My Disclosure Page

 

Like all the best blogs transparency is key, even more so when the industry I thrash around in champions accountability, ethics and disclosure.

So, for the record, here’s my disclosure policy (which will be evolving as this blog accelerates towards an upgrade!) …

• This blog was created to support positioning myself and my company Coethica as a credible source of information on all things value based business, CSR, sustainability, social enterprise – whatever YOU want to call it. It was never created to make money directly. There are some ads somewhere on Feedburner connected to this blog as an early experiment.  This approach will probably change in 2012. You will be told if it does.
• I believe in sharing links / traffic. None of the links are paid for. I share them because they contain information that could help make the world a better place – instead of attempting to corral every Tom, Dick of Harriet into my little online fiefdom. That just isn’t me.
• If you want to pay for links, good luck with trying that, but if you haven’t figured out money isn’t my main motivator feel free to try anyway, it’s your time you’ll be wasting, not mine.
• If you want to send a product for review I’m happy to receive (and possibly recycle) but it will have to be socially or environmentally innovative to get a mention on here – credit where credit is due – or slammed nice and loud if you try greenwashing around this part of the blogging landscape.
• If you have a press release about the latest news in social or environmental business please make it best practice, news worthy, game changing, well written  and with good links. I may use quotes but it won’t be copied and pasted directly. Most press release’ copy doesn’t work on blogs.
• If you want to sponsor the site I’m open to offers, but again, you’ll have to be a great company that demonstrates embedded ethical values, or at least convince me you’re trying hard – I support the small guys wherever I can too! If you don’t ask me you won’t get me. Please at least try.

 

… and a brief recap of received goods and services so far (in no particular order – but the New York trip would rank very high on the smile meter – and not just because the stunning and eloquent Eva Longoria was there) :

• A Dell Latitude 6420 laptop – Apple need to seriously step up their CSR game before I’d ever think of switching. I asked Dell for a laptop they said gladly. Very nice people!
• Since it worked with Dell – I could really do with a new car if anybody has truly low carbon / sustainable one? otherwise I’m sticking to trains, buses, walking and mountain bikes.
• Travel, accommodation, pre-paid expenses card for trip to New York to judge Microsoft’s Imagine Cup 2011
• Accommodation and invitation to Microsoft’s CSR Accelerator Summit in Seattle 2010
• Travel and accommodation to Paris, twice, to judge Societe Generale’s Citizen Act competition 2011
• Travel and accommodation to Venice, from 3BL Media to take part in the Lundquist CSR Communications Awards 2011
• Variations on passes / travel / accommodation / expenses at Ethical Corporation, Business in the Community, Skoll World Forum  and other conferences – usually in return for speaking / comment / social media related exposure – all as unbiased as possible and some more enthusiastically than others.
• Two books by Gareth Kane for review – both excellent – The Green Executive and The Three Secrets of Green Business

 

If you’ve got any questions about any of the above fire them over here.