Yesterday, master communicator Rick White drove straight from the airport to make a date with UVEF and giving back to entrepreneurs just like him. Well, not just like him. Fusion-io, co-founded by White, is rising faster than a meteor streaking across the sky. Just check out their online press room for the evidence of more than savvy public relations. The reason being is they are providing the fastest data storage technology on the planet and everyone from Michael Dell and Steve Wozniak are in on the game.

However, in his presentation Rick spoke about Fusion-io only in his Q&A. On this day he shared insight into how he thinks as an entrepreneur. He counseled marketers to distill their messages down to the “syrupy goodness” ala iPod – “1000 songs in my pocket.” Most of his time was spent counseling entrepreneurs to stop living their fears and to live their dreams instead. Rick spoke about how to change one’s reality by changing one’s perception.

Here’s a YouTube video of Rick summarizing his recipe for the “brocolli principle” and other cool insights for entrepreneurs.

ElectraTherm, Inc. (www.electratherm.com) today announced they have received an unprecedented amount of interest from states across the U.S. to house the company’s new manufacturing facility.  After successfully launching the ElectraTherm Green Machine in 2008, ElectraTherm has fielded requests from all over the world to purchase fuel-free, emissions-free systems that produce power from waste heat.  As a result, the company plans to expand its Carson City, Nevada operations and open an additional manufacturing facility.

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The buzz around green has risen to a fever pitch. New green companies pop up daily like a bowl of Orvil Redenbacher seeking to seize the moment. Companies large and small rewrite messaging to grab headlines and improve public perception. The difference between skilled public relations and what is real green and socially responsible is sometimes glaring and other times very subtle.

Here are some PR tips on my Utah Business Blog for companies trying the do the right thing regarding the planet:

Honeywell (NYSE: HON – News) announced today that its non-ozone-depleting refrigerant Genetron® R-245fa is being used to convert waste heat to power at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.The energy-efficient, non-flammable, low-toxicity refrigerant is used as the heat-transfer fluid in an organic rankine cycle (ORC) called the ElectraTherm Green Machine. The ORC uses waste heat as low as 200 degrees Fahrenheit to boil the R-245fa. The resulting vapor is used to drive a patented Twin Screw Expander that generates usable electricity.

Electricity generated by the ElectraTherm Green Machine costs less than a penny per kilowatt hour after its capital payback period of less than two years. By comparison, according to the U.S. Department of Energy, average commercial electricity costs surpassed 10 cents per kilowatt hour in 2008.

The machine, which can generate more than 50 kilowatt hours of electricity, was named one of the top technology innovations in 2008 by Popular Science magazine, which honored it with a Best of What’s New Award.

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There is an upside to everything. Although it may be hard to believe, there is actually a very visible upside to the current economy. This upside is innovation. During tough economic times the entrepreneurial spirit thrives, and innovation accelerates as the stock market decelerates. Just within the last year there have been impressive and ground breaking innovations ranging from outdoor equipment, solar power and super powered servers… Read more at Utah Business Blog

Just saw the following announcement:
Salt Lake City — PrintechPlus, a major commercial printer based in Salt Lake City, recently acquired the facilities and hired the employees of Rocky Mountain Printing, in Orem and St. George, Utah. The deal gives PrintechPlus three offices and two manufacturing facilities throughout Utah—Salt Lake City, Provo-Orem area, and St. George. The offices in Provo-Orem and St. George would operate under RMPlus, while Salt Lake’s main office would continue to operate under PrintechPlus.

Having done business with both Rocky Mountain Printing and PrintechPlus, I am familiar with their superior leadership and offering. This is a great convergence of what is right about the printing industry. I spoke recently at the Hewlett Packard Dscoop digital print conference in Orlando about environmental PR and the power of digital print (variable print, distributed, personalized marketing, etc). This new powerhouse firm is where the industry is going. Hang on and keep your hands and feet inside the ride at all times. We’re in for a great ride with PrintechPlus.

Washington, DC—February 26, 2009—PR News named Utah-based PilmerPR as a winner of the CSR Awards today at the National Press Club. CSR Awards recognize the year’s most outstanding communications initiatives and programs in the highly competitive Corporate Social Responsibility arena. Sylvania and PilmerPR ranked 1 & 2 in the Product Design/Redesign category.

We’re thrilled to receive this CSR Award up against the Goliath, Sylvania. This award further validates our work as one of the nation’s most skilled public relations firms in this sector.

CSR Awards were given to winners in 19 categories. PilmerPR was recognized alongside some of the biggest and best public relations firms in the world, and was the only Utah firm represented. PilmerPR was recognized for exceptional work related to the launch of new products from a Nevada-based renewable energy corporation, ElectraTherm. The ElectraTherm Green Machine is the world’s first commercially viable waste heat generator, creating fuel-free, emissions-free power by capturing readily available waste heat.

There are some very cool clean tech solutions here in Lost Wages, I mean Las Vegas. It’s hard, I admit, to link the wasteful ways of this city with clean technologies or environmental sustainability. However, I suspect the city’s public relations team is trying hard to associate this city of excess with Green any way they can.

Here’s an example of the cool new stuff here at the  RETECH  renewable energy conference:

Power-Spar Modular Solar Concentrator Platform – Electrical, Thermal & Cogeneration in one system.  Energy efficiency is the name of the game according to our new President.  A 3-in-1 solution like this makes incredible sense to this writer.

Is any one else doing this right now?

www.power-spar.com

It takes 3 tons of wood and 20k gallons of water to make 1 ton of virgin uncoated paper. But, we plant more trees in the U.S. than we harvest. We are doing something right for the environment. This week I spoke on CSR and environmental PR at the Hewlett Packard Dscoop digital solutions conference in Orlando. I was greatly encouraged by the new print on demand, intelligent marketing world of digital print vs legacy offset. Offset, though it has its place, is on the decline, while digital in on the way up. Why? Less waste, variable print, distributed printing, socially responsible.

Did you know 30% of all offset print is stored, but never used?

This past week both KSL TV and Utah Business leaned on PilmerPR for insights regarding crisis communications and social responsibility. On KSL I remembered back on the 9/11 crisis while working with Novell and their then new CEO Jack Messman. In the interview, I also talked about the principle that it’s more important to “be good” first before talking about being good.

We’ve published a 5  Step document for CXO’s seeking to better prepare for future crisis. For those already in the middle of one, the KSL and Utah Business pieces offer help. Working from a plan during a fire fight is always preferable to winging it. Don’t you think?