Road to Free Agent: 轉寄︰ Investing as if Food, Farms, and Fertility Matter: The 2011 National Gathering

my buzz & my blog

"When you do the common things in life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world." George Washington Carver

What is Social Entrepreneurship?

Statement of Faith
You can find other "Market with Meaning" but you definitely want to see "Profit with Purpose".
I personally "Believe in Kingdom Transformation" because I know there is only ONE "Life for Significant".

my facebook & my twitter & my linkedin

----- 轉寄的郵件 ----
從︰ Slow Money <info@slowmoney.org>
收件人︰ incubator.hou@gmail.com
傳送日期︰ 2011年11月22日 (週二) 2:15 AM
主題︰ Investing as if Food, Farms, and Fertility Matter: The 2011 National Gathering

Does this email look funny? View it online here.

Dear Houghton,

KCBS Reports on Slow Money

The San Francisco Chronicle

850 folks from 35 states, 3 Canadian provinces and six other countries attended Slow Money's 3rd National Gathering—our biggest event yet.

Everywhere, you could feel the momentum that has been building over the past year—catalyzing more than $10 million of investments in small food enterprises and the emergence of more than a dozen local Slow Money chapters around the country.

In this newsletter, we are very pleased to share with you what attendees, journalists and bloggers had to say about the event.

We're also very pleased to be able to include here the presentations at the Entrepreneur Showcase. We share with so many attendees the sense that the savvy and vision of these small food entrepreneurs are cause for hope. We trust that many of you who could not be with us in San Francisco will not only find inspiration in these presentations, but will be moved to join one or more of the post-gathering groups that are exploring potential investments.

In the weeks ahead, we look forward to sharing other exciting news: Sandy River Charitable Trust's matching seed grant to the Soil Trust; BSW Wealth Partner's new impact bonds that recognize and support Slow Money; and Mamma Chia's dedication of 1% of its revenue to the Soil Trust.

But for now, we hope this newsletter will give you a taste of what happened last month at Fort Mason.

Thanks from the Slow Money team to everyone who contributed time, money and energy to the gathering, and for your continued engagement, which holds such promise for the future of food, farms and fertility.

Sincerely,

Woody, Michael, David and the Board

Entrepreneur Showcase

If the show could have been stolen, it would have been stolen by Farmer John Bledsoe.

It was our privilege to feature these 30 entrepreneurs at this year's showcase. We look forward to doing whatever we can to support them, as they lead the way to fixing our food system and our economy.

All of the entrepreneur presentations from Fort Mason are presented here. Each presentation is 5 minutes long and includes both video and accompanying slides. If you would like to contact any of these entrepreneurs or connect with other interested investors, use these resources:
1. Entrepreneur Contact Info (PDF).
2. Showcase Follow Up Forum.

Attendees Speak

"Slow Money's Third National Gathering made me feel that we just might have a chance to turn things around!"
– Bu Nygrens, Veritable Vegetable, San Francisco, CA

"Slow Money's 2011 national gathering was both extremely inspiring and extremely practical. We were asked to simultaneously entertain big ideas—ideas that are sorely needed—and to tangibly craft and support specific solutions. The event and the larger process of which it is part hold great promise."
– Gary Nabhan, Conservation Biologist, Patagonia, AZ

"I am an MBA with a couple of decades experience in business that have left me largely unsatisfied. The concepts of Slow Money resonate very strongly with my growing misgivings about business and our economic system. Slow Money has a chance to make a real difference in our world." 
– Claude Arpels, New York, NY

"It's about time someone is putting the financial questions right at the center of the good food movement. That is where they belong."
– Jessica Prentice, Three Stone Hearth, Berkeley, CA

"Not only is Slow Money the best thing happening in local food, it has helped me define our Foundation's role in the local food movement."
 – Tim Wightman, President, Farm-to-Consumer Foundation

"IN SOIL WE TRUST!"

