So, I am having a great lunch with the folks from The Tech. You know the, the group that started out ten years ago as the "San Jose Tech Museum" and then realized that they were sitting on far more than "and this is an integrated circuit..." They realized that technology was not just something that was about silicon valley, but really about how the world around us was changing.

You scoff? OK, so then, look around your room. No, I will wait...ok...still waiting...now. Do you see anything there that has not been impacted by technology? Can you find anything that you interact with that does have a circuit or memory in it? Kinda weird, eh? It is one of those things that when it happens, you don't realize it until it has already happened.

It is sort of like philanthropy really.

Yeah, I lost you there. Let me back up a bit. As we build this crazy little media company, we are starting to realize something interesting. Philanthropy ain't philanthropy any more. What I mean is that it is not something that we do in our spare time or because we feel we have to give back. In reality, philanthropy is becoming a lens that people use to judge EVERY decision in their live. Car...travel...shopping...job...community. I dare you to find any consumer decision that is not being filtered by this value system. And it really does make sense. When we purchase a product or service, that purchase doesn't just make a comment on that item...it also makes a comment on us.

Who are we. What do we stand for. What do our purchases say about our values and judgements. Many people who buy a Prius do so because they want to be SEEN in a Prius. They walk down the street with their Product (RED) shirt and drinking their Ethos water as they talk in their Credo phone.

And that is just dandy with me.

If you have to buy a card for mom, make it a Hallmark (RED) card. If you have to buy a phone for your teenager, make it a Credo phone. Philanthropy is no longer something we do outside of our life, it is something that is part and parcel of who we are, and how we live our life on a daily basis. Just like technology is more than computers and integrated circuits.

Just as Intel changed the world of technology, philanthropy is changing the world of consumers. And just like silicon valley, those that don't get that will get left behind. It turns out that Adam Werbach was right...the world ain't going green...it's going blue...