Green Galaxy Enterprises

Sustainable Business Council’s 4th Annual #SBCAwards

greengalaxyent

Green Galaxy Enterprises, a finalist for the Sustainable Small Business Award, provided social media posts leading up to and during the event, and hosted a Tweetwall during the reception.

The Sustainable Business Council Awards reception and ceremony spotlights Southern California companies working daily to create sustainably-focused products and services that reduce ecological impact. We were honored to be made a finalist for the Sustainable Small Business Award, recognizing our sustainable business practices in online marketing, PR and production services. But we noticed something quite unfamiliar to us in the social media world: the sound of silence. For us these days, that just doesn’t happen: How can a great event like this not be promoted?

Screenshot (73)

That’s when GGE’s Nicole Hansen, who served on the SBC Awards Event Steering Committee for its first 3 years, called to ask why. It turns out that the Sustainable Business Council Award had become very popular. With so many entries and high-profile honorees, including Jessica Alba’s The Honest Company as Pioneers in Sustainability and Participant Media for Lifetime Achievement in Sustainability, the all-volunteer organization SBC was too overwhelmed to do social media. Nicole offered her staff to stand-in and give Twitter shout-outs on the @SustainableB account to finalists and sponsors. With dozens upon dozens of companies to mention, we researched each one and added photos from past events to make the Twitter posts more eye-catching. We also spruced up the SBC Twitter profile with a high-res profile logo and background photo, where there had been none. With only 3 days until the evening of the Earth Day event, we just managed to get every name mentioned before the awards.

Screenshot (71)

The night of the ceremony, the GGE technology and social media team went into action. We set up a GGE-sponsored Tweetwall on a big TV screen, so that every guest who tweeted with the hashtag #SBCAwards became part of a live twitter stream. We roamed the event live-tweeting for @SustainableB, taking photos of each sponsor’s booth, featuring their food and wares and tagging them in each post. The sponsors were grateful to be getting some extra social media PR that showed up online and on the Tweetwall. And we were grateful to highlight everyone that was involved in making sustainability a priority for their work.

Screenshot (68)

I would like to send the Green Galaxy Enterprises team a standing ovation for your tremendous support and participation with the 4th Annual SBC Industry Achievement Awards! It was an extreme honor to work with you and I can’t possibly thank you enough for the twitter support and twitter feed during the event! Your team did the most amazing job!  You are a major reason the event was such an amazing success! 

 


Facebooktwitterpinterestlinkedinmail

BattleKasters Partnership-Advisory Board: Facilitated by Green Galaxy’s Nicole Hansen

greengalaxyent

Artifact Technologies and Alane Adams Announce BattleKasters

Fantasy Illustrator Dave Dorman Creates Original Art to Promote Dynamic Spell-Casting Game for Adams’ Legends of Orkney™ Adventure Series

Orange, CA and Seattle, WA — March 24, 2015 — Today, Brent Friedman, founder of Artifact Technologies and Alane Adams, founder of Alane Adams Studios announced BattleKasters, a spell-casting adventure launching this spring at fancons across the U.S. The downloadable mobile game, an extension of Adams’ Norse mythology-based Legends of Orkney™ book series, turns live events into dynamic game boards, allowing questing players to collect digital trading cards and cast magic spells that literally change the state of the game for everyone playing. Fantasy illustrator Dave Dorman, best known for his Star Wars artwork, is creating original art for BattleKasters, which players of the game can win.

BattleKasters leverages Artifact Technologies’ proprietary Mixby™ platform, which uses location-aware technology to unlock rich experiences for users within range of specific hotspots where content can be acquired. For players of BattleKasters, that means discovering an array of interactive quests throughout event spaces such as fancons and other gathering places. Players who download the game are challenged to a race against time to cast the spells that will close a portal – the stonefire –between realms to prevent dangerous dark magic from seeping into the Earth realm.

“The emergence of location-based technology opens up entirely new opportunities for gaming and interactive storytelling,” said Brent Friedman, BattleKasters Lead Game Designer and Co-founder of Artifact Technologies. “We’re excited to work with a forward-thinking author like Alane, who sees the potential this platform represents to fans of her books and mobile gaming in general.”

Friedman created, wrote & produced across all transmedia platforms: working with all the major movie studios and networks, he wrote on shows such as “Dark Skies”  “Star Trek: Enterprise”  “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” and the feature film “Mortal Kombat Annihilation,” which opened #1 at the US box office. Friedman founded Electric Farm Entertainment, a leading digital media company, where he created and produced four award-winning multi-platform web series, working with a range of brand partners including Sony and NBC to Microsoft and Kodak. Additionally, he has written on several high profile video games such as “Halo 4,” “Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars,” “Tales from The Borderlands” and “Empires & Allies.”

