In 2000, we started Green Media Toolshed to serve the movement and help environmental groups communicate more effectively with the public.  We are committed to that vision.

In the last several years, the world has changed. Communication is no longer just a challenge of reaching out but continues to be a challenge of connecting within and across our movement.

More and more groups are being created each year new river groups, social  and environmental justice groups, air, climate, biodiveristy, land trusts, etc. etc. It is a great thing to see all the new energy and new voices come into the movement but it also creates new challenges.

We are a movement without a boss. We still need to communicate. We still need to collaborate and synchronize our efforts. Green Media Toolshed is still your communications service organization but as you will see in our actions we are expanding that vision. Our mission is not just about serving the organizations but the communication staff and all of you. You that give voice and reachout on behalf of a broad and wonderfully diverse movement . This site is to serve all of you that work to shift the way people and policy makers think.

At GMT, we call people. We like our work because of the people we work with. It is you not your group that we talk with we are not donors caught up in your brand. It is you the people that log in that we serve. We have watched staff move from one organization to another with each new job joining Green Media Toolshed. We have known people for years that do work across many groups. We see you at Spin conferences and around the country.

It is your success and the success of the movement that puts the fire in our work. Not a brand or logo of an organization. I used to work at the Georgia River Network and I would go home and brag to family about fighting pollution, the Robust Redhorse or helping a river group get better zoning passed. Today, all of our staff brag about the work that you guys do and the roll we played in making it more successful or your day or media work go easier.

For Green Media Toolshed, we will focus on connecting organizations to the media. Your group to the public. But Green Media Toolshed is also working to connect you (the communicators) to each other to share tips on reporters, pass over lists of Alabama political reporters, insights on news outlets or pitching ideas and insights on new strategy and technology.

This new site is the result of a lot of work and the fruits of a vision long ago, "what if we could connect all the 1 or 2 staff members together as powerfully as if they were all in the same office?" What if someday there was a chance that the environmental movement could swarm on issues and help the smaller groups that get outgunned in media fights? What if the biggest campaigns could pop up in media markets outside of NYC and DC? How would the media react to hundreds of pitching calls from all sorts of groups on the same day...would they cover issues they usually ignore?

I am not sure we know. I am sure that we have never had the infrastructure and the network of communications staff to do it. I look forward to see how this evolves. We will not be in charge of it but we will support those of you that want to think differently.

If there ever is a chance for us to swarm and collaborate on a scale as never before someone is going to have to work on it. Someone needs to agitate in the community and organize. GMT will not pick the direction or the campaign but we will make sure the network is in place. We know the community needs to network to win and we will put our time, talent and treasure into that piece of the challenge.

Fill out your profile and watch the tags grow on the issues, training needs and skills.It may not be facebook, linked-in or myspace but it is made up of 600 communication staff that are very much like you...dedicated to environmental work. Connect with each other and say "Marty from GMT suggested I contact you about "X". Put your profile there in your online profile and make new connections. The network of GMT users is a network with many common values, a shared vision of a better world and a hell of a skill set. Do something great together. We want network to be greater than the sum of the parts and we are willing to play the role of weaver, matchmaker and grid that ties it together even though we have no idea where you are going to take it.

As the video suggests, it is time to rethink the way we work in the movement and for us to find new ways to give you networking opportunities with each other as well as the tools to do things differently.

It is time for GMT to upgrade and for our little team to stay focused on connecting you to media, public and now with each other.

We hope you show us all you can do and let us know about the ways we can help you do great things with the people you know.

All of us (the Board and Staff) really value the partnership we have with each of you and your organizations. Thank you for working with us. Thank you for all you do to save our planet.