Welcome to Eco-mmunity. This website aims to connect people to all the green resources in the world. One of those resources is environmental events and important environmental locations. Creating event and location markers in Eco-mmunity is a great way to create awareness about ways to lessen damage to the environment, and also to protect special areas of wildlife, so that the ecologic system of our planet can continue to exist.

Step One(Can be skipped if you already have an account with Sundance Channel) – Create a membership with Sundance Channel. Once you have logged in to your membership, click “My Profile” (in the upper right corner of the screen) whenever you want to access your membership, subscribe to newsletters, or add/edit map markers on Eco-mmunity Map.

Step Two – Create your first map marker for your event. This map marker will allow people to learn about your event, discover when the event will take place, and also a place for people to get contact info about the event. If you are making a location, like “Yellowstone National Park,” then you would be helping society remember the value and importance of these parks. On your “My Profile” page click the link called “View/Add Green Map Markers.” The first question you are asked is what type of marker you should make. Select “Event Map Marker.”

Step Three – Filling in data about your event or location.

- Title

This is the most important piece of data in the marker, as it is the first thing people will see when they open your marker. The name of the event is a great place to start but you may want to add a dash and use one to three words that describe the purpose of your event. Examples might be, “Picking Up The Trash Day 2009,” “Green Groceries – Sustainable Shopping Workshop” or “Solar Power and Coffee – Power your notebook with Solar Energy.”

- Marker Address

This is the location on the Google Map where your marker will exist. It should represent the location of your event so that your marker is in the correct location on the map. If you are making a location, like the Grand Canyon, then just pick a close city in Kansas, you can always drag the map marker over the map manually later on.

- Display Address

This is the public address that you can put so that people will know where the event or location is.

- Contact Information

Email and/or Telephone information for the event can be listed if there is any.

- Website

This crucial piece of information allows people on Eco-mmunity to navigate to your website, which should be directly related to your event if at all possible, most locations of environmental importance do have some type of website, you might be able to find it if you decide to make a map marker for something like the “Florida Wetlands,” which is a threatened ecosystem in the great gator state.

- Date and Time of Event

Self-explanatory.

- Event Description

This is your first spot to write a well-written and hopefully enticing description of why your company is great. Try to keep this section direct, assertive and short, about three to five sentences. Make your event sound awesome but do not get overly wordy, you only have a few words to make an impression before people get bored.

- Marker Keywords

It is utterly crucial that you enter a few keywords into this field, as they will help people find your event or location when they search Eco-mmunity Map. Separate them with commas. Try selecting words that relate to your event’s main purpose or general objectives. For locations, put as many keywords as you can think of that relate to that location, it could be the type of animals that live in that location, there could be water there, there could be an old mining site there, it could be a superfund site, the list is long. If you pick a handful of keywords it will help people to find your marker.

- [b]Select An Icon For Your Marker[b]

Pick a picture for your marker and click “Update Marker.”

Congratulations, you have listed a new resource on Eco-mmunity and people will now be able to learn more about how they can be an integral part of preserving our beautiful planet.

Welcome to Eco-mmunity. This website aims to connect people to all the green resources in the world. Listing your business here is free and it can only help spread the word about the sustainable value of your goods and services.

Step One – Create a membership with Sundance Channel. Once you have logged in to your membership, click “My Profile” (in the upper right corner of the screen) whenever you want to access your membership, subscribe to newsletters, or add/edit map markers on Eco-mmunity Map.

Step Two – Create your first map marker for your business. This map marker will allow people to find your business when they come to Eco-mmunity Map. On your “My Profile” page click the link called “View/Add Green Map Markers.” The first question you are asked is what type of marker you should make. Select “Business or Organization.”

Step Three – Filling in data about your business.

- Title
This is the most important piece of data in the marker, as it is the first thing people will see when they open your marker. Your company name is a great start but you may want to add a dash and then a one to three word description of your business. Examples might be, “Sustainable Hardware Store,” “Green Groceries” or a full title might be “Big Mirror Solar Power – Supplying Nevada.”

- Marker Address
This is the location on the Google Map where your marker will exist. It should represent the location of your business so that your marker is in the correct location on the map. If your business does not have a physical location, you can put a general city, state location, like “Chicago, Illinois.” This information is private and cannot be viewed by any Eco-mmunity Member.

- Display Address
This is the public address that you can put as an easy reference for people in your area to find you.

- Contact Information
Email and/or Telephone information for your business

- Website
This crucial piece of information allows people on Eco-mmunity to navigate to your website, which should be directly related to your business.

- Please Tell Us About Your Business
This is your first spot to write a well-written and hopefully enticing description of why your company is great. Try to keep this section direct, assertive and short, about three to five sentences.

- What Kind of Green Products/Services Do You Offer?
This is a great place to start with a list of product/service categories which your business offers. Try to keep the categories broad. You may also wish to list one or two examples of your premier goods/services, and provide a moderate amount of textual description of them. Try not to write beyond three paragraphs if at all possible as you really want people to visit your website or contact you by phone/email.

