Sustainable meetings

Now that the meetings and events industry has come up with a set of comprehensive guidelines for sustainability, there's been a lot of buzz about whether or not we should spend the time adopting those standards.
We said yes, for obvious reasons.
Here's the full post, over at Sched.org. Thanks to Marvin McTaw for encouraging us to post our experience on the green side of business.

Rewarding Your Clients

A twitter post from @smaxbrown had us thinking.

He wrote: "What if we spent more time building people up?"

That was it. But we spent a good long time thinking about it.

We spent a good long time being grateful for the many ways that we do build our employees up. After all, we give them autonomy to do their work, allowing them opportunities for growth (a good number of our employees start as interns and work their ways into other, more permanent positions), and giving each other and our clients ample ways to suggest room for improvement and to thank each other.

But there's a piece of the equation that service providers sometimes ignore. In this industry, we thank our clients in many different ways. We're in touch with them every step of the way, we make sure to treat the process with respect, we ensure we do as much as we can to meet their every need and anticipate their every want. But what do we do to show them that we appreciate them? In what ways can we reward them for their business?

We decided that the best option was a reward program. Now, clients of The Hub can earn points based on the events they plan with us. And if they want, instead of spending their points on the great products we have in the gift catalog, they can also donate their points to The Hub's chosen not-for-profit, ShelterBox USA.

There are many different ways to show someone you appreciate them. But in some ways, the best way is to let them decide how they'd like to be rewarded. We want our clients to not only be compelled to work with us because we're technologically advanced, green, and eminently capable of producing great meetings. We want them to work with us because they want to. And because they feel rewarded for doing so.

For more information about the My Hub Rewards program, go to http://www.myhubrewards.com, or call 1.877.TheHub1

Our Interns Never Give Up

As we head into fall, we're reminded of one of just one of the things that makes summer so great here at The Hub: our interns.
In fact, our interns make working here great year-round, because we ensure that there's space on our team for interns year-round. Why? Well, because of interns like Rachael Pignotti, who joined us at the beginning of the summer and will be with us part-time during the fall.

Meet Rachel, one of our talented interns.

Rachael's a student at Temple University, from which she'll graduate in December. Her major, International Business and Marketing, put her on our radar, but it was her interest in sustainability in business that made us perfect matches for each other. She's an officer in a student professional organization at Temple called Students for Responsible Business, and she happens to manage green event planning for the group.
"The first thing that attracted me to The Hub is that it's LEED certified," she says, referring to our silver designation from the U.S. Green Building Council for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.
But Rachael quickly learned that Hub Sales Director Stephanie Koch and CEO John New wouldn't let her work with just the aspects of business that she was familiar with. They set her to work on a critical side of business she hadn't yet been familiar with: web sites and Internet outreach for our clients. "This is such a great place to grow," she says. "I've learned so much over the past months, and these are things I was always going to have to learn anyway."
Rachael also works in an area of The Hub that's more germane to her position at SRB: marketing promotions. "I’m learning how The Hub likes to brand themselves, and I combine that with my ideas, and it’s been turning out really well," she says.
Part of that success is Rachael's dogged pursuit of sustainability in the meetings and events industry. "We're adamant about green here at The Hub, and making it a part of our company, but I'd love to see more companies be more aware of choosing places that are sustainable, like The Hub. Sooner or later, the marketing of that is going to be beneficial, if not critical," she says.
While Rachael identifies with all five of our Core Values, the one that's closest to her heart is Never Give Up. "I'm incredibly stubborn," she says, "Mostly to myself. I've had some opportunities to opt out of projects that I'm unfamiliar with, and I think it's important to just keep on working."
We agree, Rachael. We'll miss you when you graduate, but we're so happy we got to meet you.
For more information on interning at The Hub, click here.

Revolution in Philadelphia for Event Camp Twin Cities!

Mindy Holahan, our business support manager and one of the handlers of our Twitter feed, was on-deck to experience the magic of Event Camp Twin Cities' Philadelphia pod. Here's what she learned about hybrid events.

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A Revolution in the Meetings Industry? There’s a Room for That.

Two weeks ago, the meetings industry took a big leap forward. Did you feel it? That’s when the second annual Event Camp Twin Cities took place in Minneapolis. We hosted the Philadelphia pod in our Revolution room.

