Celsias project website to fight global warming

MEDIA RELEASE

January 29, 2008

Celsias project website to fight global warming fires up at major US technology showcase today

New Zealand-based Celsias announced the launch of Celsias Projects today at emerging technology showcase DEMO 08 in the United States.

Celsias Projects is the first online destination where people and companies can create, join or sponsor projects that combat global warming.

"People’s awareness of global warming is growing and so is their desire to do something about it," said Nick Lewis, CEO of Celsias, "But the enormity of the problem is overwhelming – what should an individual or company do to save the planet? We created Celsias to provide a solution by inspiring and facilitating projects that help reduce global warming. Our dream is to cool the planet one project at a time."

Chris Shipley, executive producer of the California-based DEMO conferences said, "Celsias Projects introduces a new form of online interaction that could easily be called 'action networking' -- people coming together to support one another to take action and turn climate-cooling ideas into projects that make a difference in altering the course of global warming. We are delighted to have them launch Celsias Projects at DEMO 08."

Celsias was the only New Zealand company to win a coveted spot at DEMO 08 from more than a thousand applications worldwide. Only 70 companies are given the opportunity to present at DEMO 08 – a highly regarded launchpad for emerging technologies.

The Celsias Community: Ordinary People Achieving Extraordinary Things for the Planet

The Celsias community is comprised of project leaders (who create and manage projects) and project sponsors (for people who prefer to financially-support projects). Leaders and sponsors can include anyone from a primary-school child to a corporate executive.

Among the more than 50 early participants using the beta version of Celsias Projects are a recent university graduate who rode his bicycle across the United States to raise awareness of climate change; a woman on leave from the U.S. Army who travelled to Antarctica to interview international climate change scientists; and a software entrepreneur who is turning a dilapidated building into a "green" hotel. These and many other project leaders use Celsias Projects to share their experience and seek input, support, ideas and sponsorship from the Celsias community.

Creating a Celsias Project: From Ideas to Action

Once a project leader has an idea for a climate change project, creating a project on Celsias is easy; he or she simply completes a handful of fields. The leader can then add pictures and maps, activate a PayPal donation widget, link to posts on the Celsias blog, direct people to a physical location, announce team meetings, organise workdays and keep sponsors updated on a mini project blog.

The Celsias Business Model: Serving Public and Private Projects

Celsias also expects the corporate market to find Celsias Projects compelling. “We believe companies of all sizes will begin managing their corporate social responsibility projects using Celsias’ secure and confidential environment,” says Lewis. “Again, we make it easy – you can create a transparent public project on Celsias at no charge. Or you can create a confidential private project and limit access to your employees for only $29 per project per month or $299 per year – you decide.”

The company also plans to charge commissions to vendors who sell their green products on Celsias.

About Celsias
Founded in 2006, Celsias (www.celsias.com) helps ordinary people do extraordinary things by creating, joining and sponsoring climate change projects. The Celsias blog is already recognized as a leading climate change blog with writers and readers in more than 120 countries. Web traffic to Celsias.com grew at a compound growth rate of 65.2% per month during the first 14 months of operation.

About DEMO
Produced by Network World Events and Executive Forums, the semi-annual DEMO conferences focus on emerging technologies and new products, which are hand-selected from across the spectrum of the technology marketplace. The DEMO conferences have earned their reputation for consistently identifying tomorrow's cutting-edge technologies, and have served as launch pad events for companies such as Palm, E*Trade, Handspring, and U.S. Robotics, helping them to secure venture funding, establish critical business relationships, and influence early adopters. Each DEMO conference features approximately 70 new companies, products and technologies. For more information, visit www.demo.com.

ENDS

© Scoop Media