In 2008 HICK Tech sponsored its second one-day technology conference in Owen Sound, Canada. It featured 22 sessions on the topics of Business, Community, Food & Agriculture and Technology. Speakers were a mix of local experts and industry leaders from three different countries. The goal of the conference was to provide local businesses and residents the opportunity to enjoy a "big city" conference without having to travel to another region. It highlighted the exceptional work that is being done within the community and sought to encourage businesses to leverage all available resources within the community. Additional information on the 2008 conference is available at: http://hicktech.com/2008

In its second year HICK Tech strengthened its commitment to the environment in every possible way. In addition to adding an environment-themed session to each of the four speaking tracks, HICK Tech did as many things as possible to reduce the conference’s impact on the environment by supporting local businesses, reducing waste where possible, and offsetting energy consumed where reduced consumption was not feasible. Below is a list of the things we accomplished as part of this sustainability initiative for our one-day technology conference. It is by no means a complete list of everything that could have been done, but it is a start and should be considered the minimum for all conferences to achieve at future events.

Support local businesses:

• t-shirts were made in Canada, and printed in Owen Sound and were available by pre-order only (alternative: offer a silk screen station where delegates can print their own conference t-shirt)
• conference mugs were hand crafted by a local potter
• all paper printing was done in Owen Sound (including: business cards, posters, promotional brochures, day-of program)
• food was prepared by an in-town catering company (used to catering large weddings)
• day-of AV and post-production editing was completed by two local AV companies
• wireless hotspots were provided by the city as part of the venue rental
• sponsors and international speakers were bag piped into the conference hall at the beginning of the day
• instead of elevator music we used a local R&B jazz duo for the wrap-up "party"
• graphic design for print material was done by a local print designer
• "brand" photo was taken by a local photographer and depicts a steer standing in front of a turbine located within an hour’s drive of the conference venue

Use in-season, local food:

• the local catering company was restricted to a 100 mile radius for all food (an exception was made for coffee, which was roasted locally); in some cases this meant food was sweetened with maple syrup instead of sugar
• the producers of food spoke from the podium about the food they had prepared
• we worked directly with farmers and The 100 Mile Market to source as much food as possible
• we served locally grown apple juice instead of orange juice; water was poured from the tap into jugs that were available on the tables
• locally brewed beer was served at the wrap-up "party"

Reduce consumption:

• less than one garbage bag of waste was produced during the day (over 100 delegates were present; three meals were served during the day)
• use cloth napkins at meals (and the colour matched the conference’s colours)
• no bottled water or canned pop was served (although it was available from a machine down the hall very few delegates chose to buy packaged beverages)
• offered note paper and pens at a table for people to pick up "as needed"
• used real cutlery, plates and glasses
• offered a compost bin at the plate collection area
• printed things in smaller batches "as needed" (using previous years to estimate quantities)
• used a cloth bag for delegates from a local business instead of a conference branded bag
• limited the amount of printed material went into the bags

Offset energy consumption:

• performed an energy audit of the venue (hired an electrician)
• asked speakers where they are traveling from and what mode of transportation they were using
• used Planetair to purchase credits for energy consumed during the day and by traveling speakers—purchased offset credits at the Gold Standard

Are you thinking about running your own community conference? The nuts and bolts behind HICK Tech have been described in an article I wrote for Linux Pro Magazine. The print edition will be on stands in September, but the article is now available for download from their site. You can now read HICK Tech: How to roll out your own community event online.

Larry Jensen presented at HICK Tech 2007. He showed participants how a song is recorded. He's submitted a song to the CBC to be the new Hockey Night in Canada theme song. Go vote for Larry! (Registration required.) As he says, it's "Rock Alternative with a middle section ascending chromatically perfect for voice over." Too true, my friend. Too true.

The planning for the first-ever HICK Tech started in 2006. At that time I thought I was developing a one-day technology conference. In reality the project has grown into something much bigger. This year I have been asked to speak at four international conferences about the successes HICK Tech has seen. I am also in the process of writing an article for Linux Pro Magazine on the steps it takes to run your own community technology conference. This Web site will continue to host information about the local projects I'm involved with but also the broader ideas of community and rural and technology.

In its new incarnation I will be adding more of my own photographs (and maybe there will be some guest photographers as too). I've started with a photograph of Owen Sound's grain elevators. I have a feeling future photos will include things like power lines and cell phone towers and mill dams and water towers and other definitions of rural and technology. The series is inspired by RG Daniel's photograph of a steer in front of a wind turbine on the Bruce Peninsula. It was the graphic used for HICK Tech 2008 promotional material (albeit tinted orange).

Thank you to everyone that has supported HICK Tech to date. I look forward to growing with you.

At our final tally, the day of the conference consumed the following power:

Air travel (three round trip flights): 5.06T CO2
Car travel (fifteen round trips, total distance of 4390km. Some speakers car pooled.): 0.85T CO2
Electrical consumption at the Bayshore (multiple rooms with varying use and a dishwasher, 1069.57kWh consumed): 0.32T CO2

These 6.23T of CO2 emissions have been offset to the Gold Standard using PlanetAir's offset credits program.