But wait! What's a "pod"? And how can an event in Minneapolis have anything to do with Philadephia?

A hybrid event brings off-site participants into an on-site meeting and allows them to participate in the meeting. Off-site participants gather in a pod for real-time streaming of meetings that are going on at the home site. Guests can ask questions and give immediate feedback, just as if they were at the main conference. This year’s event had pods in Philadelphia, Vancouver, Amsterdam, Silicon Valley, and Hawaii.

All we needed was a steady internet connection, but we like to do things a bit fancier in the pods. Traci Browne of Red Cedar Publicity and Marketing organized the entire Philadelphia pod experience from top to bottom. Jeffrey Halligan from Dyventive made it so that the feed went both way: participants in Minneapolis could see us, as well. And we wired secondary monitors that allowed the pods to interact with each other (that led to some friendly competition, especially with the Silicon Valley pod).

Communication

Event Camp Twin Cities uses Twitter, and the hashtag “ectc11,” for better real-time discussion flow. Followers of the #ectc11 stream sent along questions and comments, and Emilie Barta, the virtual emcee, represents the off-site audience.

What makes Event Camp so special?

Event Camp Twin Cities is the first hybrid event lab—a conference specially designed for event professionals to experiment with technology and social media together, rather than risking failure with their own events. Failure was a welcome partner in the event: The motto for the event was “If we’re not breaking things, then we’re not innovating.”

In the Philly pod, we threw ourselves into the experiment. Some of the tools failed. We had some trouble connecting with the Facebook app that streamed the secondary sessions. We had moments when the incoming flow of information was more than we could handle. But overall the event was a resounding success. We learned how to better use social media to bring together people across the globe—and we formed new friendships with our pod-mates.

I missed it! Do I have to wait another year?

No! Event Camp Europe is this Friday! You can check out the full list of Event Camps here.

Stay Awake and Limber: Tips from a Pro

We've all been there: cramped in a chair for hours on end, getting information we know is valuable and important. But when we get up, our bodies protest, and with good reason--we weren't made to sit for hours on end.

We all know what this feels like. Read on to see how to make it better.

No one knows this better than Norma Jean Frumento, a former dancer with The Philadelphia Dance Company and one of The Hub's talented sales staff. We asked her to come up with some tips from her considerable store of experience on staying limber during long meeting days.
Norma Jean still teaches ballet in New Jersey, where she lives with her two teenage daughters and her husband, and she's active in Pilates, yoga, and Zumba. So trust her. We do!

• Since we all hold tension in our shoulders and neck, the traditional head roll is a keeper. Drop your head down in front and roll slowly to the left and right and back.
  
• For shoulder and upper back: Interlock your fingers, turn your palms outward in front of you, and stretch your arms out as you round your upper back. Move gently from right to left. You can do this standing or sitting.
• While sitting, extend your legs in front of you till straight. Now flex your toes up to the ceiling. This is a great stretch for calves and hamstrings! For an extra stretch, lean your upper body forward. (Be careful not to fall off the chair!)
• If no one’s looking, touch your toes, knees, or whatever you can reach with relaxed knees (don't lock your knees, and don't bounce). Just use the weight of your upper body to get the max stretch.

Meeting planners, it's a good idea to work in a stretch period, or a break where folks can take part in some gentle stretches like the ones above. They'll help to keep meeting and conference attendees from falling asleep, and that's a good thing for all of us.

What are your best tips for staying awake and limber during meetings?

Friendly competition

Recently, we had a terrific reception at our CityView facility for industry insiders.


We invited our colleagues in the events industry to take a look at the changes we've made to our facility and to talk to them a little bit about how we can support each other.
Some might call it a ballsy move. After all, some industry insiders are the ones with whom we directly compete. But the reality is, more knowledge about each other's facilities can only benefit the entire industry as a whole. Our facilities, for instance, are all wired for virtual meetings, so that if another events facility is packed and needs help handling a conference, we can do that for them, easily.
But we didn't think of this reception as being particularly ballsy. We just thought of it as the right thing to do. After all, we're all colleagues in the same industry. Why wouldn't we look for ways to help each other out?
When was the last time you did something unexpected for your industry?

Hub Friday: What are your Keystones?

