Live blog

17.30

That’s just about a wrap from me on the live blog. Hope you’ve enjoyed the day. Those of you in the room, please join us downstairs for a quick G&T courtesy of Little Bird Gin and Fever Tree.

Don’t be a stranger: stay in touch with us at ClearlySo and hopefully we’ll see you all next year if not before.

Jonny

17.25

Our Social Business of the Year 2012 is LooWatt!

17.11

We’d like to say a huge thanks to Chocolution who have placed some rather tasty gifts for you all in the middle of your tables.

Chocolution wants to reconnect people with healthy chocolate and the world around them in order to change the chocolate industry for the better. Abolish the slavery and unsustainable production habits. Involve everyone from the farmer to the consumer, making a transparent and fair process.
All of their chocolate products are made using National Arriba de Fina Cacao.

Their raw chocolate making kits are designed to help people, from school kids to foodies, learn about the ingredients that go into chocolate, give them the opportunity to make their own healthy chocolate.

17.09

We’re in to our final pitch from Virginia Gardiner from LooWatt, who we actually featured in a blog post back in July entirely about…poo.

16.38

Pippa Palmer takes to the stage to present for SolarAid. You can see a quick summary of their business further down the page (15.57).

Also, bare in mind that Pippa joined SolarAid less than a week ago. Baptism of fire!

16.36

The winner of a scholarship worth £2,000 is Will Prochaska from Alive & Kicking.

Here is Will’s pitch from two years ago at this very conference.

16.16

We’re nearly ready to get our Social Business of the Year Award LIVE final underway. Each of the finalists will pitch, and then the audience will vote with their feet for the winner; who will receive a cheque for £2000.

It’s also worth noting that award judge Peter Stocks of Baxi Partnership will be selecting one of all today’s pitchers to receive a Baxi scholarship to the prestigious Oxford Leadership Masterclass (usually £19850 for this two day residential course).

All the info about the award is on page 8 of your delegate book.

15.58

And finally the summary for ValueForm and their presenter, Jaydeep Korde:

Valueform make food packaging from straw which is cheaper and environmentally superior to paper and plastic alternatives, having worked with Co-Op, Marks & Spencer and Coke over the past 3 years to develop substitution products we now need capital to deliver in high volumes. Our technology research has been done with Reading Uni, Imperial College and Bangor univeristy. We want to sell the end product and license our technology to get rid of plastics globally as quickly as we can, our planet cant afford us not to succeed.

It has won several awards including a Sustainable Business Award in 2004, for pursuing innovation and sustainable development with enthusiasm and commitment. It also won the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Innovation Award from South East Hampshire Enterprise Agency in 2004 and is a DTI R & D award winning company.

Jaydeep Korde, founder and CEO of Valueform Ltd is an engineer who has delivered global technology projects for governments and financial services organisations. Jaydeep sold his cloud computing start up in 2005 to the structured cabling arm of BT and then ran the business for 2 years post sale. He has been working on ValueForm since 2007 and has a burning passion to remove paper and plastic from food packaging.

15.57

Here’s a summary for our finalist SolarAid and their presenter Pippa Palmer:

SolarAid was founded in 2006 by the leading solar company, Solarcentury. We are a charity but we do things a bit differently. We focus on business-based solutions to poverty and climate change, and with enterprise firmly at the heart of our work, we harness the sun’s power to confront both these issues head on.
Half a billion sub-Saharan African’s live ‘off grid’. When darkness falls, most are forced to burn what they earn on kerosene to light their homes and schools, whilst filling them with harmful, polluting smoke. Because kerosene dependency locks people in a cycle of poverty, we know that traditional aid won’t work. The SolarAid solution is smart but simple. We use the sun’s power, together with the latest solar technology, to confront the market failure that lies at the root of this little-known problem. Our goal is to eradicate kerosene lighting from Africa by 2020 with SunnyMoney…

Pippa Palmer joined as Executive Director for SolarAid in October 2012. Pippa is a passionate and enthusiastic strategist, with extensive experience of implementing brand, marketing and communication strategies. Previously, She was Head of Marketing at Fulcrum and Interim CMO at Truphone. In her spare time runs an off grid sustainable smallholding in south Cornwall.

15.56

Here’s a summary of our award finalist, LooWatt and their representative, Virginia Gardiner:

Loowatt Ltd. has developed a waterless toilet system that seals human waste into biodegradable polymer film for anaerobic digestion. The digester converts the waste into biogas and digestate, a nutrient-rich liquid that is further treated to be sold as fertilizer. The biogas is used for energy purposes, either burnt as fuel or converted to electricity. Loowatt has patented the toilet’s unique sealing unit and created intelligent and feasible distributive business models to support our waste to energy systems, making toilet operation a profitable enterprise.

