We’re aware that there’s an environmental cost to Webstock. We’re flying a lot of speakers to New Zealand – that’s one of the things about living here in the South Pacific. And there’s going to be over 400 people at the conference, so that’s a lot of domestic travel, and a lot of stuff to provide everyone. So, what to do, what to do?

We didn’t want to not run the conference, of course. And video conferencing with some speakers seemed, well, not quite as good. Webstock is more than seeing people speak – it’s also about the interaction and connection that happens face-to-face.

We wanted to do something, though, to help the environment and to just give something back to the world. So we’ve decided on a couple of options, one close to home and one international. For each ticket sold, we’ll be donating $5 to Project Crimson and $5 to Kiva.

Project Crimson is a charity protecting New Zealand’s native pohutukawa and rata trees. They have been responsible for the planting of hundreds of thousands of new trees, with consideration given to locally source and plant trees native to each area of New Zealand. The money donated by Webstock will be used to help plant and protect native trees throughout New Zealand

Project Crimson Trust Executive Director Bridget Abernethy is very thankful for the support we’ll be giving, noting “The Christmas-time flowering of pohutukawa and rata are icons to all New Zealanders, and thanks to the generosity of Webstock, we can continue our goal of ensuring future generations will experience a country full of fantastic natural heritage”.

Kiva is a site where loans are made to entrepreneurs and small businesses in the developing world. It’s a micro-financing model and a number of separate loans are likely to make up the amount someone is requesting through Kiva. It’s web 2.0 that’s more than fluff!

Once the conference has finished, we’ll set up an account on Kiva and start lending some money. We’ll keep you posted here on how it goes.