One of our rooms in our CityView location is called the Keystone Room. Why? Well, Philadelphia is sometimes called the Keystone state, sure, but what's that mean, really?
A keystone is the critical piece in an arch that holds the weight of the entire structure, allowing it to stay strong and up.

Photo: SteveHaymore.com

Pennsylvania's nickname dates back to the early 1800s, partially because Independence Hall is where the delegates to sign the Declaration of Independence; partially because of its central location in the 13 original colonies. It's a clear indication of the state's importance.
So yeah, we named the Keystone room for Pennsylvania. But we also named it for some other keystones: Our employees.
Recently, The Hub had its 4th Quarter Outing and Awards ceremony. We use these outings (they happen four times a year, natch) to celebrate our employees, who are our real keystones. We spend our time enjoying each other's company, and we make sure our Stars of the Quarter and of the Year get their just rewards.
This quarter, our awardees are Star of the Quarter Stephanie Koch, who's our new Sales Director. Our star of the year is Serena Butler.

Star of the Quarter Stephanie Koch

Star of the Year Serena Butler

These employees are true exemplars of our staff. But each and every member of the Hub staff is a keystone in and of his or her own right.
How do you recognize your keystones?
For more photos from our 4th Quarter Outing (it was a blast!) click here, and like our Facebook page!

Hub Friday: Core Values

...Oh, boy. Today's Hub Friday post is going to be a doozy, and it's pretty close to home. We're going to explore another core value today. It's "Take Action." There are three core parts to this particular value. They are:

• We solve our clients’ problems before they know those problems exist.
• We never assume that something is “someone else’s responsibility.”
• Do something besides nothing when problems arise.

Why are we focusing on this core value today? Well, we noticed an anomaly in The Hub blog today: We somehow skipped EcoMonday this week. We don't know how it happened. It was just a blip, something in the scheduling or something. It might seem small, but to us here at The Hub Twoffice, where we handle such things, it seemed a big problem.
So what are we going to do? Yes, we spent a fair amount of time feeling embarrassed. And then we wondered if we could blame the operating system, or whatever. But then we realized that the solution is to put one of our core values into play.
Take action. For us that means taking responsibility. And then it means taking steps to make sure the problem doesn't happen again.
It could mean something like revisiting our responsibilities when the time comes for review, or maybe just something as simple as redrawing our priorities and carving out time check that our posts will go out on time.
Either way, one of the key parts of this core value is owning up to the mistake in the first place, and acknowledging the problem.
So we've done that. And now, we can solve the problem.
We love this value. It allows us to take responsibility for whatever comes down the pike.

You don't have to be a hero. Just take action.

What's your best tip for anticipating problems?

Hub Friday: Core Values

Brrr. It's so cold outside that we want to hunker down under a big down comforter with a detective novel and cup of tea and not move for a couple of weeks. At least until the temps climb into the upper 40s, anyway.
Hub Friday today is about our first core value, "Never Give Up."

Photo: JimboCyberDoc

We think winter, with its never-ending adversity and short, dark days, is a good time to explore this value. What does it mean to us as a conference facility and as event planners?

• There's always a solution. If a problem pops up, we don't stop looking at it from all different angles until we find a way to solve it.
• Stay positive. Because we know there must be a solution somewhere, we don't consider letting ourselves wallow too much when a hitch pops up. We think it's wasted energy.
• Team effort wins every time. We lean on our co-workers, our extensive collective knowledge, and good company spirit to do find the solution.

What does this core value mean to you?

EcoMonday: Greening Your Skiing

We are totally taken by the snow.
And we saw something lovely recently at the Philly Green Blog, where there was a good informative post about greening your skiing. Cos, you know, skiing can be very hard on the environment.
Downhill skiing requires snow grooming, and electricity for ski lifts, and new poufy clothing, and all sorts of other things (you didn't think the trees on your favorite ski hill just managed to grow in run-like formation, did you?) that might be unsavory to the green-minded.
Here are a few things to keep in mind:
Check out some green ski areas. Here on the east coast, Smuggler's Notch in Vermont and Jiminy Peak in New Hampshire boast high marks for their sustainability records: Smuggs' boasts some great sustainable architecture, and Jiminy's built a wind turbine to contribute to power. If you're aiming to ski outside of the east coast, take a look at Sustainable Slopes, the National Ski Areas Association's charter for the greening of skiing. It'll tell you which areas are in compliance with the initiative.
Consider alternate activities. Snowshoeing and cross-country skiing are two truly green activities that require very little by way of equipment and travel. Any existing wide-open area, like a park or a golf course, is open for both of these activities if there's enough snow cover. Pluses include a higher rate of aerobic activity and a fatter wallet: both of these activities are free.