In 2011 Loowatt was awarded a Grand Challenges Explorations Phase 1 grant by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to “develop the next generation of sanitation technologies.” The company is now implementing a pilot system in Antananarivo, Madagascar, and exploring market opportunities in the U.K.

Virginia Gardiner founded Loowatt Ltd. in late 2009 after receiving seed funding and support from the InnovationRCA Incubator. The idea began as her masters’ degree project in Industrial Design Engineering at the Royal College of Art. Loowatt now employs an interdisciplinary team focused on design, research and business development.

15.48

Right folks, it’s most certainly not winding down just yet (although there is G&T downstairs at 5:30). Stay tuned on this page for a quick summary of the finalists.

15.47

JustGiving recently published some information on the impact of their network. Apparently each and every single fundraise on JustGiving will reach on average 562 people on Facebook. Many of these people may not have otherwise given to charity, and many turn out to be inspired by their friends’ fundraising events and take up the mantel themselves.

Here’s the presentation from the announcement.

15.22

So as we reconvene, we welcome the co-founders of JustGiving on to the stage. There will be a breather after this session with a chance to grab a cuppa before we come back in to the Jerwood Hall for last time to hear from our three award finalists. I’ll be posting up some summaries of each of our finalist’s businesses shortly, so keep your eyes on this live blog. Don’t forget that the ultimate decision comes down to YOU. There will be a chance to ‘vote with your feet’ for our final winner. There’s a novelty cheque and flags – it’s all quite exciting.

14.45

So our award finalists are @LoowattLtd, ValueForm and @SolarAid. Final coming up at 16:15.

Meanwhile, we’re deep in to discussions around social enterprises providing public services up in the Jerwood Hall; whilst downstairs it is standing room only for ‘Charities in Transition’, looking at how charities can diversify their incomes and access new revenue streams.

14.03

Hugely valuable session hosted by One Tonne at SBC12. It’s change places time again, with coffee and pudding being served both upstairs in the Jerwood Hall and downstairs in the Gamelan Room for the Charities in Transition session. Awards finalist announcement will be upstairs at 14:10.

13.39

Fascinating discussion going on up here in the Jerwood Hall. By the sounds of things on hashtag #SBC12, it’s the same downstairs as well. We are recording the audio stream of today’s sessions so if anyone who is in the Olympic or True Leadership sessions really wants a copy, they can let us know. Or, if today leaves you wanting more, you can view all of last year’s conference on our YouTube channel.

Unfortunately we aren’t recording the sessions downstairs so these won’t be available.

13.19

So after a good feed (how nice was the bean ragout!?) we’re back on upstairs in the Jerwood Hall with a session hosted by One Tonne. Oliver Waddington-Ball opened up the proceedings and we’re now learning from an all star cast in regards to the waste sector: Peter Jones, former director at Biffa; Charles Craft, MD at London Re-use Limited; Chris Baker, MD Europe at TerraCycle and Steve Jackson, Founder and CEO at Recycling Lives.

I’m assuming the other sessions are safely underway; let us know how they’re going on Twitter. In the cafe we’re discussing the Olympic legacy and the role that social enterprise can – and should – play in that. A lucky select group are learning about ‘True Leadership’ from SBC favourite John Sutherland, MD at Strategic Resource. That’s in the Clore II room. Everyone’s back up here for 14:10 for the announcement of the finalists for today’s award.

11.59

Hope everyone’s enjoying the day so far. We wouldn’t be here without the help and support from today’s sponsors (see page 24 of your delegate book). So a huge thank-you to:
- PwC
- One Tonne
- ForestNation.

We also have some fantastic organisations eager to speak to you downstairs. Our exhibitors (page 25) this year are
- PilotFish Partnerships
- Co-Operative Systems
- CAN Impact

11.50

I really enjoyed that session on the tips of raising capital from Suzanne Biegel and Liz Corrado – very valuable pointers that are applicable to all entrepreneurs, social or otherwise of all shapes and sizes. Another resource that we’re particularly proud of is our ‘Guide for the Ambitious Social Entrepreneur’. For some time we have realised that the landscape of social venture intermediaries is very difficult to navigate, and that’s just East London! You can download the guide free from our website here. It has LOADS of advice and sign-posts on who to talk to.

Up next is Clara Barby from Bridges Ventures on how to measure your social impact; another highly demanded topic from our delegates over the past seven years of this conference.

