As the man said in the song, I’m so tired… and yet have accomplished so little today. Blogwise, anyway. Progress was made here and there, but little satisfaction was to be had.
And the day began with such promise.
First, I went to an interesting breakfast discussion of clean energy at the Cap City Club, and haven’t had time since then even to peruse my notes, so I’ll just give you the press release:
Business and elected leaders gather in Columbia for energy roundtable
State and national experts discuss the tie between clean energy and job creation in SC
Columbia, SC – More than 60 business and elected leaders attended an energy roundtable this morning hosted by SC Businesses for Clean Energy. The organization is a coalition of over 100 businesses in the state seeking to create jobs and enhance national security by improving energy efficiency and developing clean-energy alternatives.
“There is a growing awareness in our state’s business community that we can create jobs and lower energy bills by improving the way we produce and consume energy,” said SC Businesses for Clean Energy founder Clare Morris. “Discussions like the one at the energy roundtable are just the beginning of the conversation.”
The roundtable included a panel discussion featuring three experts on energy and economic policy in South Carolina: Grant Jackson, senior vice president for community development with the Greater Columbia Chamber of Commerce; Russ Keller, vice president for advanced technology international (ATI) of South Carolina Research Authority (SCRA); and Suzanne Watson, policy director with the American Coalition for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE). The moderator was Bob Bouyea, publisher of the Columbia Regional Business Report.
“There is a realization in South Carolina that we do not have coal, oil, or uranium, and that we have to import these energy sources from other places,” said Jackson during the panel discussion. “At the same time, we have abundant offshore wind, solar, and biomass, as well as, hydrogen and nuclear energy potential. Clean energy is a path to jobs.”
Jackson cited a July 2010 poll of South Carolina small businesses that showed 68 percent support clean energy initiatives.
Keller added, “It’s going to be small, innovative companies that will lead. We need to help encourage their ideas so that they can build their products right here in South Carolina and then sell them all over the world.”
Panelists also agreed that while attitudes in South Carolina are changing, the state needs a comprehensive energy plan to diversify its energy sources and create incentives for improving energy efficiency.
“ACEEE does not argue in favor of any one energy source because every state has its own particular resources and goals,” said Watson. “But invest in efficiency first and you will reduce the costs for any new generation power source that you build.”
Watson cited efforts by the South Carolina Electric Cooperatives to weatherize tens of thousands of South Carolina homes as a positive step toward reducing energy costs and creating jobs. A state-specific report released last year by ACEEE found that overall, investing in energy efficiency could create over 20,000 jobs and save ratepayers $5.1 billion on their bills by 2025.
The ACEEE report can be found at: http://www.aceee.org/research-report/e099
“It was tremendous to see that Boeing is coming to South Carolina,” noted Watson. “But energy efficiency could create six times more jobs than Boeing facility.”
Breakfast sponsors included SC Businesses for Clean Energy, SCBiz News, the Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina, New Carolina, EngenuitySC, and the Quality of Life Task Force of the Greater Columbia Chamber of Commerce.
Then, while I was trying to get some ADCO work done, I got a phone call from the guy with the Huffington Post who had sent me this e-mail:
Hi Brad,Ben Bell from the Huffington Post here. I just came across your blog.I am writing to alert you to an opportunity. Right now we are in the process of building a network of citizen journalists to cover specific congressional candidates/incumbents this fall all across the country.In SC, we are trying to get citizen journalists to cover Rob Miller and or John Spratt. The job would require the CJ to submit a weekly round up submission and attend events related to the specific candidate as they can. We are flexible on the number of events attended. The start date is TBA and is intended to be something done by someone with a full-time job or other commitment.The position is not paid, but does offer the excellent chance for the CJ to get a byline on the HuffPost, which is a fast-growing and influential site. This would be a great opportunity for everyone from professors and professional bloggers to journalism students and those just interested in politics. All are welcome to express interest.Please let me know if you are interested ASAP.Also, we can discuss linking to your blog it when you submit content we publish.Best,Ben Bell
In discussing it with him on the phone today, I found the proposition intriguing, but am still undecided whether to pursue it. Actually, I sort of wanted y’all’s input on it, and was going to write a post listing the pros (such as, he said they WOULD link to my blog, and it might boost my traffic) and cons (as in, “the position is not paid”) as I saw them and asking what y’all thought, but I’m just too tired, and right now I want to go eat my dinner, and have a beer before I hit the sack. Maybe later.
Then I ran to Al Amir with the ADCO partners for an early lunch.
Then I went to the Vincent Sheheen thing downtown.
Then Lora and I conducted an interview with a guy in Canada about a potential project for ADCO. One that will require quite a few more such interviews before we’re even getting rolling good on it. Then, I suggested some wording changes for something we were doing on an RFP for another prospective client.
Then, there was another meeting about a project that just came up which I need to get finished by the end of the day tomorrow for an actual (not merely prospective) ADCO client. Not hard, but fairly labor-intensive (which means not much blogging tomorrow, either).
Then I sat down and whipped out a press release for that same client, minus a couple of questions I hope to get answered by tomorrow morning.
Then I went over some materials from yet another client who needs some PR help, anticipating running into the client tomorrow morning and taking it to the next step.
Then, determined that I would get SOMETHING to the point of completion today, around 6 p.m. I whipped out that post about the Sheheen thing, but now that I look at it I see it is practically incoherent.
And then I came home. And on the way home, I decided I’d write this to explain why the blog was less than stellar today, and why you didn’t get a Virtual Front Page.
Because, while I don’t have a lot to show (yet) for all my busy-ness today, I’m just so tired…
It was one of those days.
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Don’t worry about not getting paid for the HuffPo work. You can make it up on volume.
Hey man, you should do that HuffPost gig! Uh, that site is grotesquely popular. There is no “might” on the getting more traffic. You WILL get more traffic. Who knows, maybe more than you can handle. And that means more looks at your adverts. Which means maybe more clicks on the adverts. Which means maybe more adverts. Which means moolah.
And by the way, who is better positioned to give the nation…nay…the WORLD…the straight dope on Miller and Spratt than you? Besides, just from a politico-blogging perspective, isn’t there enough intrigue around those guys to citizen-journalate about at least one of them? Has Spratt ever received the respect, in the form of a meticulous national profile, that he probably deserves? Or, going the other way, has Miller been properly combed, plucked, and deloused by anyone credible in the wake of becoming a MoveOn bath buddy?
Anyway, it seems like a cool opportunity, since I think HP may be the most visited site of its kind on Earth.
Go for it!
Oooooh, a byline!
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=git
I believe the word is “git.”
Dude–You don’t get “paid” for this, except in ad dollars. Why not burnish the brand and increase traffic by doing HuffPo?
Kathryn, I know the term is “git.”
But Lennon said “get,” in order to rhyme with “cigarette,” which in turn was rhyming with “upset.” So I spelled it that way.
My only concern would be that HuffPo is a pretty partisan website, and so would it cause you to be perceived as agreeing with the other content on the site? Which isn’t very Un-Party, generally.
Brad–haven’t you heard of slant rhymes?
I don’t read HuffPo any longer, just as I don’t watch MSNBC any longer – all the stridency got to me. But at a time when the GOP is trying to persuade the voters to dump John Spratt, I’d do anything within reason to give him any kudos I could.