Viridian Energy Holds Third Annual Convention
9/26/2012
Viridian Takes Entire Venue Carbon Neutral for Event
NORWALK, Conn.-- Viridian Energy, a leading provider of affordable, green retail energy, today announced its third annual PowerUP! convention, held in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The three day event celebrated Viridian’s substantial growth over the past year, focusing on the positive environmental impact customers have enabled to date and outlined plans for driving further adoption of Viridian’s green energy offerings. The company, now in its fourth year, has already achieved a customer base of more than 200,000 and avoided more than 452 million pounds of carbon emissions.
“In order to maintain our growth rate and contribution to the health of the environment, it is increasingly important to invigorate our sales force and provide tools and resources to move forward as a company,” said Michael Fallquist, founder and CEO of Viridian Energy. “We put this event together with the intent of creating a transformative experience that will drive the business and provide more individuals an opportunity to live a greener lifestyle. We look forward to continuing to report positive impacts from these efforts.”
This year, Viridian set a new standard for the convention, purchasing carbon offsets for all attendees’ travel and RECs for the entire usage of Bally’s Hotel and Casino through the entirety of the event, thus making the venue itself completely carbon neutral during the convention.
Key announcements at this year’s convention included foundational growth plans for Viridian; product expansion, a new business management platform, and new training programs. The fall edition of the Green Energy Observer was also released. Other key announcements were the future launches into Delaware and Washington DC, the launch of natural gas, a 25 percent increase in customer base, and a 51 percent increase in corporate employee count.
Viridian also revealed Indonesia as the third location of its “7 Continents in 7 Years” global sustainability initiative. Since 2010 Viridian has completed a major project on a different continent each year including rainforest reforestation in Brazil and solar panel installation and lighting systems in schools and health posts in Ghana.
“The remarkable milestones Viridian has achieved would not be possible without our dedicated associates,” said Meredith Berkich, SVP of Viridian Network. “We want to provide every tool and resource our associates may require. Studies show a measurable gain in the success of associates that attend conventions and we’re pleased to support them as they grow their business.”
The convention featured speakers including John T. Fleming, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Direct Selling News, Suzanne Shelton, CEO of The Shelton Group, and Josh Dorfman, author of, “The Lazy Environmentalist,” on topics ranging from sustainability going mainstream and living greener to business strategies and personal success. Breakout sessions with company leadership provided in-depth training, marketing tips and tools, social media strategies, regulatory and compliance information.
Ernst and Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year 2012 in the New York, Cleantech category, awarded to Michael Fallquist, and Viridian’s Direct Selling Association 2012 ETHOS Rising Star Award were also highlighted.