- Marker Keywords
It is utterly crucial that you enter a few keywords into this field, as they will help people find your business when they search Eco-mmunity Map. Separate them with commas.

- [b]Select An Icon For Your Marker[b]
Pick a picture for your marker and click “Update Marker.”

Congratulations, you have joined Eco-mmunity and people will now be able to do business your company.

Everybody’s favorite green host, Simran Sethi, is making the rounds on the Huffington Post, offering her journalistic skills in an effort to shine the light on a very important Government decision regarding the future of Kansas’ environment. Simran Sethi has hosted Sundance Channel’s THE GREEN [www.sundancechannel.com] in the past. Her other major contribution to Sundance Channel’s environmental work is Simran’s web exclusiive video series called THE GOOD FIGHT [www.sundancechannel.com].

Simran has just posted a blog on The Huffington Post, focusing on Kansas’ landmark decision to deny permits to two coal-fired power plants on the grounds that their carbon emissions would contribute to global climate change. A bill that would veto this decision is being debated in the Kansas state legislature this week and next, and the outcome will have major repercussions for each state’s ability to regulate polluting industries like Big Coal.

Simran Sethi’s Blog Post [www.huffingtonpost.com]

The environmental consequences of this decision are huge, but it seems that not many people even know it’s being made. In an effort to generate discussion about this important issue, we’d love to see your comments and opinions.

After reading this, we hope you jump over to the post linked above and spread the info around to your friends. Thanks for joining us in THE GREEN BLOG. Happy Valentines Day!

Faith Salie interviews FIVE MINUTES OF HEAVEN director Oliver Hirschbiegel and actors Liam Neeson and James Nesbitt in the Sundance Channel Studio. Presented by Honda, The Power of Dreams.

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Faith Salie speaks with MOTHERHOOD director Katherine Dieckmann and cast members Uma Thurman and Anthony Edwards in the Sundance Channel Studio. Presented by Honda, The Power of Dreams.

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Check back at 10:30PM EST to see which films impressed the Jury at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.

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Faith Salie speaks with CHILDREN OF INVENTION director Tze Chun and cast members Cindy Cheung, Crystal Chiu, and Michael Chen in the Sundance Channel Studio. Presented by Honda, The Power of Dreams.

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Faith Salie interviews GOOD HAIR writer/producer Chris Rock, comedian/actress Sarah Jones, and executive producer Nelson George in the Sundance Channel Studio.

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Faith Salie speaks with COLD SOULS director Sophie Barthes and actor Paul Giamatti in the Sundance Channel Studio. Presented by Honda, The Power of Dreams.

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Faith Salie interviews MANURE director Michael Polish and cast members Billy Bob Thornton, Tea Leoni, Kyle MacLachlan, Ed Helms, and writer Mark Polish in the Sundance Channel Studio. Presented by Honda, The Power of Dreams.

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SUNDANCE CHANNEL PARTY

There are myriad ways of judging whether a party is a success or not. How about these:

-It’s packed.

-Free Stella Artois (and then some).

-Robert Redford.

All three apply to the Sundance Channel’s 31 DAYS OF SUNDANCE party held yesterday afternoon at 350 Main. “This party has a long history,” said Laura Michalchyshyn, general manager of the Sundance Channel. “It’s been around since the inception of the festival and it’s one of the most popular parties because it’s attended by filmmakers. “Hey, filmmakers and free beer—you can’t beat that.”

I was excited to run into Evan Shapiro, the president of IFC TV and the Sundance Channel, so I could ask him something that had been nagging me for a while: When will his two channels start streaming movies online?

“Both websites have a tremendous amount of content online, most of it original to the website,” said Shapiro, but he added, “We, to date, don’t believe the television experience online is an optimal one.” I told him my (admittedly inexpert) belief that eventually TV programming will shift entirely to the internet, thereby killing cable TV. “I don’t agree it’s going to be web-based,” he replied, arguing instead that hi-def TV will be the main portal for content delivery.

As for this year’s films, Shapiro said, “I think the world wants to focus on the crisis, but suddenly I feel like the people and the artists are far more hopeful than they have been in the past.” He cited MARY & MAX, 500 DAYS OF SUMMER, ADVENTURELAND and I LOVE YOU PHILLIP MORRIS, continuing, “American filmmakers in particular are full of realistic optimism that I haven’t seen in a block of film like this, ever.”

Later on at the party, I ran into someone from last weekend who had blocked me out while I was videotaping Efren Ramirez (Pedro from NAPOLEAN DYNAMITE) dancing with some actress. That “someone” turned out to be Chris Barrett, a subject in the documentary THE CORPORATION, who met Ramirez back in 2004 (when both of their films screened at Sundance). And that actress turned out to be Laura Harring from MULHOLLAND DRIVE.

So what’s Barrett been up to since THE CORPORATION? He and Ramirez wrote a book together called Direct Your Own Life, and Barrett’s documentary AFTER SCHOOL, about teacher-student sex scandals, is in post-production.

And then we shook hands, which can mean all sorts of things at Sundance. In this instance, though, I think it meant “no hard feelings.”