Our good friend and EarthPm/Green Project Management supporter Elizabeth Harrin has written a new book and is a must read for every project manager, and for that matter, anyone who is remotely interested in the phenomenon know as “social media”. Having co-authored a book and just submitted a manuscript for another one, I am always interested in the process (surprise, I’m a project manager). According to Elizabeth, here is how her book evolved: “I am part of PMI’s New Media Council and at the Congress in Orlando last year we did a presentation on the uses of social media for project teams. It was really well attended – I was surprised at the turnout. It made me realise that there was an appetite amongst the project management community to learn about how we can embrace new technology and specifically social media to help with the way we manage project teams. There are lots of books written about how to use social media for marketing and communication with customers, but nothing about how to use it behind the firewall for collaboration and communication between colleagues. That’s the gap I was trying to fill with my book, Social Media for Project Managers.” In other words, the book is at the intersection of social media and project management. Sound familiar?
Using social media saves scarce resources, time, human, and environmental, if it is used effectively. It can increase your greenality! Elizabeth lets you in on her methods to help project managers be more effective through the use of the technology, understand how other teams and individuals use technology to be able to tap into that enormous resource, and be aware of their own online presence and use that awareness to improve career prospects.
You probably know that Elizabeth is a force to be reckoned with. Her previous book, Project Management in the Real World
“Opt Out of Print” screams the insert in the most recent PM Network Magazine. “Do your part to conserve resources.” That is a terrific idea with green intent. And, conserving resources doesn’t only mean saving trees. If everyone decided to read PM Network electronically, it would mean saving the human resources required to put together a print journal. Even if everyone didn’t “opt out of print”, only if some did, it would save trees, transportation (reduce carbon footprint), human resources, etc. Yet, the bottom-line is the bottom-line. How much would going electronic with PM Network , even some of the readers, save in $ resources for PMI®? Just like we say in 
ONLY KIDDING – But seriously, we have a gig scheduled in September and more on the horizon. On September 21st, we’ll be doing a presentation and be available to sign our 
Strange Environmental Bedfellow’s Defeat Prop 23 (Update)
The California vote “signifies the largest public referendum on clean energy legislation. Tom Steyer, co-chairman of the NO on 23 campaign, stated “In the midst of a major economic downturn, and with a barrage of fear mongering and scare tactics, voters still said they want a clean energy future.”” from Solar Novus Today (www.solarnovus.com)
Californians rejected the attempt to suspend the state’s global warming law signed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The defeat was by a significant margin, 39 percent to 61 percent, with 93 percent of the precincts counted, according to the Associated Press.
The San Francisco Chronicle states that; “The vote clears the way for a state law restricting greenhouse-gas emissions to go into effect in 2012. The law requires the state cut emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. It will require utilities to get almost a third of their electricity from renewable sources such as solar panels, and create a market for carbon-dioxide pollution permits. Proposition 23 was “the largest public referendum in history on climate and energy policy,” said Fred Krupp, president of the New York-based Environmental Defense Fund.”
Although backers of Proposition 23, conceded defeat, they called the outcome “a victory for Wall Street over Main Street” vowing to continue their efforts to “save jobs” and curb energy costs. I’m a little confused. When I look at the contributors to the fight for and against Proposition 23, I might say it was a victory for Wall Street over Wall Street, because on one side are the likes of Microsoft and Apple, on the other is Big Oil. It reminds me of the Harlequin, turn one way it is dark, turn the other it is light, but overall, it is the same, but that’s the subject of another post.
Continuing with the Chronicle, “”Millions of voters have said they see clean-energy jobs as the path forward through a tough economic climate,” Krupp said.” For us, as project managers, that is key. We need to continue to “surf the green wave.” Green jobs mean green projects, mean project managers to manage those projects.
Don’t you think that those sponsors of green projects would rather have someone familiar with the reasons, the driving forces, behind the green wave, to manage their projects? For further information on how you get SMARTER* on this “green revolution” see our book and follow us on this site. The revolution is here, evidenced by the defeat of California’s Prop 23 and a continued emphasis on tax incentives for alternate energy development.
*From Green Project Management, CRC Press (Specific, Measurable, Agreed Upon, Realistic, Timely, and Environmentally Responsible)