RE+ Opportunity and Brand Check-ins

Last week was RE+. What a show! Averaging over 17,000 steps a day, I am so thankful I wore flats. I’m also grateful for the conversations I had, the people I met, and the reconnections with long-time friends and colleagues.

Overall, the mood was cautiously optimistic – at least for the next year. I heard on more than one occasion that companies and organizations see projects through the end of 2026. 2027 and 2028, on the other hand, may be more of a pipeline-build/waiting game unless political winds shift in the 2026 mid-terms, with the well-capitalized making it to 2029. They’re also stepping away from the federal roller coaster by focusing on states and regions with rising electricity prices. You know… all of them.

And while I missed the opening session, I heard multiple people referring to it and a call to “find the opportunity.”

I am always impressed when meeting people who love Las Vegas, love being part of a 40,000-person crowd, and are mostly immune to the sensory overload I find at RE+. I know the same senses that send me into overwhelm at shows serve me well in design and creative work.

And yet RE+ is worth it for the in-person conversations. I got to hear about the journey one gentleman has taken from the oil & gas industry. When he first learned about renewables, he knew he’d found his purpose – his “why”. I got to stand at a table with a group of incredibly engaging, smart women, who between them easily got a blackout on the RE+ bingo cards I’d designed for fun. I got to hear about several new business ventures, most of which I expect to succeed.

Sadly, there were moments that showed me just how far we still have to go to reach equity in the industry. The joke in poor taste that should have been left in the 1950s. The booth with women in slinky evening gowns, not adhering to the “professional attire” clause. Advocates and allies: keep fighting the good fight. We’ll get there.

Three-and-a-half months to the end of the year. It should be an interesting Q4.

Use Regular Brand Check-ins to Create a Market Advantage for Your Clean Energy Brand

Many organizations treat brand guides like a gym membership – paid for with good intentions, then promptly forgotten in a drawer somewhere. Companies who take advantage of this work and deploy it consistently see revenue gains while their competitors are still trying to remember what font they used last week. We know the clean energy industry shifts almost daily, but that doesn't mean your brand should have an identity crisis several times a year. This latest post breaks down the whys and hows of regular brand check-ins from the benefits to your bottom line to monthly, quarterly, and annual check-ins that build on each other.

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September joke

My friend must think I'm gullible. He said the 21st was the autumn equinox.

But I'm not going to fall for it.