“As a storyteller, my challenge is to deliver experiences that will trigger people’s imagination in new ways,” said Adams. “BattleKasters brings my Legends of Orkney series to life at fancons and provides an innovative and immersive experience for attendees.”

BattleKasters was created by Friedman, with illustrations from Lead Artist, Jonathan Stroh. To help guide the development of BattleKasters, Adams and Artifact have assembled an advisory board made up of experts in the fields of education, gaming, publishing and transmedia. The board includes:

  • Alane Adams, author, social entrepreneur, CEO of Alane Adams Studios and founder of the Rise Up Foundation, whose philanthropy efforts focus on organizations and initiatives that help families and children.
  • Gordon Bellamy, former exec director of IGDA, with two decades of experience and leadership in the interactive entertainment industry.
  • Peter Deutschman, Chief Buddy of digital engagement authority The Buddy Group, whose career has been at the convergence of marketing, storytelling and connected technology.
  • Brent Friedman, co-founder of Artifact Technologies, award-winning creator, writer and producer, with more than 25 years of experience in entertainment across all platforms.
  • Joe Heally, accomplished producer for projects ranging from independent films to cable and broadcast network programming.
  • Mitch Lusas, entrepreneurial, award-winning creative director and producer of apps, games, transmedia experiences, and scripted projects.
  • John Nee, CEO of Cryptozoic Entertainment, a premier developer and publisher of original and licensed board games, card games, comics and trading cards.
  • Pamela Rutledge, social scientist, educator and author focused on the intersection between behavior and technology.
  • Rob Salkowitz, writer, consultant, author of Comic-Con and the Business of Pop Culture, faculty at the University of Washington CommLead program and expert in digital media as it relates to business, culture and entertainment.

Nicole Hansen of Green Galaxy Enterprises facilitated the partnership between Artifact Technologies and Alane Adams Studios and secured Advisory Board members. She will Executive Produce the game along with Greg Heuss, CEO and Sam Teplitsky, COO of Artifact Technologies.

Fans can get a sneak preview of BattleKasters at fancons throughout 2015. Net proceeds from the art and Legends of Orkney™ series will go toward improving literacy. The first book of the series, The Red Sun, is available for pre-order at www.AlaneAdams.com. More updates on the release of BattleKasters can be found at www.BattleKasters.com.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzT-ZvP62aE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTbsnewZI-4

About Alane Adams

(Wendy) Alane Adams is a social entrepreneur, philanthropist, professor and award-winning author. After retiring from a successful business career, Adams founded the Rise Up Foundation, which focuses on creating collaborations to empower people to make lasting changes in their lives with a special emphasis on improving literacy in children. A believer in the power of transmedia storytelling, Adams founded Alane Adams Studios to create more interactive, immersive experiences for readers of her books.

About Artifact Technologies

Artifact Technologies is a Seattle-based software development company specializing in location-based technologies.  A pioneer in content-rich beacon programming and integration, Artifact Technologies partners with major event organizers, attractions and entertainment and education industry leaders to build world-class experiences. The company’s proprietary Mixby™ platform connects the physical and mobile environments, driving deeper engagement and bringing more value to the audience experience.

###


Facebooktwitterpinterestlinkedinmail

SAG Foundation Receives $100k for Children’s Literacy | Variety | Hollywood Reporter

greengalaxyent

Green Galaxy’s PR Collaborator Hilda Somarriba and Founder Nicole Hansen bring partnership opportunities to our client Wendy Alane Adams. This new initiative helps to enhance Rise Up Foundation’s literacy programs through the Screen Actors Guild Foundation’s BookPALS program.

SAG Foundation Receives $100,000 Donation From Rise Up Foundation

JoBeth Williams, Wendy Alane Adams and Cyd Wilson

PR collaborator Hilda Somarriba initiated the partnership and was able to secure press coverage of the SAG Foundation and Rise Up Foundation partnership in the entertainment industry trades including Variety and The Hollywood Reporter!

“SAG Foundation Receives $100k for Children’s Literacy”
Marianne Zumberge, Variety

“SAG Foundation Receives $100,000 Donation From Rise Up Foundation”
Meena Jang, The Hollywood Reporter

SAG Foundation Receives $100,000 Donation From Rise Up Foundation

Nicole Hansen, Cyd Wilson, JoBeth Williams, Wendy Alane Adams and Lainie Strouse


Facebooktwitterpinterestlinkedinmail

Green Salon Series Presented By Breathe L.A.

greengalaxyent

Originally published in Green Blog Network GBN

When the Green Blog Network asked me to be a panelist for the Breathe LA Salon “AB 32.0 and the Rise of Green Digital Media” and blog about it on The Green Blog Network, I was reluctant. Ever since my son Nikos directed the global warming PSA, Save It, I’ve been thrown into a world of “green” issues. Many times I feel ill equipped to participate, as if I’m the student and everyone else around me are the experts—including my own children. Don’t get me wrong, I grew up in Boulder, Colorado! Nothing could be more “green” than the granola Disneyland of my youth. But since coming to California twenty years ago, being ecological has gone from something the “Earth Muffins” of Boulder would do to actually becoming state laws. Such is the case with California’s AB 32.

