Going Green: What’s in it for you?
Experiences of leading Bay Area companies

Thursday October 9th, 2008

5:30 - 6:30 pm: Registration and networking
6:30 - 8:00 pm: Panel discussion, and Q/A
8:00 - 8:30 pm: Additional networking

The Best Western Americania Hotel - 121 7th St, San Francisco
Get directions
 

Long term business performance, stronger brand and enhanced reputation, new market opportunities, increased talent attraction and retention, enabled cost savings, improved compliance, better risk management: a growing number of large & small businesses show leadership by integrating Going Green and Sustainability at the core of their operations. Still, many others are trying to get a better sense of what going green means to their business, what potential value they can get out of embarking on the sustainability journey, and they are looking for clear guidance on steps to take to become “green” and secure the ROI out of such an initiative.
Join us for a panel discussion and a networking time. This lively panel discussion followed by a Q&A session will bring together seasoned experts and professionals to discuss this topic and provide answers to the following questions and more:
 

- Why “go green”?
- What is the true value of sustainability for businesses?
- What are the steps to transform your business’ assets, operations and products?
- What are typical issues, risks and obstacles to overcome?
- How to create momentum for sustainability in your organization?
- What tools, methodologies and frameworks are available?
- Should my company report on sustainability? How? To whom? Which topics matter?

Upcoming events: stay tuned…..
This event is the first one in a continuing series of focused conferences highlighting the “hands-on” experience of businesses which decided to “go green”. After this general overview, more specialized events will follow such as: defining your green strategy, green operations, green IT, green building, green marketing, …

The panel:

Jean Pommier, VP, Methodology, ILOG
Paul Philippe Bertoni, Attorney at Law, Bertoni Law

Hervé Blondel, General Manager, Best Western Americania -

                         Best Western Carriage Inn - Director of Good Hotel
James Murphy, Managing Director - CR & Sustainability, BPM - MacKenzie

Moderator:

Christian Forthomme, President and Founder, RealChange

Jean Pommier, Vice-President Methodology, ILOG
A Vice President with ILOG, Jean joined the software company 21 years ago, a couple of months after its creation and has led all its customer services (consulting, training, customer support). Jean is also in charge of green-related initiatives for ILOG.  Living in California since 1998, he aims at implementing a “personal ecology”, by balancing his professional, family and community involvements with a career in ultra trail running.
He earned an engineering degree at Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts et Métiers, and a master's degree in computer science at University of Nice.
As a hobby, Jean is an elite ultra and trail runner, an outdoor activity which connects him with nature. He has been involved in SiliconFrench's program to promote sustainability in the Bay Area, blogs about ultra including sustainable running and, recently, his CEO asked him to accelerate the greening of ILOG.


Paul Philippe Bertoni, Attorney at Law, Bertoni-Law
Paul Philippe Bertoni is an immigration and corporate attorney based in San Francisco. Paul is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association and holds degrees from Yale (B.A. in Political Science 1993) and UC Berkeley-Boalt Hall (J.D. 1997).  He is admitted to the New York and New Jersey bars, and may practice immigration law nationwide under federal law. He may also provide corporate law counseling and services consistent with the rules of each applicable state jurisdiction. Paul's prior work experience includes associate positions at large New York City-based law firms focusing on regulatory issues and compliance counseling, and at Environmental Defense Fund in Washington, DC focusing on international environmental policy.  His firm has a green seal of approval from Co-op America and a large client base of "eco-preneurs".

Hervé Blondel, General Manager, Best Western Americania - Best Western Carriage Inn - Good Hotel
Herve Blondel holds a business and computer sciences degree from the  ECCIP, School of Paris Chamber of Commerce and a culinary arts degree from Ecole Ferrandi in Paris.  His first hotel position was in management with Ibis Hotels part of Accor Hotels. Accor Hotels brought him to the United States, where he continued his hotel career with Mandarin Oriental and Nikko Hotels.  He left the sales world to join Joie de Vivre Hospitality as the general manager of the Hotel Carlton.  Under his management the hotel was closed for 5 months for a complete renovation and reopened not only as a beautiful addition to the Joie de Vivre family, but served to be the seed that started the JDV green initiative.  Low flow toilets and shower heads, along with motion detectors in closets were installed.  Herve saw the beginnings of a green hotel and went to the City of San Francisco to pursue green certification.  In February of 2007 the hotel became a certified green business.  Herve did not stop there.  He partnered with Carbonfund.org to make the hotel carbon neutral.  He then was responsible for the installation of solar panels.

He has taken his passion to his new project, the Soma Collection in San Francisco, part of the Joie de Vivre family.  The collection consist of three hotels currently going through renovations.  His goal is to transform these hotels into green business.  Through his on the job experience, Herve has become a key element in the "Greening" of Joie de Vivre Hospitality and has been at the origin of  the JDV Green committee.  From recycling, using green housekeeping products, reducing energy and water consumption and beyond, Joie de Vivre is dedicated to have all its properties as green operations.

James C.Murphy, Ph.D., Managing Director-Corporate Responsability & Sustainability, BPM - MacKenzie
 

James C. Murphy, Ph.D., is a leading expert on corporate responsibility and sustainability. Joining BPM│MacKenzie in September 2008 to head the newly formed joint venture between the two firms (Burr Pilger & Mayer LLP and MacKenzie Communications, Inc.), James most recently directed global external relations at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, the world’s leading think tank for international affairs, based in London, UK.

James previously served as Associate Director of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) in Amsterdam from 2004 through 2007 which Sustainability Reporting Guidelines are the leading standard for CSR reporting.
With more than twenty years of experience in sustainability, CSR, external relations, business development, communications, and consulting in the nonprofit and private sectors, James has held positions as a senior executive for several universities; was the founding Vice President of Copia: The American Center for Wine, Food and the Arts in Napa, California; served as consultant to a variety of non-profits and emerging companies; and was interim executive director of the International Business Ethics Institute in Washington, DC. 

James received his PhD in Political Science from Rice University in Houston in 1987 with specializations in European politics and international relations. He also pursued studies at Sciences Po in Paris and at the University of Strasbourg. He has published articles on sustainability, philanthropy, business development, and knowledge management worldwide.

Moderator: Christian Forthomme, CEO, Real Change
Christian Forthomme is the CEO and Founder of RealChange, a Silicon Valley global organizational development firm helping its clients change successfully by integrating innovation and sustainability in their strategy and culture. RealChange® serves clients who are committed to triple bottom line success such as Danone, Nature et Découvertes, Veolia, Genentech, The Gates Foundation, EDF or Yves Rocher.
Christian Forthomme is an international entrepreneur, a sustainability consultant, an educator (former director of the MBA in Organizational Leadership at JFK University) and a connector of leaders in Europe and North America. He is an expert on learning expeditions on innovation and sustainability to Silicon Valley.
He holds an MBA from ESSEC in Paris, France, and a Masters Degree in Consciousness Studies from John F. Kennedy University.


Sustainability Committee founding members:
Christian Forthomme, Stephane R. N'Diaye, Olivier Delesalle 
The committee will be pleased to welcome new members, please contact marie@faccsf.com

  Registration Information

Pre-registration is now closed

At the door price:
$40


Cancellations must be made 5-days prior to the event date
Any cancellation within a 5-day period of the scheduled date will not be refunded
Name of guests will be kept at the door

The French-American Chamber of Commerce of San Francisco thanks its first Benefactor Member: Barclais USA

 

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