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The Common Sense Colloquy is one of the things I’ve prioritized since launching it in February of 2018. It does require time and effort, but it’s always worth it. I get so much out of the insight and perspective of the people I’m fortunate enough to interview for this Q&A series. Sharing favorite comments from the participants is always the most fun part of summarizing the year we just concluded. It’s also the hardest part: what should I choose when everything that the parti

Every year at this time for the past three years, we highlight the best of the best from our Common Sense Colloquy series: key advice and perspective on communications from a diverse group of energy, environmental and LGBTQ leaders who participated in our monthly Q&A series. In this, the second post in our three-part series marking the end of the third year of the Common Sense Colloquy, we’re sharing insight from twelve influential Presidents, CEOs, former Members of Congres

It’s hard to believe that we’ve now completed our third year of the Common Sense Colloquy , our series of monthly Q&As with influential energy, environmental and LGBTQ leaders. With three dozen interviews now completed, we have an even better archive of compelling, relevant and timely insight on common sense communications. As we do each year at this time, we’re sharing highlights of the wisdom we received in the year before from all 12 of our participants. This is the first

With the election of Joe Biden as President and a new Congress narrowly controlled by Democrats, the conventional wisdom is that any energy, environmental or climate policy that has a chance of being enacted must have broad support from companies, NGOs and others influencing the national dialogue. That assumption is, in turn, putting the spotlight on the companies and NGOs that will likely be part of that conversation. This month, we’re pleased to have the opportunity to incl

One of our objectives in conducting this ongoing series of Q&As is sharing insight from energy, environment or LGBTQ leaders that might be helpful to others in thinking through how to communicate, when to communicate or what to communicate. To do that, we committed to including a wide array of leaders from a diverse set of organizations. It’s why we started with a rule of alternating men and women each month and why we’ve redoubled efforts to ensure racial and sexual orienta

How better to wrap up our #WeveGotYourSix sixth anniversary celebration than to share the insight, perspective and compassion of the RENEW PR Team ? I’m fortunate to work with a group of communications professionals who aren’t just smart: they are also good people I am proud to call colleagues and friends. I picked #WeveGotYourSix as our anniversary theme to highlight the role our Team plays in our success. And I’m so glad I did: by nominating groups working on energy, envir

Later this month, RENEW PR will celebrate six years in business. If you follow us, you know that we like to celebrate anniversaries : we appreciate taking the opportunity to thank our clients, colleagues and friends for helping us build a sustainable, successful business. This year is, obviously, different. How should we “celebrate” in this perilous moment in time? After a year in which it seemed like we all needed a helping hand and a reminder that we’re all in this togethe

Many of us only think about electricity when the lights are out or the air conditioning isn’t working. And even then, we don’t always understand the intricacies of how power is generated and transmitted to our homes. This month, we’re pleased to welcome an energy expert who understands that all too well. He works in an industry that advocates for a seemingly simple source of power – running water – but that has its own share of communications and policy challenges. His name i

This post concludes the three-part series celebrating the second year of the Common Sense Colloquy Q&A series . This post includes my favorite comment from each of the twelve smart people who participated in Year Two of this series. As with last year’s responses , I was again struck by how insightful and relevant the participants’ comments were for energy and environment communications today. In naming this series the “Common Sense Colloquy,” my intention was not just to link

Today, I’m sharing the second post in our three-part series marking the end of the second year of the Common Sense Colloquy . The Colloquy is our monthly Q&A series in which I pose questions about communications to energy and environmental leaders from a variety of influential organizations and institutions. Year Two was just as fascinating and insightful as Year One as you’ll see in the comments below highlighting the best common sense communications advice our participants

We’ve just wrapped up the second year of our series of monthly Q&As with influential energy and environmental leaders. It’s hard to believe we’ve now had two dozen participants in our Common Sense Colloquy series . As I noted last year at this time , I didn't know what to expect when I started this series in February 2018. What I hoped was that I’d get smart people to share common sense advice about communications. The results have far exceeded my hopes: each Q&A has been in

In this, our 20th Common Sense Colloquy blog Q&A, we’ve asked the National Wildlife Federation President and Chief Executive Officer Collin O’Mara to share his thoughts about communications, the challenge of making wildlife conversation relevant to a broader conversation, the lessons he’s learned in his career and our usual questions on the best common sense communications advice he’s received and given. Collin leads the nation’s largest wildlife conservation organization:

One of the best things about the Common Sense Colloquy is the opportunity it affords us to expand the conversation about energy and environment communications. This month we’re doing that with a Q&A with Roxanne Brown , International Vice President at Large for the United Steelworkers . We asked Roxanne to share her thoughts about communications, public affairs, climate and industrial emissions reductions along with our standard questions on the best common sense communicati

Welcome back to the continuation of Year Two of the Common Sense Colloquy . This month, we’re featuring a new Q&A on commercializing technology and lessons learned from business partners with Dr. Jennifer Holmgren , Chief Executive Officer of LanzaTech . Jennifer has over 20 years of experience in the energy sector including a proven track record in the development and commercialization of fuels and chemicals technologies. Prior to joining LanzaTech, she was Vice President an

We’re continuing Year Two of the Common Sense Colloquy with a new Q&A about communicating on challenging subjects, advising world leaders and the importance of knowing your audience with Roger Ballentine of Green Strategies . Roger is a former White House staffer in the Clinton administration and an acknowledged expert on energy and environmental policy and technology. He served as Chairman of President Clinton’s White House Climate Change Task Force and Deputy Assistant to

Hello and welcome back to our Fearless Friday Predictions series in which we offer our best guesses about action on energy and environment topics and issues. Before we offer a new prediction, let’s check in on  Volume 4 from December 2018 . We predicted: Prediction 6: The Land and Water Conservation Fund will, finally, be reauthorized by Congress and the bill will be signed into law. But that won’t happen until early in 2019. Despite efforts to get it done before Congress lea

We’re excited to kick off Year Two of the Common Sense Colloquy  series with an amazing Q&A about climate, science and communications with Katharine Hayhoe . If you are not already following her on Twitter , go do that now – we’ll wait… If you are following her on Twitter, you know that Katharine is a transformational and inspirational leader on science, climate and communications. When she is not educating and engaging others on Twitter or sharing her insights through an agg

As I conclude the celebration of the first anniversary of the Common Sense Colloquy Q&A series , I’m sharing my favorite quote from each of the twelve brilliant people who participated in our first year. Although I asked each person a different set of questions, the responses aren’t just all wonderful examples of common sense, but they are timely, relevant and insightful about the current state of energy and environment communications and indeed, about communications in gener

Today, I’m continuing the celebration of the one-year anniversary of the Common Sense Colloquy , my monthly Q&A series in which I pose questions about communications to influential energy and environmental leaders from diverse backgrounds and experiences from finance to policy and business to advocacy. I’ve had the good fortune to work with many of our participants and I was thrilled to benefit again from the advice, perspective and experience they shared in this series. In

One year ago, I launched a new series called the Common Sense Colloquy . The idea was to ask notable energy and environmental leaders from a variety of different fields for their insight on communications based on their own experience and expertise. I didn’t know quite what to expect, but I knew that if I asked smart people to share their wisdom I’d at least get some interesting insight. By grounding the series in “common sense,” I wanted to identify simple, sensible feedback