 

AB 32 – Getting The Word Out

Stephanie Mullen, the Senior Field Representative to State Senator Fran Pavley made the opening remarks, stating that Senator Pavley authored AB 32 to give the California Air Resources Board authority to bring emissions down to 1990 levels by 2020. Though the law was enacted years ago, I was surprised to hear that it has not yet been implemented. She stated that we need to use resources more effectively and are looking for a strong, green economy in California. The moderator, Ray Gonzales, a former KTLA personality, brought up the fact that there is a lot of opposition to the law because of its shorthand as “the global warming law.” I believe he has a point—so how does the green social media reach those who don’t believe in global warming so that they will be less opposed to something that is basically based on common sense?
Common Sense Approach To Information Dissemination
 
The first panelist, Jennifer Gooding, is the LA Ambassador to EcoTuesday. She brought up the point that people’s initial hesitation arises from a disconnection to the world that can be remedied by social media. She believes that we need a forum to connect, and she has been described as that connector. We often get a bunch of information, are overwhelmed, but are not connected. That’s the benefit of social media when it comes to getting the message out there, since the vast majority of people did not know what AB 32 is. We’re failing by not having common people understand the basics.
Panelist Siel Ju is the Green LA Girl, and has appeared on outlets including NPR and NBC, among many others. She has a Ph.D in creative writing and literature but is now devoted to blogging about environmental issues. She noted that AB 32 is not a familiar term to most people. It reminded her of the battle with rBGH, which makes cows produce more milk but also causes birth defects. We must give people more information and not just boil it down to “Ban rBGH!” (or “Save AB 32!”) Whether it be eating locally produced food or riding the subway, we should connect AB 32 to things people already desire. Moreover, we must use social media for a conversation to make connections.

Panelist Josh Tickell, director of Fuel, stressed that there is power of media in environmental issues. Stepping back from the fray, the long-term objectives of AB 32 are a breakthrough and so are its emissions cuts. The Fuel film is digital media designed to have an effect. They didn’t want the result to just end in rallying efforts, but rather to “shift the energy needle” in this country. He wanted a campaign with 10 goals that people could choose from as they matched their own. A big topic for Josh is fuel made from algae, and he observed that a lot of food energy is going unused. He was able to get a meeting with the Department of Energy and to start a campaign for algae. The meeting turned into a shouting match with great disagreement on the department’s side. In the end, through the social, objective based digital and social media, there is significant investment and growing, with already $100 million being spent on algae lobbying. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger can order a million solar roofs, and the next campaign should be a million green cars. What we need, according to Josh, is a broad perspective.

Save It
Before I spoke, I shared my answer to the global warming messaging through digital media and showed my son’s 1Sky PSA, Save It (later endorsed by Global Green and Greenpeace). The shocker was that people wrote hate messages on YouTube where it premiered as Take Part’s first video release, calling me an uninformed hippie that has brainwashed my kids, and some who even said my son was “stupid.” Ironically, my sons both have developmental disorders that I was warned by the EPA they would have, as a result of environmental toxins. With what my children have to go through to be educated in special needs schools, at the expense of the government, is why it matters to all of us. Framing the discussion as a human health issue is much less controversial than global warming and we can use social media to educate people about asthma, autism, cancer and numerous other disorders that are exacerbated by or a direct cause of the toxins we are responsible for trying to control. So Earth Muffin or not, the real cost of paying for our health will far outweigh the cost of converting to cleaner and greener technologies in the long run. That’s how we should use social media to educate the masses to the importance of actuallyimplementing AB 32.
Bio: Nicole organized and produced the first Renewable Energy Conference and Awards Gala at the United Nations sponsored by the Honduran Permanent Mission to the UN with notable speakers and honorees such as Dr. Arthur Nozik of NREL, Dr. Daniel Nocera of MIT as well as Billionaire John Paul DeJoria. She was a featured speaker alongside producer Marshall Herskovitz for the 2009 Green Girls Holiday Event advocating publicly for the use of renewable energy technologies. 

Facebooktwitterpinterestlinkedinmail