Getting some free advice!

I recieved an email last week inviting me to take part in a competition, where I would have the opportunity to present my business issue to a panel of experts, and benefit from their advice.  The competition closed that day, so I entered (in 500 words or less) my particular business issue, relating to reduction in carbon emissions.  Worth a punt I thought.

 The next day I received an email saying that my entry was successful!  I would be one of 4 entrants attending a soho studio session on the 1st April, where I would meet expert panel, and my issue and the subsequent advice be recorded.  On the day of filming I outlined my project to the panel, who were able to offer the following advice:

• Focus on equipment and the replacement strategy to ensure you are using the most energy efficient  IT kit
• Look at ways of reducing business travel, such as web demo’s and seminars, and record milage on a project by project basis
• Measure consumption before and after applying energy saving techniques to understand the impacts of small changes
• Engage staff in the exercise and get them excited about making the change

I was then set a specific challenge of creating a web blog recording the results of a 2 week experiment to try out some of the above techniques, and to ask staff to contribute to the blog with their feedback.  I was also given a video camera to make a video diary of our progress.  I may even be up for a prize if I am judged by the panel to have successfully followed the advice.

This has proved a great kick start to my project, and I’m looking forward to trying out some of the recommendations from the expert panel over the coming weeks, as well as including links to the video advice footage and my video diary.