Recycle your togs. As our pals at Philly Green Blog say, Patagonia's Common Threads program can and will recycle your used clothing. But you can also go one step further: repair a popped zipper instead of buying a whole new coat. Buy merino wool underlayers and socks from a company like SmartWool, which practices sustainable harvesting. (Merino wool is a natural fiber that'll keep you warm even when you get sweaty.)

What are your favorite tips for staying active and green in the winter?

Hub Friday: Looking the Part

It's Friday!
In some workplaces, it's Casual Friday, but not here at the Hub. You'll see our sales staff in suits or some other business outfit (it's not unusual to see Bill and John, our president and CEO, respectively, walking around in 3-piece suits). We all wear name tags, all day.
Our service staff, who are a big part of making sure meetings and events go smoothly, follow a pretty steady dress code: We provide them with a black Hub button-down shirt, to be worn tucked in over a black T-shirt and black slacks, and with a black belt.
The whole look is topped off with a name tag and finished with closed-toe black shoes, flat-heeled, of course, because our staff needs to be able to maneuver, and stilettos do not allow for fast maneuvering.
Why have we chosen this look, and why do we not have Casual Fridays? For us, it's a simple answer. We have business people in and out of our facilities all the time, so we want to make sure they know they're in a place that takes their business seriously.
And when businesses use our facilities, we want to ensure that they know there are people around to help them make their events successful. So we give our service assistants uniforms that make them pop: their clothing says, we hope, "Hi! I'm here to help."
The name tags are around for the exact same reason.
What are your thoughts on Casual Fridays and dress codes?

EcoMonday: Ecofriendly snow removal

We were walking the Hub hound (yes! we have one of those!) when we noticed something heartbreaking. He was picking up his paws, one by one, until he was gimping about using only two paws at a time. Turns out, there's been a lot of ice and snow around, and the municipality's answer is a lot of salt. That burns our hound's feet, and potentially worse (we can always put booties on the hound), it gets into the groundwater and kills off plants. Not good.
So we did a little research, and we found out about some green snow removal options.

• Rock Salt alternatives: Calcium Magnesium Acetate. It's "about as corrosive as tap water," which means it's not as hard on bridges, concrete, or the environment. And it's biodegradable. Sand and wood ash are good alternatives, too.
• Electric snow blowers: Still not good, but better than gas snow blowers. Lower emissions, just as much snow-blowing power.
• Just shovel it: Nothing better than a little exercise. Of course, if you're really not willing to shovel, you might want to consider something like the Wovel. Heck, why not? After all, a person's got to get to work.

Which reminds us: Snowshoes and cross-country skis make great traveling implements. In the aftermath of one blizzard we used our snowshoes to get to our office. We were the only ones there, but never mind that.

EcoMonday: Ecoresolutions!

...What's a resolution, anyway? In most cases, they're just good intentions, and they often go the way of the dodo by March.
So what's a good-intentioned person to do? And what are the most manageable tips for a good, ecologically sound start to the new year?

• Start small. Even something like changing out just a few of your incandescent lighting sources for compact fluorescent ones can make a difference. Small resolutions can soon lead to bigger ones.
  
• Set a goal for yourself. Say you want to reduce office paper waste by 20% by the tim 2012 rolls around. Make that goal public, and make sure that you post it in a place that's visible every day, so you can remind yourself.
• Make it a team effort. Your employees want to help, too. Crowd-source some good, tangible resolutions for your office, and make sure everyone has a role to play. You'll get a lot more done working together than you will working by yourself.
• Take it outside. Your annual office retreat can work surprisingly well to get people excited about being good stewards of the environment--we have an annual cleanup day in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park, and it's a treat to be outside with our co-workers when we're used to seeing them in work togs. Trail maintenance days work as terrific team building exercises, too--the end result of seeing your hard work take shape in a trail that hundreds of people will use makes for a terrific confidence booster!

