at a 95% rate for a 1 million square foot facility is simply remarkable.

As the Co-hort students proceed further with their learning experience, they embark on the only LEED Platinum building in Plano, TX home of the new Educational Environmental Center (EEC) facility. Some interesting  data about this facility from Autumn Dillon( Facility Guide), that it’s only 2,600 square feet in size. Also, 30% of the building’s energy needs are generated by the solar array and the wind turbine generator on the facility. Harvested rainwater is used to irrigate landscaping and flush toilets. Dual Flush toilets and a waterless urinal help conserve water. That’s why i love the sustainable practice from this building, by utilizing 2 very abundant resources in TX, the wind and the sun, and then maximizing what is a precious commodity rainwater. This building has many great features and one of those features is the “Love seat” which is recycled cardboard that can be expanded to allow room for more people to sit. The initial thought process was that it looked like an accordion. The greatest feature of this facility and the most important is the education it transfers to people. People from all walks of life need to be educated on what is sustainable before they can pursue sustainability status. There is a saying “give a man a fish and he eats for a day, teach him how to fish and he eats for a lifetime”. Education is paramount for communities to achieve sustainable status but hands-on education will allow people to learn faster.

http://www.ti.com/corp/docs/csr/casestudies/prod_green_fab.shtml

http://www.ti.com/corp/docs/csr/casestudies/env_sharing.shtml

http://www.enerjazz.com/house/index_utility.htm

http://www.telecomcorridor.com/existing-business-industry-services/economic-climate

http://colormute.com/chishen-shiu/

http://www.plano.gov/DEPARTMENTS/ENVIRONMENTAL%20SERVICES/Pages/EEC.aspx

What does 1 push mower and 11 cars have in common? They both emit as much pollutants as the other. According to Steve Chaney (Horticulturist)  from the Texas Agrilife Extension Service. According to the Texas Agrilife Extension Service’s website, “The mission of AgriLife Extension is a seemingly simple one: improving the lives of people, businesses, and communities across Texas and beyond through high-quality, relevant education. Agrilife’s work is extensive but the their overall mission is to be kind to the earth or rather known as “Earth Kind”. One of the concerns that Agrilife has a concern with is the water issues in texas. There are a couple of questions that concern Agrilife and the majority of us is water conservation. The first question deals with the issue of not having enough water. The second issue deals with making a difference by conservation practices. During the Summer of 2011, Texas had one of the hottest summer’s in history( if not the hottest), added to that hot summer was the lack of rain because of an on-going drought. Heat + Lack of rain = An even bigger drought. According to Mr.Chaney, Texans use between 8-9 billion gallons of water per day and the aquifers are recharge at a rate of 4-5 billion gallons of water per day. From a mathematic standpoint, this shows a daily deficit compounded by a drought. One of the biggest consumers of water are the watering habits of people and businesses. There was a case study done by the city of Santa Monica, CA in 2004. They compared two 1,900 square foot gardens side-by-side to demonstrate the water consumption and the sustainability of having a “Native Garden” versus a “Traditional Garden”. Surprisingy, a native garden cost more than a traditional garden, one would think that native garden’s are cheaper because native plants can be found locally and anywhere. According to the city of Santa Monica, the native garden cost $16,700 to install compared to $12,400 for the traditional garden. The higher cost for the native garden is recoup in lower maintenance cost, less water consumption, and less waste produce.

Here in Texas, we love our gardens and our land and we have a lot of it. Conversely, we have a drought and it’s all over the state. The land is very dry and our gardens “always” needs to be watered. The best way to help reduce our water usage is to capture the rainwater whenever it rains. Add the native garden to the mix and we substantially reduce our water consumption.

http://agrilifeextension.tamu.edu/about/

http://www.asla.org/sustainablelandscapes/gardengarden.html

http://www.tsirenewables.com/water-harvesting/

The North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG) visited the UTA Fort worth cohort program on January 12, 2012. According to Mindy Mize ( Program Manager) and Wendy Vandiver (Communications Specialist), “ The NCTCOG is a voluntary association of, by and for local governments, and was established to assist local governments in planning for common needs, cooperating for mutual benefit, and coordinating for sound regional development. NCTCOG’s purpose is to strengthen both the individual and collective power of local governments and to help them recognize regional opportunities, eliminate unnecessary duplication, and make joint decisions”. NCTCOG was established in 1966 and consist of a 16 county region, within this organization there are over 23o members that consist of government, school districts and special districts (water district). While the NCTCOG deals with issues that range from transportation to economic development, one of their biggest concerns is the air quality for the region. Currently the region is under non-attainment status on air quality. What that means is that the air quality is above the acceptable level for the region and that can hurt the region in terms of economic growth and grant funding from the federal government. To sustainably resolve the issue there needs to be a 2-prong attack.  One of those ways is to identify the vehicles that are not able to pass the emissions test and then see what is the best option for these people. NCTCOG has  a program called Aircheck Texas a Clean machine program.