I met Andy Hobsbawm, who I feel as if I must have run into at TED over the years.
Andy established the first international Internet agency in 1994 and was a founding director of leading British new media company Online Magic which merged with Agency.com in 1997. He is currently European Chairman of Agency.com, which sponsored a Traveling Geeks dinner at Soho House in London earlier this month.
His big passion is Green Thing, where he is co-founder. Green Thing is an award-winning non-profit service that inspires people to lead a greener life. With the help of brilliant videos and inspiring stories from creative people and community members around the world, Green Thing focuses on individual behavior change.
People from 200 countries have tuned in to Green Thing’s content nearly 3.5 million times, told over 46,000 stories and saved 9.58k tonnes of CO2.
Andy did a brief talk at TED about their mantra of “Creativity vs. Climate Change.”
You can learn more by viewing a few of their very compelling videos, including:
- You get from A to B without any C when you Walk The Walk
- Instead of jetting your way around the world, Stay Grounded
- Resist the urge to buy the latest and Stick With What You Got
- Don’t leave it on or even put it on, Plug Out
- Turn down the central heating and turn up the Human Heat
- It’s delicious but it causes more CO2 than cars so go Easy On The Meat
- The art of wasting nothing and using up everything: All-Consuming
Green Thing’s nine environmental advisors include Nobel Peace laureate Professor Wangari Maathai, Satish Kumar, founder and editor of Resurgence magazine, Alex Steffen, co-founder and executive editor of WorldChanging.com, and Cathy Zoi who’s just been named Obama’s Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy at the Department of Energy.
Renee Blodgett is the founder of We Blog the World. The site combines the magic of an online culture and travel magazine with a global blog network and has contributors from every continent in the world. Having lived in 10 countries and explored nearly 80, she is an avid traveler, and a lover, observer and participant in cultural diversity.
She is also the CEO and founder of Magic Sauce Media, a new media services consultancy focused on viral marketing, social media, branding, events and PR. For over 20 years, she has helped companies from 12 countries get traction in the market. Known for her global and organic approach to product and corporate launches, Renee practices what she pitches and as an active user of social media, she helps clients navigate digital waters from around the world. Renee has been blogging for over 16 years and regularly writes on her personal blog Down the Avenue, Huffington Post, BlogHer, We Blog the World and other sites. She was ranked #12 Social Media Influencer by Forbes Magazine and is listed as a new media influencer and game changer on various sites and books on the new media revolution. In 2013, she was listed as the 6th most influential woman in social media by Forbes Magazine on a Top 20 List.
Her passion for art, storytelling and photography led to the launch of Magic Sauce Photography, which is a visual extension of her writing, the result of which has led to producing six photo books: Galapagos Islands, London, South Africa, Rome, Urbanization and Ecuador.
Renee is also the co-founder of Traveling Geeks, an initiative that brings entrepreneurs, thought leaders, bloggers, creators, curators and influencers to other countries to share and learn from peers, governments, corporations, and the general public in order to educate, share, evaluate, and promote innovative technologies.