What are your EcoResolutions for 2011?

EcoMonday: Holiday Shopping

Okay. How many of you have done all your Christmas shopping? Mmhmmm, we thought so.
Never fear! We dug up some options that are lovely *and* eco-friendly, along with a few guidelines for you.

Consider consignment. We've already ranted to you about the benefits of Freecycle Philadelphia, but you don't always get what you want on the boards. However, you'll almost always find something beautiful at one of Philadephia's great consignment stores, which take gently worn items (think top-notch brands like Chanel, Prada, and Eileen Fisher), sell them to lucky consumers, and then give a portion of the sale price back to the lucky person who thought to recycle her items in the first place. Consignment stores tend to be choosy about what they take, since they have to make a buck on it, too, so you can count on good quality. You'll find everything from belts to bags and great suits at a good consignment store. All of it makes for good gifts, and in Philly, there are at least two great stores we can think of, Greene Street Consignment and Josie's Sophisticated Seconds.

If you're going to buy new, consider looking for toys and gifts made locally. Foodstuffs and other consumables, like wines and honeys, make great gifts. We found Baxter's Bee Farm, a terrific estorefront that sells not only honey but everything honey-based--and Baxter's is located in central Pennsylvania.

Soap! From bees! In Central Pennsylvania! What a lovely gift!

Toys are an obvious guess for kids, but you can go one step further. Tree Blocks, a company out of Santa Barbara, CA, makes their blocks out of discards from local paper companies. The result? Remarkably rustic-looking toys that are somehow works of art in and of themselves. They're finished with flaxseed oil and last for years. And yes, they make toy treehouses, too.


Of course, if you're one of those who's a browser and a one-stop shopper, consider a dedicated green store like Big Green Earth Store, where you'll not only have a lot to choose from, you may also learn a thing or two. On a recent trip to a similar store, we learned all about wormless composting.

While you're at it, you may want to consider a gift that truly gives. Remember when you were kids and you'd spent all your allowance money on gum, or whatever? What'd you do when you had to give a gift? You did something nice for someone else, didn't you? Scribbled on a nice piece of paper some verbiage about baby-sitting or something? Guess what? You can still do that. Consider giving someone the gift of service. Take them on a date to volunteer at a soup kitchen. Or spend a day packing boxes at your local food pantry. They'll never forget it. And they won't be forced to regift the thing.

What's the best holiday gift you've ever gotten?

Hub Friday: Education is Elemental

We wrote a few months ago about our friends at the Chemical Heritage Foundation. (One of The Hub facilities is based there.)
This outstanding organization demonstrates that a potentially boring high-school subject (yours truly scraped by with a C-) can be fun and exciting, and even (gasp!) interesting. In fact, you need only look at one of their excellent competitions for high-school students going on right now to see just how much the folks at the foundation believe in their subject matter.
In the "It's Elemental!" competition, students are encouraged to mix old information with new technology: they're asked to submit videos based around an element in the periodic table. From there, their 3- to 5-minute video is judged on the obvious bits, like "presentation of scientific information" and "technical merit."

What will it take to make this interesting? The guys at the Chemical Heritage Foundation know.

But from there, the competition rapidly veers away from your run-of-the-mill science project: Students will be judged on overall artistry, and their videos will be carefully vetted to see that their chosen element is presented in a light that makes evident its historical and social significance.
At the Hub, we value education pretty highly. We think there's true social and historical potential in everything. So when we talk to new clients, we look at the potential to host their events as opportunities to educate the conference attendees that are coming in that day.
And we encourage our employees to continue to educate themselves too, on everything from social media to trends in meeting planning and events. This philosophy, we think, keeps us fresh, and it keeps us thinking in new directions when it comes to planning conferences for our clients.
Visit the Chemical Heritage Foundation's "It's Elemental!" contest here.
What's your philosophy of work?

EcoMonday: Closet Purging, and what to do with it

We've written before about our flooring and how important textiles are to the recycling industry. Textiles can be recycled again and again without much breakdown in quality, but they can sit in landfills for decades, not getting enough sunlight or moisture to break down.

Where does all this cloth go?

