Reputation Dynamics forms Partnership with Elevate Destinations to Offer World Cup Community Touring in South Africa

Reputation Dynamics, in partnership with Elevate Destinations, is providing several customized community tour options to complement travelers' experiences at the South Africa World Cup. The touring will introduce travelers to some of the issues and challenges prevalent in South African communities, as well as introduce innovative non-profit organizations seeking to make a positive impact. Tours can be organized for a minimum of 1 or 2 days or longer.

Sample excursions include touring community projects in the historic Soweto area with former great soccer players such as Andre Arendse and Linda Buthelezi; a visit to the Boland Athletics Club, to meet with disadvantaged kids from the townships and farm areas around the Boland in Capetown; and a trip to Indigo Skate Park, situated in the Valley of a Thousand Hills in Durban – a rural area where skateboarding has brought hope to the community.

10% of tour costs will be donated to local communities and non-profits.

Key non-profit partners for this initiative are: The Sports Trust, which has sponsored more than 200 projects throughout South Africa and has mounted a campaign to distribute 20,000 soccer shoes before the World Cup, to disadvantaged children who cannot participate in the sport for lack of footwear; the Ubuntu Institute, a non-profit organization in South Africa founded by Cedza Dlamini (Nelson Mandela's grandson), which looks at the role of culture, heritage and indigenous knowledge systems in achieving the Millennium Development Goals in Africa; and Uthando South Africa, which supports a broad range of grass roots, community-based projects with substantial and enduring value to the most destitute and marginalized communities in South Africa.

Founded in 2005, Elevate Destinations is a leading global sustainable travel company offering customized adventures to travelers' seeking to explore and impact the environmental, socio-cultural and economic conditions of the places they visit. Key markets include Africa, India, Latin America and South East Asia.

Further information:

E: sam@elevatedestinations.com - 212 979 6092.

http://www.elevatedestinations.com/

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Survey to Explore Keys to Winning Employee Engagement Programs | GreenBiz.com

Survey to Explore Keys to Winning Employee Engagement Programs GreenBiz.com

Employee Sustainability Education Impacts the Bottom-line.

Interesting survey to take and the deadline is November 30th. Supports the current trend that sustainability initiatives need to be engaged with, and championed by, employees within organizations. Sustainability and corporate social responsibility initiatives no longer just resides within executive and senior management teams - need to be integrated throughout the organization and supply chain.

Employee Mobilization is Key: For and not-for-profit organizations need to continue to harness the power of employees, gauge their opinions about green concerns, embrace them in grass-roots community mobilization and campaigns, as well as ensure proper integration with social community networking platforms.

Sam Taylor

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Reputation Dynamics forms Partnership with Climb the Green Ladder: Sustainability Training Critical for Retaining Talent and Competitive Edge

Reputation Dynamics, in partnership with Climb the Green Ladder, provides training sessions for corporations and non-profits to learn all about sustainability and social change, the business imperative, as well as how to develop and champion stakeholder-driven programs. The program also features a special emerging market session on social change development in Africa.

"Social change, sustainability and 'Going Green' is the evolution of an accepted management paradigm and a key component for safeguarding reputation and competitive business edge - despite an economic slowdown," said Samantha Taylor, Reputation Dynamics founder and president. "Many organizations have enjoyed substantial benefits from their programs, while others are still postponing development."

Seventy-eight percent (78%) believe the value of a job candidate's environmental and sustainability knowledge will increase in importance as a hiring factor within five years. (The Engaged Organization: March 2009).

"Engaging employees with sustainability opportunities has become a critical factor, despite lay-offs, as organizations continue to struggle with attracting and retaining talent for the long term," added Samantha.

Companies continue to be under the gun to implement effective sustainability and social change initiatives to address society's widespread challenges including healthcare, poverty, environmental issues and workplace development - all in conjunction with greater stakeholder mobilization and driving profit.

Sustainability spans a variety of social, economic and environmental activities by organizations that demonstrate their commitment to society on a local or global level, responsible business operations, grass-roots education initiatives and accountability of charitable contributions. These policies and programs can be designed to complement and enhance a company's business strategy, mission, cultural values and workforce development initiatives.

Customized, collaborative sessions, led by Samantha Taylor and associate partner - Shari Aaron (author of Climb the Green Ladder: Wiley), will address trends, best practices and approaches for effectively aligning 'Doing Good in Society' with business, stakeholder and community needs.

A typical agenda includes the following components:

• Role and impact of sustainability, social change and green marketing
• Top global concerns
• Impact on brand, reputation and performance
• Making the business case
• The new relationship dynamics between the for-profit and non-profit sectors
• Integration within the organization - connecting the dots with the CMO, HR and employees
• Positioning and messaging for impact
• Experiential marketing and campaign development
• Emerging market spotlight - Africa
• Evaluation and results benchmarking

Please contact Sam Taylor for further details about the program, cost and registration:

sam@reputation-dynamics.com - (212) 979 6092.

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http://www.climbthegreenladder.com/

Live from The Corporate Council on Africa - Perspectives on Aligning Social Responsibility for Africa

Joining hosts Ian & Tonya Fitzpatrick, hosts of Travel'n On Radio, from the Walter E. Washington Convention Center convenes experts in African and US business:

Marc Cavaliere, Executive Vice President of South African Airways

Sam Taylor, Founder and President of Reputation Dynamics

Thad Simons, President and CEO of Novus International

Keith Bruce, President of SportsMark

Peter Greenberg, CBS Travel Editor

For more information about this week's program and to listen click on following link:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/TravelnOnRadio/2009/09/30/LIVE-from-the-US-Africa-Business-Summit

The U.S.-Africa Business Summit attracted more than 1,500 leaders from the private and public sectors in the U.S. and Africa including U.S. and African heads of state and their cabinet ministers, along with CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, and heads of international organizations. In addition to a special speech made by Hillary Clinton and an agribusiness plenary, participants had the opportunity attend more than 50 industry-specific sessions including infrastructure, natural resources, health, financing, power, social responsibility and experiential tourism.

