Speaker: Kelly Holmes, Sustainability Specialist, National Instruments

Discussion Topic:

You've got a recycling program, maybe even a green team. But sometimes it feels like you're preaching to the choir. There has to be a way to reach out to the not-yet-converted and motivate them to change a few simple behaviors. And you're right - there is.

Using research-proven techniques, the lead of the National Instruments Green Team designed an event to influence behavior change. The Green Smackdown successfully motivated nearly 300 people to cut their carbon footprint. Not to mention everyone involved had a blast. The Smackdown resulted in countless tweets, photos, and videos about the participants'
experiences, as well as coverage in the Wired online magazine.

Listen to this call to learn about techniques you can apply to change behavior in your organization and also to learn about how a one-week event turned "living green" from a guilt-ridden chore into a fun team effort.

About the Speaker:

After 11 years as a technical communications professional, Kelly Holmes changed the course of her career in 2008 by proposing a position of "Sustainability Specialist" be created at National Instruments, a Texas-based provider of software and hardware for scientists and engineers, and that she be hired for the new position. Kelly’s first task was to start a corporate-wide green team to engage passionate employees. After establishing a framework for the organization, Kelly recruited over 75 employees to join in its first year, which has since doubled in size in its second year. With Kelly leading the group, the NI Green Team has accomplished a great deal in less than two years, including hosting Earth Week at NI featuring presentations and fairs, planning a community garden on the corporate campus, starting an initiative to optimize NI product packaging and reduce waste, starting a lunch presentation series, and more.

In addition, Kelly project-managed the publication of the company’s first citizenship report in 2009. Kelly is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin.

 

Presentation materials and conference access information will be distributed via direct email following registration. 

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