11.33

Whilst we’re talking about capital raising, we launched our Clearly Social Angels (CSA) group earlier this year at the House of Commons. You can read all of the information about the group – including details on how to get involved – here.

11.27

The top ten tips for raising capital session now underway with Liz Corrado and Suzanne Biegel. Here are their tips:

1. Cash is king
2. Team sport
3. Do the maths!
4. On your mark
5. Make an impact
6. Perfect pitch
7. Think big
8. Play the field
9. Your reputation precedes you
10. Perseverance pays

10.43

Oh, coffee is being served up here. Toilets are downstairs (right hand side of the building) and you can smoke outside.

10.29

Feeling peckish? Don’t worry, we have a networking break coming up at quarter to. Coffee and snacks will be served downstairs, but please make sure you are back up in the Jerwood Hall at 11:15. Our caterers today are the social enterprise Cafe Sunlight, who support training, volunteering and vocational placements across their business to develop a legacy of skills in the community. Any surpluses that Cafe Sunlight make are reinvested in their business or gift aided to the Trust, a charity which exists to tackle health and social inequalities through community development and social enterprise.

Still hungry? The lunch menu is on page 6 of the delegate book; served at 12:20.

10.20

Some fairly bold statements from Brian Wheelwright on the lack of innovation from Charities. Tweet us your thoughts on @ClearlySo using the hashtag #SBC12.

Incidentally, one of our parallel sessions at 14:15 is titled ‘Charities in Transition’ and focuses on the move towards social investment models for charities. Our panel is made up of Tom Hall from Scope, Abbie Rumbold from Baites Wells & Braithwaite (legal firm who work with charities) and Andrea Coleman from Riders For Health. That’s downstairs in the Gamelan Room (left side of the building, down the corridor) at 14:15.

10.05

Last month, Rod wrote an article on this subject for Third Sector Magazine. You can read the full post on our own blog, but here’s an excerpt:

“The main disappointment, however, stems from the simple lack of investment capital or substantial commercial flows into the sector from large corporations. I struggle to think of any notable developments along these lines and feel a great opportunity is being missed. From this criticism, I exclude financial institutions, where solid progress is being made. (I invite readers to challenge me with examples of significant flows of corporate capital–in fact I would love to be proven wrong).

Perhaps this will just take time–more time than most of us anticipated. But it is time for corporates to step up to the plate!”

09.53

Many thanks to Ken Olisa, who wraps up our keynote ‘fireside chat’ session. Fellow SBC12 speaker Ken Banks (@kiwanja) Tweets: ‘”Capitalism may be the most efficient way of accumulating wealth, but it’s not at distributing wealth” – Ken Olisa.’.

You can hear Ken – Banks that is – coming up in the next session on social enterprise and big business. Ken is also behind the superb FrontlineSMS.

09.39

@TheSocialInvest – “Social entrepreneurs need to be more bold, proactive and professional” to capitalise in “shocked economy” – @rodneyschwartz #SBC12 #socent

09.34

After opening the conference, SBC12 chairman and ClearlySo CEO Rodney Schwartz sits down with our keynote Ken Olisa for a ‘fireside chat’. You can read an interview we conducted with Ken a few months back on page 26 of the delegate book – quite an extraordinary man!

Also, apologies for the technical problems right at the off set. We’re working to bring you the video after the first coffee break at 10:45.

09.09

Just about ready to get underway at LSO St. Luke’s for the seventh annual Social Business Conference, hosted by ClearlySo. To kick things off, we’ve got an animation that has been crafted by one of our many gifted interns Milly Derbyshire.

08.52

You should all be receiving a delegate book as you come in, along with a bag full of freebies from some of our partners. The book has biographies on all of today’s speakers along with information on the day’s agenda. There’s also some of our favourite recent blog posts, an interview with our keynote Ken Olisa and some news on what ClearlySo has been up to in the past twelve months.

If you’re pitching in today’s Social Business of the Year Live Award, then check out last year’s winner Paul Harrod on page 29 of the delegate book for some inspiration!

08.40

Morning folks! We’re under way here at LSO having kicked off the day bright and early with our investor breakfast downstairs in the Gamelan Room. The main hall should now be open, but there’s coffee and networking in the cafe downstairs.

I’ll be posting regular updates both here and over on our Twitter page. You can contribute by using the hashtag #sbc12.

Enjoy the conference!

Jonny

12.18

Hello everyone. Welcome to the SBC12 live blog. This page will have live updates from the seventh annual Social Business Conference throughout the day on October 9th.