Welcome to Spring 2012! January 20, 2012
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As I write this first post of the semester, we finally have a bit of snow on the ground and it feels like winter. It is hard to believe it is actually the Spring semester! The Global “weird-ing” is becoming more evident to more people, lifting the veil of “scientific debate” about our future climate change. How we will conduct our business lives as well as our personal lives must be of our utmost concern. This will be our focus over the next few months-creating marketing plans for sustainable businesses. Whether you are in my class as part of the Stockbridge School of Agriculture or the Isenberg School of Management, you are the future and it will be your challenge to make thoughtful choices to literally save our earth for the next generation. Thank you for the opportunity to work with each and every one of you stewards! -Cynthia
Interesting concerns from Ryan! January 5, 2012
Posted by Cynthia in : Uncategorized , add a commentRyan McGillivray
Interesting quote from the green industry pro website regarding how landscapers are having a tough time marketing themselves as quality landscaping companies due to “low-ballers” who out bid great companies. How can we stick out in the CROWD???!!!!:
“Another contractor said he’s concerned that all of this low bidding has resulted in sub-par work being performed. What’s more concerning is that many consumers seem to be willing to tolerate it, placing cost over quality. “Personally, I refuse to perform sub-par work,” the contractor said. “I am licensed in structural pest control and am trying to incorporate that facet into my business as a potential bonus.”
“If this doesn’t turn around soon, the Green Industry is going to be just a bunch of DIYers because prices are going to be driven so low that nobody is going to make any money—not even the big companies,” another frustrated contractor shared.”
December 8, 2011
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Turf students, Peter White, Anthony Howard and Ryan McGillivary show why they are true professionals during the 2011 Applied Marketing Investors Presentations
November 21, 2011
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Welcome to the Fall 2011 Semester! September 2, 2011
Posted by Cynthia in : Uncategorized , add a commentWelcome to the 2011 Fall Semester! It will be a very busy and exciting few months on the UMass/Amherst campus. For those of you who are looking, I can now be found in the Isenberg School of Management marketing department. I will miss my friends and colleagues in Stockbridge Hall, the beautiful old agriculture building, but the time has come for me to move over to the business school and focus on sustainability marketing.
I will be teaching two courses this semester and involved in a large independent study around my own research on breast cancer and environmental toxins. In addition, I continue to run Seed to Shelf: Marketing for Sustainability and will be speaking at the Organic Summit in Baltimore in mid-September on Engaging the Next Generation of Organic Farmers. The organizers are offering a couple of scholarships for students and others who would like to attend. Please take a look at the flyer linked below and submit your materials by no later than October 12!
Most exciting to me is watching you, students, find your passions…and grow your own marketing plans and gain insights into consumer behavior (particularly your own). I honor your process of discovery and am grateful to ride the journey with you! See you in class!
Organic in NYC Central Park March 9, 2011
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So grateful for the many organic options popping up in the most unlikely places. Enjoyed the sun and fresh air in Central Park over the weekend (while attending the Integrated Healthcare Symposium). Thank you to everyone who makes the organic choice. With every purchase, we generate more opportunities to buy. Thank you!!
The deadline has become personal (or why I am speaking the day after my last breast cancer radiation treatment) October 12, 2010
Posted by Cynthia in : Uncategorized , add a comment(For those who don’t know – after Expo West, I was diagnosed with stage one breast cancer and have since that time had three surgeries and six weeks of radiation ending today (10/12) – thankfully no chemo. Friends and loved ones think I am crazy to push myself to speak at the show when I am so fatigued. To those who have said so and others who haven’t , but have wondered just the same…I am posting the last paragraphs of the talk I will give to natural and organic products retailers and manufacturers tomorrow on social media)
Why do I consider social media so critical to our future? And why do I think Malcolm Gladwell is shortchanging the power of engagement in his October 4 New Yorker article? Because I believe we have a deadline….and social media has the real-time capacity to help meet it. A majority of our food is grown within a system which — we all know — is simply not sustainable. As much as this is not news to any of us, sometimes, in the hustle and bustle, I can forget my true reason for being here.
The deadline we face is to change our food system from one that is dependent on non-renewable resources to one that mimics its natural roots, and one that does not demand toxic chemicals to provide sustenance.
Although we do this every day by providing foodstuffs that is moving in that direction, we are now faced with another, even more exciting opportunity…to engage faster and with vastly more individuals in the change through social media. I believe the more energy that pushes against the conventional food system; the faster we can meet this ever looming deadline.
Sun Magazine ended its interview with Wes Jackson in this month’s issue with the quote: “My friend talks about movements in terms of waves: A wave hits a wall, and the wall doesn’t give. But then another wave hits, and another and another until finally the wall comes down. If there is a calling, that’s it: to be part of a wave.”
Wes Jackson is not alone. Most of us are grateful to be a part of this wave and there are others – including your consumers — who are anxious to join. We’re all familiar with the climatic pressures on our earth and dependence on vanishing oil, and most of us also know of at least one person who has been diagnosed with one of the many “environmental” diseases of our time. If you don’t, you all do now. I finished my own breast cancer radiation treatments yesterday. And while I am one of the very lucky ones who caught it early, the deadline has become personal. And the urgency has moved up.
When you consider what to tweet or post, please remember you “are” the places and the products where the move towards health and wellness began– the ones who always knew we needed a change…and engage those whose deadlines have become personal and who are desperate to be a part of the wave.
Hartman Group Occasions Visual September 16, 2010
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Welcome Fall 2010! September 8, 2010
Posted by Cynthia in : Uncategorized , add a commentA new semester always holds a lot of excitement and energy on our campus and now that I have met all three of our classes, I am even more charged by your enthusiasm! Please take a minute to check your class page by using the tabs above…and let me know if you have any questions…
Welcome March 5, 2010
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Welcome to Our World Inside Academia!
To the many colleagues who know I lead a dual life – as president of Seed to Shelf: Marketing for Sustainability and as adjunct faculty at UMass teaching Food and Sustainable Marketing classes, welcome!! Until today, I had not invited industry into the classroom. Originally, I had intended for this blog “to interact with students, while encouraging businesses and consumers to join the discussion.” Teaching and running the company had kept me so busy that I had not expanded viewership, but now, it just seems silly not to invite anyone with interest to take a look!
So, here is a quick intro to the blog. You will see the tabs running along the top. The about tab simply explains a little about my mission and goals. The rest of the tabs are actually password protected sites for the classes I teach. Unfortunately, they need to maintain that protection in order to avoid copyright infringement of some of the materials I use…the UMass Office of Information Technology insists! …so sorry.
On the right, you will notice the RSS feeds I like my students to read on a daily basis. In addition, I usually assign the Wall Street Journal as a daily newspaper read to keep on top of what is happening in the industry.
I have left a smattering of the blog posts over the past year as examples of what we talk about at ShelfSense.com. I hope you will consider stopping by the site periodically!
On one last note, I have been thinking seriously of creating a tab, an extension of my Seed to Shelf facebook page, or some other resource for alumni of my classes. Many of you (way more than I had ever imagined – thank you so much!) keep in touch and I am so grateful for that. Some of you have indicated that you had jobs available or you were interested in connecting with other students I would recommend. With that in mind, it seems like a great idea to provide a forum. Please let me know what you think…
If you are interested in keeping closer tabs….follow me and fan me…
