Blogging and Tweeting at ExpoWest, Courtesy of Seventh Generation

For years, I’ve wanted to attend the Expo West trade show, held every spring in Anaheim, California. It’s the largest show for natural and organic product makers.  Expo West is THE place to find out about new trends, and to meet the people behind the  brands. It is there that retail outlets like Whole Foods discover new items to stock, and it is there that manufacturers unveil their new products.

First my former client, Heather Stouffer of Mom Made Foods, tried to convince me to go. Then Seth Goldman of Honest Tea offered me a free pass. But it was just too much – Boo was too young, my business too young, and the timing just wasn’t right.

This year, I’m pleased to say that I’m traveling as one of four bloggers invited by Seventh Generation, to “experience our world,” as their Storyteller put it.

I’ll be joined by  Diane MacEachern and Jennifer Taggert, whom I know well as Founding Members of The Green Moms Carnival.  (And both women are talented authors in addition to bloggers. Their books, Big Green Purse and  Smart Mama’s Green Guide are two must-read books for any Green Mom!)  Our quartet will be completed by @rockinmama, whom I’m looking forward to meeting.

ExpoWest will be one of those places where I  straddle the worlds of Marketer (4GreenPs) and “Green Mom” blogger (OrganicMania).

But that’s what we women do all the time, right? Mother, daughter, working woman,   wife, volunteer, neighbor, friend, activist…if there’s one thing women are adept at doing, it’s juggling.

But here’s the deal. It’s required by law that bloggers disclose their business relationships. (In fact, I just talked about this issue at this webinar over at Sustainable Brands Forum Bootcamp!)

So here are the terms of my relationship with Seventh Generation.

First, Seventh Generation is a client of my consulting practice, 4GreenPs. However, my  work for Seventh Generation is not connected to this trip to ExpoWest, nor to these blog posts.

Seventh Generation is paying for my trip in return for:

A post about my experience at the show on the Seventh Generation blog; and my attendance at these eight events:

1. Seventh Generation Broker Reception;
2. Drinks and appetizers with Seventh Generation founder Geoffrey Hollander and their still relatively “new” CEO, Chuck Maniscalco  (I’m REALLY looking forward to this, especially since Geoffrey Hollander is a widely revered pioneer in the green business world and Chuck Maniscalco has a very traditional “Corporate America” business background like mine.)
3. A book signing and seminar on Geoffrey Hollander’s new book, “The Responsibility Revolution: Winning in the Next Generation of Business.” (This is another event I’m really excited about!)
4. Future of Wellness Seminar with Dr. Alan Greene. I was fortunate to meet my “twitter pal” Dr. Green at GreenFest  (see our pic below). But I’m embarrassed to admit that in all the excitement, I forgot to buy his book and have him sign it! So I’ll look forward to chatting with him again, learning from his amazing insights into childhood development and nutrition, and finally leaving with a signed copy of his new book!
5. Dinner with Seventh Generation’s SVP of Marketing and Sr. Marketing  Director. I’ve only spoken briefly by phone with Kristen  Deshaies, the Marketing Director widely credited with Seventh Generation’s popular first television ad. I’m eager to talk with both her and Dave Kimbell about media strategy  at Seventh Gen. I’m particularly interested in what they are doing to support traditional media – the cornerstone of our democracy. Bloggers are ok, but buy more print ads! Save the newspapers!
6. Honestly, the only thing I’m NOT looking forward to is this 8 a.m. Saturday session on “Seventh Generation GIVE (Generation Inspiration via Education). I’m sure it will be interesting, but I am NOT a morning person.
7. Another event I’m really looking forward to is a B Corporation reception. B Corporations are all the rage with sustainable brands, and I am VERY interested in learning more about the B Corp set-up. (My own firm is an LLC).
8. Dinner with Jennifer Cinadr, director of GIVE program.  This will probably be where I ask Jennifer to repeat all those factoids I couldn’t quite take in at 8 a.m.! (Just kidding).

All of my posts from the show will be marked with this disclosure icon provided by Seventh Generation.   The company specified that my tweets and blog posts do not have to reference Seventh Generation, although it’s very likely that many will, simply because….well, look at how I’ll be spending my time!  It’s a packed agenda.

I expect to be tweeting from both of my accounts: @OrganicMania as well as @4GreenPs  with the hashtag #ExpoWest

Please let me know if there’s anything you think I should be sure to check out at the show.  I’m looking forward to seeing a lot of people whom I’ve gotten to know through the whole bloggy/tweety world, to learning more about the world of natural products marketing, and to meeting the team from Seventh Generation.

And I’m curious to know…for those of you bloggers and PR people who have been involved in other sponsored trips – a la Walmart 11, #SocialMediaMoms, Lego Atlantis, etc, how does this agenda and the expectations compare?

What do you think of sponsored trips for bloggers?

Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

— Lynn

Copyright 2010 OrganicMania

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