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Welcome to Pride Month and to the first Common Sense Colloquy to focus on LGBTQ communications. Going forward, we’ll be including LGBTQ communications leaders along with the energy and environment communications leaders we’ve highlighted in the first 27 (!) Q&As. This commitment to including LGBTQ leaders matches our expanded business focus area which now formally includes LGBTQ communications (although we’ve been working on LGBTQ communications and energy and environment com

One of the delights of conducting this series over the past several years (FYI that we’re now well past two dozen interviews!) is the opportunity to reconnect with former clients and other contacts. That’s what we’re doing this month with our latest Common Sense Colloquy Q&A. It’s our pleasure and privilege to be talking with Judy Rader , the senior vice president of corporate affairs, communications and philanthropy for Exelon Corporation . We had the good fortune to work wi

When we revised our website last year, we also announced an expansion of the RENEW PR Team , a group of experienced, independent communications professionals from across the U.S. who partner with RENEW PR President Ben Finzel to help clients nationwide. Today, we’re pleased to announce another expansion of our team. Our friend and colleague Darren Goode is bringing his expertise in communications strategy, messaging, content development, media relations and event planning

We’ve tried to be varied in the special guests who have participated in the Common Sense Colloquy as we have built this series over more than two dozen conversations. Over the past two+ years, we’ve featured two former Energy Secretaries, the head of the largest wildlife conservation organization in the country, financial community gurus, colleagues from the communications industry, senior leaders from academia, labor unions, companies, trade associations and more. This mon

We’re excited to kick off Year Three of the Common Sense Colloquy Q&A series with our friend, colleague and agency partner leader Laura Taylor . Laura is President and CEO of Silverline Communications , a DC-based full-service integrated communications agency focused on the B2B technology sector. Under Laura’s leadership, the firm has recently expanded its footprint beyond the DC metropolitan area with offices in Chicago and Salt Lake City. Silverline Communications is the n

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

There are many ways to provide advice on common sense communications. One of the best is to, well, actually provide advice. This month, we have a wonderful example of that with a Common Sense Colloquy with Ethan Zindler, head of the Americas for BloombergNEF (BNEF). Ethan weighs in on what we can learn from others, the role of journalism in communications and more. It’s great stuff – and so helpful. Ethan’s advice brings to mind the adage that sometimes the best advice is th

As I wrote in a post last week , I had no idea when I launched RENEW PR five years ago what the future would hold. It’s been an amazing – and fantastic – first five years. And the milestone is certainly worthy of celebration. After celebrating the firm’s first and second anniversaries with receptions, I had always planned to hold another one for our fifth anniversary. I knew this celebration had to be even more special – it’s not every day that a small business reaches th

The objective of this series is to share insight and perspective on the challenges of communicating about about energy and environmental topics from a variety of people involved in many different types of businesses and organizations. We’re proud this month to add the voice of Dr. Marilyn Brown, Regents' and Brook Byers Professor of Sustainable Systems in the School of Public Policy at the Georgia Institute of Technology . Dr. Brown is a co-recipient of the 2007 Nobel Peace P

Five years ago at this time, I was preparing to hit “send” on a flurry of emails to contacts, colleagues, former clients and friends announcing the launch of my new public relations firm, RENEW PR . I was confident in the future, but I had no idea how terrific the next five years would be. In that time, I’ve worked with more than two dozen clients on projects large and small in areas across the country. I’ve helped clients communicate about topics as diverse as carbon capture

Our Fifth Anniversary in business is now just one week away (watch for a blog post next week with thoughts on what it means) so time is running out to share another update on one of the pro bono projects we conducted in 2019 to celebrate our fourth anniversary last January. Last summer, we took the opportunity to provide additional help to RENEW PR client Family Equality . Family Equality hired us in May of 2019 to work on a summer season media relations project in support o

As we approach our fifth anniversary in business later this month (more on that soon), I thought now would be a good time to follow-up on one of the commitments I made last year to celebrate our fourth anniversary. Last January , I announced that RENEW PR would conduct pro bono projects with four advocacy organizations in 2019 to mark our fourth anniversary in business. Here’s the follow-up on one of those commitments: the Alliance to Save Energy . In December, we provided p

This series of Q&As has provided the opportunity to talk with and learn from an amazing group of energy and environment leaders. For this, our 22nd Q&A, we’re keeping with the theme of engaging former government officials by welcoming the 13th Secretary of Energy, Ernest J Moniz . Secretary Moniz is now the President and CEO of the Energy Futures Initiative and EJM Associates. And as you’ll see in his answers, he’s an incredibly focused and astute advisor on the future of e

It’s not every day that you have the opportunity to engage with a business leader who also happens to be a former Obama Administration appointee and energy executive. Lucky us that today is one such day as we share our Common Sense Colloquy Q&A with Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance (REBA) Chief Executive Officer Miranda Ballentine . We asked Miranda about REBA’s work as well as lessons she’s learned in her career. We love her succinct answer to our standard questions on best

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

In this our 18th Q&A, we’re happy to welcome Gregory Wetstone, the President and CEO of the American Council on Renewable Energy ( ACORE ). For this Common Sense Colloquy, we asked Greg to share his insight on communications challenges and lessons learned along with our standard questions about the best communications advice he’s received and the best communications advice he gives to others. Greg joined ACORE as President and CEO in January 2016, building on an already-impr

This month’s Common Sense Colloquy is with Abby Hopper, the President and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) . We talked with Abby about the role of communications in supporting public policy advocacy, lessons learned from the growth of the renewable energy industry and the emerging interest in diversity in the solar industry. And of course, we asked Abby about the best common sense communications advice she’s received and the best common sense communicati

Our latest Common Sense Colloquy is a Q&A on energy finance, climate change and the power of communications with Jigar Shah of Generate Capital . Jigar is the president and co-founder of Generate Capital and one of three co-hosts of The Energy Gang podcast . Earlier, he was founder and CEO of SunEdison, where he popularized the idea of “no money down solar” and built the largest solar services company in the world in the process. Later, Jigar was the founding CEO of the Carb