So what can you do? Here are a few tips as we head into the holiday season.

• Freecycle it. Freecycle is a nationwide online network of people who are are constantly "gifting" items to each other. You send out a note describing what you have to give away and wait. (All posts are moderated, and the entire board is watched over very carefully for spammers and other unsavory sorts.) In our experience, you don't wait very long, and your stuff will go to someone who wants it. There are at least four Freecycle groups operating in Philadelphia, according to where you live.
• Give the gift of comfort...to an animal. Animal shelters often need old sheets, towels, and blankets to provide warmth to a furry friend. Consider giving your bedding and linens to an animal shelter before you put them in a landfill.
• Dress someone for success. Dress for Success's Philadelphia branch takes new and gently worn suits to women who are just getting back onto their feet in new careers after economic hardship. The group also provides networking opportunities and career counseling.
• Get someone to help you. Pottstown-based Recycling Services, Inc. has open community drop-off days for everything from your electronics to your curtains, so take advantage of their open house days and put your stuff in their hands for repurposing into something new.

Now go on--purge your closets, both at work and at home, and know you're doing something good.

What's your favorite way to recycle?

Hub Day: Where and Why: The Chemical Heritage Foundation

In this series, we'll explore why and how we came about our individual sites. This week we'll explore the Chemical Heritage Foundation.

We have a secret: We almost failed high school chemistry. Our teacher, one Ms. Payton, was so popular that she intimidated us. And she tried so, so hard to make chemistry fascinating. But alas, she had to count us as one of her failures.

You know what? If we'd known about the Chemical Heritage Foundation back then, things would have been mighty different.
Just look at the place! Two-story video display! Funky-cool instruments! People, standing around, looking interested! This is nothing like Chem101 at 2:10 PM, when we're in our lunchtime slump....

But we digress. The Chemical Heritage Foundation is one of our favorite places. Aside from the fact that we've chosen it as a Hub location, it is the only space we know of with spatial provenance suiting its heritage and mission. Consider: Physician Benjamin Rush, who was America's first-ever chemistry prof, lived right down the street. And Ben Franklin lived within earshot.

Imagine living between this guy...

and this guy!

And then, there's also the fact that the Chemical Heritage Foundation tries is utmost to make chemistry accessible to everyone. They host art exhibits based around chemistry, and they never balk at some of the darker things that chemistry might encompass, like the creation of the atomic bomb and poisonous gas.

CHF is also a sponsor of Science on Tap Philadelphia, a monthly gathering that puts a short lecture or presentation on science in a bar--we know for a fact that the ensuing discussion is always lively. (Seriously, did you ever think geek could be so chic?)

Their weekly Brown Bag Lectures are good food for thought, too.

But we'll be honest and say that, although we may not want to pursue chemistry as a profession any more than we did in high school, the CHF has made it ever so much more interesting. They did it because they understand that chemistry is not just about reactions and things going bang; it's about the people behind it, and what drove them to discover what they did. They get how important it is to carry that view into the future, and anyway, CHF is the only learning institution we know of to make nanotechnology make sense.

Follow the Chemical Heritage Foundation @chemheritage on Twitter. Next week, why and how we chose CHF to be a partner.

EcoMonday: Electronics Recycling

Oh, woe is us: So many electronics, so little recycling.

Let's just address briefly why on earth you'd even try to properly recycle your computers or old electronics.
1. Space: There's no room in your office for that enormous cathode-ray-tube monitor. Plus, that industrial beige doesn't go with your new office decor. Ugh.
2. Data: What if you need to retrieve a file from 1998? It's easier if you don't have to dig out the enormous hard drive in the back of the office storeroom. Also better if you know sensitive data's been properly destroyed.
3. It's the earth, stupid: Hello! Computer chips and components are often made with heavy metals that can be harmful to the earth if just left in a landfill.
4. Your trash is someone else's treasure: So many people can use your discarded electronics, you early adapter, you, so that your sleek MacBook Air (*so* 2008) is someone else's great find. Or, on a more serious note, donating your cell phone can help save someone's life.

So how do you go about recycling your electronics?

First, make sure all your data is wiped. ERevival will send a team to pick up all of your old electronics--everything from VCRs to plasma screens--and reliably destroy all of your data. Their Web site, as well, is a goldmine of great information about recycling your electronic waste.

