iLCP's Yucatan Rave

Day 1. Wild 9. Addendum There is so much happening every day at Wild 9 that it is virtually impossible to keep track of it all but I did want to share iLCP's multimedia presentation on the Yucatan Rave. Check it out! More Later! Linda

If You Ever want to Empty a Commercial Airliner REALLY Fast

Day 1. Wild 9. Merida, Mexico. Nov 6, 2009

So if you ever want to see a completely full airliner disgorge it's passengers in less than 10 minutes, just have the Captain announce in a rather urgent tone that El Presidente Felipe Calderon is arriving momentarily right behind us and that if we don't ALL debark post haste, we will be stuck in the plane - on the tarmac - until they have cleared all areas for his landing and made sure security precautions were properly in place for his safety and exit. A possible delay of up to an hour........

A thundering but fairly agile herd of water buffalo comes to mind - but with less courtesy and decorum. Needless to say, we got off in record time. And once we all knew we were safe and sound inside the airport, it became clear that many of us were here for Wild 9 - as was Presidente Calderon! How cool is that? The President of Mexico showing up for the opening of a conference on conservation and wilderness protection.

The first day of the conference was primarily devoted to setting the stage for the rest of the week, with a number of international dignitaries and conservation leaders articulating the global vision for wilderness protection and citing concrete examples and programs in action all around the globe. But really, the highlight for me was to see the buzz about town - it was exciting to see the painted jaguar statues starting at the airport and then all about town - an arts and culture project to support the Wilderness Congress. Also to be witness to the excitement of having the President arrive to take part in the opening ceremonies.

The evening of this first day was spent, predictably, in the hotel lounge with many of the attendees catching up on current projects, networking, discussing hot conservation issues and in general, just having a great time seeing lots of familiar faces from iLCP, NANPA and beyond.

Adios. Tomorrow is another day.

Linda Helm
VP

Anything But Green

I ran across a promo for a juried art show which asked applicants to interpret the theme “Anything But Green”- any way they wanted. I couldn’t help but think about the perceived oversaturation of the word “Green” today, and wondered if that was the impetus for the show theme.

Green fatigue is already a commonplace word in the English lexicon. Susan H. Greenberg wrote an essay about this in a June 30, 2008, Newsweek article by entitled “I’m SO Tired of Being Green”. In it, she interviewed Suzanne Shelton, CEO of the Shelton Group, a U.S. marketing firm that monitors America's environmental pulse.

Shelton Group's latest study, Energy Pulse 2007, revealed that between 2006 and 2007, Americans' enthusiasm for energy-efficient products and services fell across the board. "We are really seeing a backlash to the whole green thing," says Shelton. "We've tested environmental messaging for some clients lately, and we get a lot of eye rolls and deep sighs. We hear things like 'I'm so tired of the green label being slapped on everything,' 'I'm so tired of being guilted into being green'. Confusion creates inner shock, and when consumers are confused, they just do nothing."

OK, so what does that mean for those of us who are still trying to deliver a conservation - a green - message? It says that we have to use more effective tools to get our message across. And that’s where Fine Print Imaging’s green initiative - Art for Conservation - comes in. To successfully deliver a compelling message, one on which people will act, you have to appeal to their emotions.

We KNOW that images deliver a more impactful - more emotional - message than words alone. Fine Print Imaging is working with literally 100s of photographers and artists who are meticulously crafting their art so that it effectively communicates a conservation message. And while this may conjure up imagery of a river with floating debris or a pristine mountain top being scraped to mine for coal, it more often means images showing all of the beauty that our planet has to offer.

Fine Print Imaging and Art for Conservation partner together to provide discounted printing services to these artists. We also provide a beautiful online gallery of their art which helps them raise funds to continue creating art that helps preserve our delicate ecosystem. And we provide a strong social networking component that fosters communication between all of the parties involved in conservation of our natural resources.

One of our strongest partnerships is with the International League of Conservation Photographers. In conjunction with their book on climate change, "A Climate for Life", we created a 50 print exhibit highlighting the photography of the world's top conservation photographers. The gallery wrapped canvas giclee exhibit is touring North America and will eventually land in the offices of Conservation International in Arlington, Virginia.

Rather than screaming our message through a megaphone, we focus on telling the conservation story through imagery. And we tell the stories of our artists and photographers who make these conservation images. Instead of shoving green down people’s throats, we allow them to draw their own conclusions by viewing both beautiful and disturbing images. We KNOW that appealing to their emotions will make a stronger and longer lasting impression.

We would love to help you deliver your conservation message and support your conservation efforts by selling your images. Join us on Art for conservation - http://www.artforconservation.org - and become a member of the Fine Print Imaging family.

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