"Slow Money's progress since the inaugural meeting in Santa Fe is remarkable. Slow Money is going to grow into a national movement, sending exactly the right message at the right time."
– Chip Comins, Founder, AREDAY, Aspen, CO

"Seeing 30 inspiring entrepreneurs present their investment- ready businesses makes it all very tangible. Something is happening across the country. Sustainable food and agriculture is on the rise. Goosebumps."
– Arno Hesse, private investor, San Francisco, CA

Paul Muller, Wes Jackson, Leslie Christian, Tom Steyer, Matt Flannery, Simran Sethi

"The world class thought leadership was off the charts. But so was the opportunity to work with the other Slow Money regional leaders on the nitty-gritty of putting our financial resources into local food economies. I left even more inspired, and I didn't think that was possible."
– Carol Peppe Hewitt, Slow Money North Carolina, Pittsboro, NC

"The gathering fired me up. It really inspired me to see how much on the ground change is happening since the last national gathering. So much experiential content to share now."
– Jeff Rosen, CFO, Solidago Foundation, Northampton, MA

"Slow Money holds much hope for the future of my farm, my community, and my retirement fund!"
– Casey O'Leary, Earthly Delights Farm, Boise, ID

"The gathering put forward the beautiful and creative initiatives being implemented on the ground by dozens of Slow Money groups around the country. It is out of these experiments and entrepreneurial efforts that the new restorative economy will take shape." 
– Marco Vangelisti, private investor, Berkeley, CA

"We would be wise to follow the trends and direction of the Slow Money movement."
– SocialFinance.ca

"More and more committed individuals are implementing numerous small creative projects across the nation."
– EcoLocalizer.com

"Small Potatoes Investment Clubs. Love it. More within reach for middle-class people like myself."
– Amy Kiser, Ecology Center, Berkeley, CA

"As a finance professional, I enjoyed the breakout with the other advisors. It was great to have the reality check they provided for folks, and I learned from them."
– Christopher Peck, Natural Investments, Windsor, CA

"Slow Money Case Studies. I got to hear from entrepreneurs who had raised capital about how they did it and how deals were structured."
– Tina Prevatte, Farmhand Foods, Durham, NC

"Both RSF and Mission Markets were awesome because they explained social capital markets, triple bottom line investing. Vermont Jobs Funds and the Ohio Cooperative was an amazing session discussing the development of local markets and supply chain."
– Carla Mays, San Francisco, CA

Attendee Videos

Forty National Gathering attendees were asked what they look forward to in a Slow Money world. Click here.

Join Us!

Want to add your voice to this growing national conversation?

SIGN and Share the Slow Money Principles.

Become a Member.

Move Some of Your Money Now.

Forward this Newsletter to a Few Friends.

WAIT... WE MEAN IT... FORWARD THIS NEWSLETTER TO A FEW FRIENDS...

Books

Point Reyes Books, the conference bookseller, has created an online Slow Money bookstore which features all of the titles that we offered at the event, plus many others of interest to Slow Money folks.

"We are inspired by the dramatic impact this movement will have on the future of food systems in our local communities."
– Steve Costa and Kate Levinson, Point Reyes Books

DVDs and Recordings

This was our first event to feature live streaming and we are very pleased that more than 2000 folks participated in this way. Audio and video recordings are available from Conference Recording. You can get the entire entrepreneur showcase and all the main stage speakers on DVD. Audio recordings are available for every breakout session. Go here to learn more. Many thanks to Conference Recording for providing us with live streaming.

Sponsors

A special thanks goes to this year's lead sponsors: Heritage Salvage for furnishing the venue in a way that was truly above and beyond, RSF Social Finance for generous lead support for three years in a row, Investors' Circle for incubating Slow Money, organic yogurt maker Stonyfield Farms for joining us as a lead sponsor this year, Solidago Foundation for both their generous support and their pioneering mission related investing, GeneroCity for underwriting our film crew from MediaOne, Back to Earth Organic Catering for the food we shared together and the farms they support, Marin Organic for many of our banner images, BSW Wealth Partners for designating Slow Money as one of their recipient NGOs, and finally Mamma Chia, a Slow Money enterprise of 2010 that is now dedicating 1% of sales to the Soil Trust. We hope Mamma Chia's collaboration with 1% For the Planet and Slow Money will become a role model for companies that are eager to give back, like the farmer, "putting back into the soil what we take out."