Saturday, May 06, 2006
EVENT REVIEW: LOHAS 2006 Annual Conference
by Don Rose
The annual LOHAS conference (April 2006) was wonderful as always, and bigger than ever. Great crowd; dynamic, focused people on a mission. Steve Case, ex-head of AOL (now running Revolution Living and leading Lime (www.lime.com)), gave a passionate speech, comparing the maturing of the LOHAS philosophy and its assimilation into mainstream culture to that once-fringe phenomenon called the Internet. He also mentioned investing in this cool concept where you sign up to become part of a network allowed to use a fleet of cars around a city for short bursts of time, in between public transport, using a car only when you need to, so that a couple dozen people can in effect share one car, cutting down on all the bad effects of too many cars on the road (Flex Car has ads at UCLA, and indeed does seem well suited to students without budget or space for owning a car). The LOHAS setting was beautiful at the Miramar Hotel; in addition to the talks, bungalows hosted themed rooms, including a mini-Japanese expo (saw tile made from plankton that, when wet, dries ultrafast - when sprayed, it is dry in 10 seconds!)... a relax room with PC's, teas, TV's... and a gifting room for VIP's with goodies ranging from Yoga and Narnia DVD's to Biota water (Biodegradeable Bottle - boffo!) to Tom's toothpaste, LOHAS short-sleeve T's and assorted teas (a lot of T's and teas at this conference; speaking of tea, google Steaz green tea soda). Nighttime reception Thursday was warm, friendly, and I liked the Organic furnitute (you heard right). Also loved the magazine titles on display (Ode, Plenty, Worthwhile, among other holistic and green-themed publications). All in all, I rate LOHAS a highly recommended event for 2007 (which will be the 40th anniversary of the Summer of Love, a theme I hope they explore somehow). www.lohas.com
The annual LOHAS conference (April 2006) was wonderful as always, and bigger than ever. Great crowd; dynamic, focused people on a mission. Steve Case, ex-head of AOL (now running Revolution Living and leading Lime (www.lime.com)), gave a passionate speech, comparing the maturing of the LOHAS philosophy and its assimilation into mainstream culture to that once-fringe phenomenon called the Internet. He also mentioned investing in this cool concept where you sign up to become part of a network allowed to use a fleet of cars around a city for short bursts of time, in between public transport, using a car only when you need to, so that a couple dozen people can in effect share one car, cutting down on all the bad effects of too many cars on the road (Flex Car has ads at UCLA, and indeed does seem well suited to students without budget or space for owning a car). The LOHAS setting was beautiful at the Miramar Hotel; in addition to the talks, bungalows hosted themed rooms, including a mini-Japanese expo (saw tile made from plankton that, when wet, dries ultrafast - when sprayed, it is dry in 10 seconds!)... a relax room with PC's, teas, TV's... and a gifting room for VIP's with goodies ranging from Yoga and Narnia DVD's to Biota water (Biodegradeable Bottle - boffo!) to Tom's toothpaste, LOHAS short-sleeve T's and assorted teas (a lot of T's and teas at this conference; speaking of tea, google Steaz green tea soda). Nighttime reception Thursday was warm, friendly, and I liked the Organic furnitute (you heard right). Also loved the magazine titles on display (Ode, Plenty, Worthwhile, among other holistic and green-themed publications). All in all, I rate LOHAS a highly recommended event for 2007 (which will be the 40th anniversary of the Summer of Love, a theme I hope they explore somehow). www.lohas.com
