W4W is intended to compliment the efforts of the Russian River Eco-Ring in its endeavor to bring eco-friendly tourism to the lower Russian River Area and showcase West Sonoma County as a hub for sustainable practice prototypes. The Monte Rio Community Center (MRCC) has been designated for W4W be- cause its recent remodel has made it the ideal place to video record this series [and it is in the redevelopment funding region]. Monte Rio is located just far enough west that we feel attendees might be more compelled to book a room and stay the night. By conducting this series in the off-season, Eco-Ring/Daily Acts hopes to attract attendees from Sonoma County and beyond during a period when tourism activity generally drops.
Wineries for the Watershed is an ‘overlay’ concept to a speaker series featuring Northern California leaders and visionaries in the sustainability movement. The overlay is a marketing incentive that offers local wineries an opportunity to sponsor the speaker series and pour/sell their wines exclusively at the workshops. [While we didn’t feel that the subject of well-grown wines could sustain interest as a singular topic within the series, nor could we figure out how to highlight all those growing sustainably in a single event], we do want to acknowledge how vitally important it is that the wine growers of West Sonoma County use sustain- able strategies, especially in consideration of their relationship with the Russian River and its watershed.
Each vintner will have 20 minutes to present information on their winery, using the technology the MRCC offers, and discuss the wines they will be serving and selling. In return for sponsoring a workshop, the winery will enjoy a page of ad- vertising in our W4W brochure (10,000 distribution), and the opportunity to serve and sell their wines at the workshop.
The W4W overlay incentive was specifically created to offset the cost of market- ing the speaker series and is a key factor in future financial sustainability of the program.The Sustainability Speaker Series will feature a variety of media tools in the presentations to keep things lively and entertaining, as well as educational. The workshops will be taped and edited (with additional info on the topic from other resources to be provided by the keynote speaker) to compile a DVD of each speaker and the specific expertise, practice or product for which he or she has gained recognition. This collection will be made available to the MRCC at wholesale to sell to the public both at the center and on the MRCC website, in addition to other distribution hubs, such as Green Planet Films (www.greenplanetfilms.org) and Daily Acts (www.daily-acts.org).The speakers may also choose to distribute their own [unlicensed] presentations for promo- tional purposes. However, they will not be allowed to sell their individual DVD.
As this is intended to be an annual event, the cost will likely go down as atten- dance goes up, DVD library sales will contribute, and more sponsors will come on board (local lodgings, restaurants, etc.).
Eco-Ring is seeking underwriting from the Russian River Redevelopment Fund on behalf of this project for 2009-2012 to establish an ongoing partnership with Daily Acts to continue fulfillment of its initial goals of providing eco-education to the public. The start-up funding proposal is accompanied by revenue-generating strategies for regional economic stimulus.