Down to Earth in Boston

The recent Down 2 Earth (D2E) Expo at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston highlighted local, national and international organizations that are offering solutions to sustainability through unique business models and best practices.  One of the leading minds behind the event is Managing Producer & Founding Partner, Betty Fulton.

Fulton is widely regarded for her flagship event, College Fest, which she produced for 15 years.  She recently sold the event and began work on plans for D2E with colleague Ann Rappaport, a professor of environmental engineering at Tufts University.  “These issues had been germinating in my mind, and when I sold College Fest, I wanted to do something that focused on green design, and a branding strategist shared a common interest.”

 

Educating Others, Educating Ourselves

“We basically use this as a way to educate ourselves about sustainability, through prospecting and tying it in with environmental advocacy,” Fulton says.  The production of an event this size invariably presents many challenges.  “Some of the challenges have been the economy.  But even many of the smaller businesses didn’t have the resources to participate in something like this.  We wanted to hold the bar high and really focus on companies that were truly doing the right thing and moving in the right direction versus those that were just jumping on the green bandwagon.”

Throughout the planning process, Fulton met with countless organizations, and found that many people who have started the smaller green businesses are truly committed to the philosophy behind them; the business is secondary.  The event brought a myriad of businesses, from the cosmopolitan staple, Zipcar, to the environmentally conscious vineyards of Sonoma Valley, all boasting purpose, product and sustainable solutions. 

Fulton reviews the mission of the event.  “Our primary focus was to create a rich event that people would want to come to, and would offer some opportunities for an average consumer to educate themselves about the issue.”  True to plan, there were a bounty of opportunities for the attendee to educate themselves on local advocacy groups, local agriculture alternatives, and transportation solutions to gas-guzzling car commutes among other things.

 

Voice in Entrepreneurship

As an industry leader, successfully bringing an event of this size to market in its first year, Fulton offers some thoughts on what it is to be a leading woman entrepreneur.  “I think that it’s important for women to realize that their voices are important ones, and growing up in a different generation in the South, I think it took me a little while to discover that.  But once I discovered it, it was easy to move forward, and for me, working for myself and creating my own projects has been a huge part of my identity, and probably the most rewarding part of my life.

Discover that voice and go for it.”

The Down 2 Earth Expo took place over March 28-March 30 and will be reviewed in the May issue of The Principled Leader.