Second, find a reliable recycler. If you have a smaller amount of ewaste that won't qualify for a large-scale pickup, you can take your old computers, printers, or cell phones down to Goodwill, who will take them off your hands for recycling or resale. (Although the Reconnect program is sponsored by Dell and Microsoft, you can drop off any brand of equipment.)
There are a lot of charities that will gladly take your mobile phone off your hands. At any Verizon retailer, you can drop off your old phone as you're picking up your new one, and your old phone will go to support Hopeline, which provides potential victims of domestic abuse with mobile phones so they have an independent safer phone line to use.

But Hopeline's not the only choice. Here's a great listing of other charities and companies who put your used mobile phones to good use, with almost no effort on your part. And here's a good list of resources in Philadelphia that will help you to recycle efficiently.

There are a lot of good reasons to recycle. And a lot of good ways to do it.

What are your favorite e-waste recycling tips?

Hub Day: The Baldwin Room

Our Cira Centre location is adjacent to Philadelphia's 30th Street Station. You get to it by strolling up a ramp and taking a small escalator.

It's a gorgeous space, all light and glass and with a clear view of the trainyards, so we knew we needed to pay homage to one of the men who built modern locomotion as we know it today: Matthias Baldwin.
Now, Baldwin may look like your run-of-the-mill 19th-century bloke, but he was anything but. In fact, although his name is now synonymous with steam engines, he got his start as a jeweler and a silversmith, and it was only because of his partnership with a machinist that he became interested in building stationary engines (engines that don't move, but which power objects--we think of them as modern-day generators).

A stationary engine like this one would help Baldwin in his later endeavors to produce steam locomotives.
Photo: CraftsmanshipMuseum.com

Eventually, he built a miniature locomotive, just for kicks, and it that year that the Philadelphia Museum commissioned him to build a working 4-passenger train for exhibition. Baldwin was asked that same year by the Camden and Amboy Railroad to build a short-line locomotive.

His locomotive, assembled entirely by hand (most modern machinery and tools didn't exist in the early 1800s), was called "Old Ironsides."
Baldwin's fate was sealed. He went on to found the Baldwin Locomotive Company, which would assemble over 1500 locomotive engines before his death in 1866.

Although we think the fact that Baldwin's lifework with trains is a great reason for us to name one of our rooms after him, probably the thing we like most about him is the fact that he was an inveterate philanthropist. (He was a founder of the Franklin Institute for the Betterment of Labour, demonstrating a remarkably early concern for the welfare of workers.) And his charitable donations and insistence on racial equality were a key reason for a major boycott of Baldwin engines in the south as the Civil War became a reality.

For all of these reasons, we're proud that this room, a cornerstone of our Cira Centre location, bears Matthias Baldwin's name.
You can see this statue of Matthias Baldwin in front of Philadelphia's City Hall, and you can learn more about Matthias Baldwin here.

Eco-Monday: Don't Bottle It Up

We're not talking about emotions here--we're talking about water.

That's right--the Hub doesn't buy plastic bottles. So what do we do when our clients request bottled water? Well, we purchase it from a source within 150 miles and make sure that we purchase glass bottles only. We'll address the glass vs. plastic question later, but first,

what do we do when we're thirsting for a tall, cool glass of water? Simple: We turn on the tap.

We adore tap water. It's an economically sound solution, it's readily available--and would you be surprised to learn that in a recent taste test for tap water (yes, these things really do exist!), Philadephia's tap water was rated in the top ten in 2007, at the annual conference of U.S. Mayors. (St. Louis was #1, but who's counting?)

And yes, it's safe. We found this terrific diagram from DrinkTap.org, an advocacy organization, that details the various steps each municipality puts its water through before letting citizens have access to it.

Our favorite thing about tap water? It can be readily flavored. The Hub's resident mixologist came up with this recipe to give your tap water a little zing:

1/2 gallon tap water
1 tray ice cubes
1/2 cup ginger simple syrup
12 seedless-cucumber slices
Put all ingredients in pitcher, stir and serve. Zing!

So go on, belly up to the tap. It does a body--and a corporation--good.

Tell us about your favorite ways to flavor tap water, or tell us what you think of this article, in the comments below.