7.22.2008 - 04:05pm ET

(CSRwire) New York, NY - July 22, 2008 - The SustainPro Conference, billed as the world's largest corporate operations-level environmental sustainability event, announced its initial agenda today. The bill includes 30 world-class speakers with over 60 others expected to join the event in the coming weeks.

The opening keynote will be provided by Dr. Peter Diamandis, Chairman and CEO of the X PRIZE Foundation, an educational non-profit that designs and administers competitions with prizes of $10 million or more. In 2004, the Foundation captured the world's attention when the Burt Rutan-led team built and flew the world's first private spaceship to win the $10 million Ansari X PRIZE for suborbital spaceflight. The Foundation has since launched the $10 million Archon X PRIZE for Genomics, the $30 million Google Lunar X PRIZE, and the $10 million Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE. The Foundation is creating prizes in Exploration (Space and Oceans), Life Sciences, Energy & Environment, Education and Global Development. The Foundation is widely recognized as the leading model for fostering innovation through competition.

In his address at SustainPro, Dr. Diamandis will speak about the power of the prize philanthropy model and how the X PRIZE Foundation is using that model to create radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity. Specifically, Diamandis will focus on the Foundation's future plans for developing an Energy and Environment Suite. The Suite will be made up of prizes focusing on a number of different areas, including energy efficiency, storage, distribution, and renewable generation.

"Dr. Peter Diamandis' keynote provides a new way of looking at the problems facing the Energy and Environment sector, by utilizing the power of competition," says SustainPro Conference Chair Jay Whitehead. "SustainPro exists to motivate and enable the people who have the greatest impact on energy savings and the environment-corporate operations-level pros in manufacturing, IT, procurement, marketing, energy, logistics & transportation, facilities and corporate operations. In North America alone, corporate operations-level executives manage 67% of the impact and cost of greenhouse gases, energy usage and waste. As a result, SustainPro's audience represents today's single-greatest leverage point for saving energy costs and the environment."

Additional keynote speakers include legendary corporate sustainability leader Ray Anderson, Chairman and Founder of industrial flooring pioneer Interface Inc. The inventor of the carpet square, Anderson will tell how Interface has re-defined its manufacturing process based on sustainable cradle-to-cradle design and transformed industrial flooring from a product to a service. Also, Khloro Capital Management CEO and former SAP sustainability and compliance software leader Amit Chatterjee will give attendees an exclusive preview of corporate operations-level sustainability innovations on the horizon. Altogether, the SustainPro Conference will feature nearly 100 operational sustainability expert speakers covering all 7 major operational job functions and representing the 14 largest B2B industries in the US economy.

The conference agenda for the SustainPro Conference & Expo can be found online at www.SustainPro.com, with new speakers being added each week. The SustainPro Conference online registration opens July 18 for corporate operations-level execs and the NGOs, consultants and service providers who support them.
SustainPro initial sponsors and exhibitors to date include Dell, MeadWestvaco, Kodak, Dow, Hydropoint, IBM, GE Energy, GE Financial, American Express Business, Safety-Kleen, Energy Solutions, Microsoft, Khloro Capital Management, Intercontinental, Kyoto Planet, Earth First, Solarsoft Business Systems, PG&E, Wisconsin Energy, Infosys, Interled, Software Systems, City of Chicago, US EPA, University of Chicago, Northwestern University, University of Wisconsin, with many more joining every week. The SustainPro Conference is co-produced by Kyoto Planet.
Individual attendee pass prices for the inaugural SustainPro Conference October 29-30, 2008 are: $75 for Expo Floor only, $395 early bird until September 12, 2008, $495 thereafter, and $595 on-site, with special $320 discount rate for trade association members whose associations have joined the Corporate Sustainability Alliance, or CSANow.org. The conference's online complement, the SustainPro.com online community site, is scheduled to go live September 8, 2008.

About the SustainPro Conference and SustainPro.com

The SustainPro Conference, billed as the world's largest corporate operations-level environmental sustainability event, and its online social networking counterpart SustainPro.com focus on professionalizing operations-level corporate sustainability. The conference and online properties are owned by SUPR Show LLC, and co-produced by Kyoto Planet. SUPR shareholders include corporate responsibility media veteran Jay Whitehead, Crossing Media LLC CEO Elliot Clark, sustainability consulting, eco-conscious financial services and media group Kyoto Planet, sustainability venture capitalist James Lincoln and ESG investment rating firm IW Financial. SUPR Show LLC also owns the Sustainable Productivity Seal of Approval, or SUPR Seal, which ranks the sustainability profiles of the largest 1000 companies in the 14 top B2B industries. More information at www.SustainPro.com

For more information please contact:

Commitment to Transparency: This organization is committed to transparency and stakeholder dialogue and encourages your comments and feedback.

Post a comment below: *Your Comment: *Name: *E-mail (will not be displayed):   Notify me when others add comments to this discussion. Verification String (Six characters shown at left)