The H2duO talk innovation, water technology and human capital with Imagine H2O staff, Tom Ferguson and Nashelley Kaplan-Dailey.

In March, we’re heading to San Francisco for Water Innovation Week with Imagine H2O. The theme of their summit this year is all about the workforce. Jorge is a perfect example of people currently in the industry that are truly taking it upon themselves to demonstrate the value of water to the incoming next gen of water professionals. This is so important because it’s the "why" and the passion of the people doing the work in water that will not only attract the next gen but also retain them. Jorge says he’s "just an engineer" and he ’s not the first one we’ve heard this statement from. In order to communicate the value of water, we’re going to need all hands on deck. We, as communicators, cannot do this alone. We need the support and buy-in from all of you. So whether you’re an engineer, or an operator or a lab tech or in field ops, wherever, please know you are not JUST anything. You’re the ones who are going to help the H2duO revolutionize the water industry through the power of communication and collaboration. We can’t do it without. We hope Jorge’s story inspires you to step outside of whatever box you think your degree or license has you. You might just inspire the next person to join the water sector.

Chanin Bays was named the 2018 Woman of the Year by our friends at PNCWA and once you’ve heard this interview you’ll know exactly why. Chanin talks strategic planning with us and why you don’t have to wait for everyone to be on board to get the train going. Some people just need to see things in action first. We also talk about leadership and how leaders have a responsibility to talk about their dreams to encourage their people to talk about their own dreams. Chasing dreams can keep us motivated, energized and forever young. One of WEF's strategic initiatives is to create more diversity in the industry. Chanin drives this home by saying "we need to have enough representation so that when our children look up there’s someone for each one of them, to look to and say that’s where I’m headed. But some of us have to go first."

We thought this was an incredibly inspiring conversation for the water industry to hear. Hearing from different people with different backgrounds and perspectives drives divergent thinking which is where the birthplace of creativity and innovation often lies. Mina spoke with us about how we need to be communicating better—how corporate advertising has robbed us of the capacity to listen and how grassroots initiatives, person to person engagement and storytelling is what will help us learn how to listen again. She truly validates for us the power of story to move people from awareness to action. She also reminds us that anyone can be "someone" and that all of us are capable of changing the world.

Our conversation with Steve Drangsholt, of Brown and Caldwell, felt like the perfect interview to drop on the heels of our chat with industry thought leader George Hawkins. Steve represents the next generation of water leaders that will use their passion and involvement to move the industry forward. Please share this with any young professionals in our industry. There is so much to gain from the insight that Steve gives us about the value in being involved and the diversity of all of our water journey stories. Best of all, we really enjoyed Steve’s mindset, whether it’s living his core values, competing on ideas and not people, or how we should measure ourselves based on our impact and not our titles. These are incredibly important messages for all of us to hear and to remember, regardless of our place or tenure in this industry. We’re all doing the work that matters in our respective corners and the way we work together is what truly makes this industry special and one of kind.

As water nerds passionate about communication, obviously our chat with George Hawkins is ripe with takeaways about the incredible importance of communication to our industry, however, it’s always a treat to hear that perspective from someone who is on the front lines of water technology and financing the way that George is. We talk about the importance of internal communication and how you really have to begin on the inside to ever hope to have an effective external communication strategy. Internally this means not only writing down your mission, vision, and values but living them as an organization and ensuring your entire team hears them used regularly and sees them in action. We also talk about the role of communication in earning trust with the communities we serve.

Catalyst is more than a conference. It’s an experience meant to educate, collaborate, and invigorate water educators and communicators. Catalyst is structured around the Rogue Water ABCS of water communication: assessment, branding, content, and strategy plus our favorite subject—tribal collaboration. In this episode, we talk assessment with Dr. Rudi Thompson, director of the environmental education initiative for the City of Dallas Water Conservation. She shares with us how her program has been able to quantify savings through education. Jennifer Henderson, founder of J.O. a marketing agency and our suite neighbor in Fort Worth, talks the power of branding through earned media. And we wrap up with Megan Yoo Schneider, founder of Seven Management and Consulting Inc, about brain-based learning and how we have to be strategic about how we present our content. The conferences of tomorrow don’t need to nor should they look like the conferences of the past.

Catalyst is more than a conference. It’s an experience meant to educate, collaborate, and invigorate water educators and communicators. Catalyst is structured around the Rogue Water A.B.C.S. of water communication: Assessment, Branding, Content, and Strategy plus the added bonus of Tribal Collaboration. In this episode, we talk a little strategy, a little branding, and some collaboration too. In EP003 with Greg Wukasch, External Affairs Manager at the San Antonio Water System, he explained why it’s so vital that we break down silos internally and rally around the truth—that first and foremost water utilities exist to serve the customer. In EP004, we spoke with Duke Greenhill, marketing guru and Chair of Advertising, Branding, and Graphic Design at Savannah College of Art and Design, about the power of branding. There are a lot of misperceptions about what branding is and isn’t but the bottom line is that branding helps build the connections between customers and the utility that are needed to move forward. Finally, in EP005, Ryan Beltran, filmmaker and founder of elequa and the Make Water project tells us his story of a filmmaker turned water innovator. Hear how he’s partnering with the San Antonio Water System's high school program, Impact, to use his love of film, water innovation, and maker spaces to teach the next generation of water nerds how they can make a difference in the global water crisis.

In early 2018, Greg Wukasch, External Affairs manager at the San Antonio Water System asked Stephanie and Arianne if they would partner with them to create a summit built for water educators and communicators by water educators and communicators.

They said yes before he finished the question. Catalyst follows the Rogue Water ABCS of water communication which are assessment, branding, content, and strategy. We believe that nailing these core basics directly impacts your ability to move the needle forward for your education programs, your communication campaigns and your organization.

At Catalyst 2018, we ended with a section called Tribal Collaboration, where we had three industry rock stars talk about the power of collaboration in our industry from a local, national, and global perspective. These are snippets from our podcast interviews with them leading up to Catalyst.

EP011: Tom Ferguson, VP of Programming at ImagineH2O, talks the incredible importance of communication to the water sector from his global and entrepreneurial perspective.

EP002 Travis Loop, Director of Communication and Outreach, Water Environment Federation, talks the importance of understanding your audience when it comes to effective communication.

EP008 Lynne Christopher, Education Coordinator, San Antonio Water System tells us about their CORE program for San Antonio ISD teachers and the ripples that program is already making. So without further ado, let’s get to the show.

This is the last of our core value mashups and there isn’t a better core value to end on as we record on New Years Eve 2018 than gratitude. We have so much to be grateful for in this season one and you all are a big part of that. We want to thank our listeners, our guests, our friend, family, and all of our believers and supporters. A special shout out to our industry too. Thank you for welcoming us with open arms and giving us this platform to talk to people about an issue we’re passionate about especially to industry leaders like Xylem, Empowering Pumps and Equipment and Imagine H2O for including us in your lists of industry resources. We truly stand on the shoulders of giants and we’re honored and humbled to be included on lists with some major industry players. At the end of each interview, we asked each of our guests to give us the one call to action they were most passionate about that they believed could ultimately change the world. These are their answers. We hope they inspire you as much as they inspired us. See you in 2019 for Season Two!