The alternative fuels movement has finally reached a tipping point. The juxtaposition of oil prices leaping over $125 a barrel and coal costs doubling has been instrumental in awakening a new sense of urgency about alternative fuel.
With American drivers paying close to $4.05 per gallon of petrol and California drivers paying roughly $4.25 per gallon, enthusiasm is growing for a national commitment to embrace adoption of alternative fuels. Whether these be hydro, nuclear, or hybrid technologies, American consumers are finally realizing that our nation's economy and energy security are totally linked to reducing our dependence on oil.
It would seem as if the political climate has never been better for the alternative fuels movement. To truly seize this moment, the organizations that comprise the movement would be well served to consider the import of technology in improving the cross community communication needed to generate lasting accomplishments.
Indeed, most alternative energy lobbying organizations could experience benefits from the use of new technologies that facilitate communication. Examples include Rondee.com's
free conference call solution which enables robust teleconferencing as well as online conference calling and networking tools.
First Tip: Use online tools to network
The most successful alternative fuels advocacy organizations create networks of supporters who believe in their values and goals. While the word networking often gets a less than ideal reputation, the simple reality is that these networks can provide significant aid. Today in San Jose, the expectation is that professional people will have at least a rudimentary LinkedIn profile.
At the same time, other networking applications such as Facebook are starting to see usage by more professional users. These services also provide a relatively simple way of augmenting your network.
Second Tip: Leverage a free conference calling offering
In the last several years, there has been growing degrees of cross-functional integration between geographically separate alternative fuels advocacy groups. One cause of this trend has been reduced air travel costs a trend that may now be going the opposite direction with the leaping oil costs alluded to earlier.
Another reason is the ubiquity of the types of
free conference calling services highlighted above. All of these services, including those launched by Rondee work on the same basic idea. They offer you a PIN and a toll number to call. If all teleconference users dial the same toll number and enter the same code, they are placed into the conference phone call.
Tip #3: Investigate technologies to allow for desktop sharing
Some alternative fuels advocacy groups have distributed leadership groups, and it is difficult to expect in person meetings. Technology is solving this problem by way of desktop sharing. Whether it's displaying a PowerPoint presentation displaying the group's development plan or a spreadsheet showing the tracking of volunteer participation desktop sharing can be extremely useful for not a few green groups.
Tip #4: Use an electronic newsletter system
It wasn't that long ago that sending out an email newsletter was time consuming and difficult. That has now changed. On-line services are making it possible to create templated and scalable newsletters. These services reduce the work load by at roughly ninety percent and in so doing enable green organizations to concentrate on content development as opposed to delivery of messages.