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The Corporate Council on Africa - LIVE from the US-Africa Business Summit in DC

Joining host Sandy Dhuyvetter this week from the Walter E. Washington Convention Center TravelTalkRADIO brings experts in African and US business:

Samantha Taylor, Founder of Reputation Dynamics
Barbara Hochstellar, Airport Designer
Yusuf Reja, Founder and CEO of ZebraJobs.com
Obinna Ekezie, President of Wakanow.com
Tim McCoy, VP Member Services of The Corporate Council on Africa
George Aboagye, CEO Ghana Investment Promotion Center

For more information about this week's program and to listen click on following link:
http://www.traveltalkradio.com/TTR_760kfmb.html

The U.S.-Africa Business Summit attracted more than 1,500 leaders from the private and public sectors in the U.S. and Africa including U.S. and African heads of state and their cabinet ministers, along with CEOs of fortune 500 companies, and heads of international organizations. In addition to a special speech made by Hillary Clinton and an agribusiness plenary, participants had the opportunity attend more than 50 industry-specific sessions including infrastructure, natural resources, health, financing, power, social responsibility and experiential tourism.

Stay tuned for Sam Taylor's report back on the conference and implications for corporate social responsibility in Africa.

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CORPORATE COUNCIL ON AFRICA’S U.S.-AFRICA BUSINESS SUMMIT

Aligning ‘Doing Good in Society’ with Business and Experiential Tourism

Reputation Dynamics Founder Sam Taylor will be moderating a panel on ‘Business and Experiential Tourism’ in conjunction with the 7th Biennial U.S.– Africa Business Summit: Realizing the Investment Power of Africa, to be held at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C., September 29 – October 1, 2009.

The African continent continues to show potential as a leading foreign direct investment destination for American businesses, despite the economic downturn nations around the globe are currently experiencing.

According to the IMF, Africa is still expected to maintain a positive growth rate of 3.4% for 2009, an impressive achievement for the continent. The continent is seeing increasingly higher levels of investment in industries such as infrastructure, financing, tourism, agribusiness, health, and energy.

About the Summit: The U.S.-Africa Business Summit is expected to attract more than 1,500 leaders from the private and public sectors in the U.S. and Africa. The summit has a stellar track record of bringing together U.S. and African heads of state and their cabinet ministers, along with CEOs of fortune 500 companies, and heads of international organizations. In addition to an agribusiness plenary, participants will have the opportunity to attend more than 50 industry-specific sessions and workshops on other promising sectors in Africa, including infrastructure, natural resources, health, financing, power, social responsibility and tourism.

Business and Experiential Tourism Panel Details
Thursday, October 1, 2009 - 10.30-12.00

Moderator - Sam Taylor, Founder of Reputation Dynamics

Panelists:

Elizabeth (Liz) Culkin - Vice President, ASTA
Leslee Hall - Botswana Tourism Board, Partner Concepts
Karen Hoffman - Tanzania Tourism Board, The Bradford Group
Dennis Pinto - Managing Director, Micato Safaris

According to the World Tourism Organization (WTO), ‘sun-and-sand-tourism’ has now matured as a market and its growth is projected to remain flat. In contrast, experiential tourism, encompassing eco-, volunteer, heritage, cultural, and adventure tourism is expected to grow three times faster than the tourism industry as a whole. Beginning in the 1990s, this sector has grown up to 34% per year and could grow to 25% of the world’s travel market within six years, taking value of the sector to $473.6 billion a year. The workshop will cover the opportunities for participation, investment and growth potential for the continent.

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About The Corporate Council on Africa: Established in 1993, The Corporate Council on Africa is a nonpartisan 501 (c) (3) membership organization of nearly 180 U.S. companies dedicated to strengthening the commercial relationship between the U.S. and Africa. CCA members represent nearly 85 percent of total U.S. private sector investments in Africa. The organization is dedicated to bringing together potential business partners and to showcase business opportunities on the continent.

Currently, 85 percent of all U.S. private sector investment in Africa comes from CCA members.

For more information and to register for the 7th Biennial U.S.–Africa Business Summit, visit: www.africacncl.org.

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CMO Club Roundtable: Smarter Approaches to Cause Marketing

Cause Marketing CMO CLUB Roundtable Podcast with Bruce Burtch, CEO - The Cause Marketing Catalyst, Lee Fox, Founder - KooDooZ, and Sam Taylor, Founder - Reputation Dynamics.

Three cause marketing experts share insights in a roundtable conversation hosted by Pete Krainik, Founder - The CMO CLUB.

Topics include:

• CMO worthy definition of cause marketing
• Best resources for measurement
• Risks and rewards for non-profits and brands
• Importance of "brand-fit" between for-profit, not-for-profit, and cause
• How cause marketing affects consumer perceptions
• Emerging causes
• Closing recommendations for CMOs

Link to Podcast: http://www.thecmoclub.blogspot.com/

Cause Marketing Podcast - MP3 File

For more information about The CMO Club - http://www.thecmoclub.com/

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