Passionate Players in World Change highlight SVN Spring Conference

This past May 1-4th I participated in my third Social Venture Network Conference at the Crystal Lodge in NJ. Once again, I was profoundly inspired by the brilliant speakers and the dialogue between the dynamic members of SVN. I am a relatively new member of this outstanding and very special business community that since 1987 has united 420 of the world’s most socially responsible businesses leaders-- company founders, private investors, social entrepreneurs and key influencers-- together under the common and powerful commitment of building a just and sustainable world through business.

After reading Anita Roddick’s Book Body and Soul several years ago, I became very interested in the idea of Socially responsible businesses and began wondering how Ciclismo Classico could become a better social platform for improving our world. For several years I attended Babson College’s Business and Spirituality conference and was profoundly inspired by speakers such as Tom and Kate Chappell, of Tom's of Maine, Aaron Feuerstein, former President and CEO of Malden Mills Industries, Inc, Gary Hirshberg from Stoneyfield Farm and Frances Moore Lappé, noted author and activist.

I drove with to NJ with Laury Hammel, the amazingly energetic founder of The Longfellow Club and icon in the SVN community. Laury, who is committed to have the "greenest" health club in America, was my original connection to SVN world and has not only welcomed me into my new band of friends but has been a great mentor and advisor. I am always jazzed and amazed at the openness, camaraderie and fun loving enthusiasm of the SVN members, like walking into a reunion of friends who you have known for years. Salt of the earth business folks like Jerry Gorde or Joe Sibilia who not only connects to my business mind but helps uplift, recharge and propel my business soul. The SVN weekends, held twice a year, are like a collision of Woodstock and MIT Business School, a wonderfully blend of innovative educational sessionsm, yoga, long walks, bike rides, delicious meals, stimulating conversation and late night jam sessions that have even gotten me playing Kumbaya, Leavin on a Jet Plan and Annie's Song on the guitar again.

This year’s spring conference had an amazing line up of speakers including the key note speaker Carol Petrini, Founder and President of the Slow Food Movement. His lively and intense talk ( in Italian with translated in Italian) mesmerized the audience. He began his talk by making reference to Small is Beautiful, by E.F. Schumacher, one of my favorite all time books that transformed my way of thinking and then begin to passionately about what he believes is the world’s number one crisis: our consumptive, wasteful and disrespectful relationship with food. Through SLOW FOOD he is dedicated to change this dangerous trend, one local food producer at a time. He recounted many tales of how disconnected we are from the food we eat and as a result our health, culture and ultimately our planet is suffering. One anecdote that illustrates our insane wasteful attitude towards food was from his own region of Piedmont where he discovered that they import (pastic tasting but huge ) green peppers from Holland and use the land once used to grow pepper to grow tulips that will be exported to….Holland!

Blessed with a knack of anticipating events in the fields of food, agriculture and eco-gastronomy (a term he coined himself), Petrini has played a decisive role in the development of Slow Food, inventing and promoting its projects, which have now acquired great international visibility. Among his many achievements is the creation of the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Pollenzo and Colorno, the first academic institution to offer an interdisciplinary approach to food studies; he is also the mastermind behind Terra Madre, a groundbreaking meeting of 5,000 food producers from all over the world, held every two years in Turin to discuss common problems and find possible solutions. At our last guide meeting we discussed trying to support SLOW FOOD and integrate Terra Madre food producers in each itinerary. In 2008 we will actively connect and expand our network of Terra Madre Food Producers so that our guests can have an authentic and more delicious food experience.

( If you are interested in seeing a great short film about this topic, watch Mark Bittman's film on TED. )

At Friday night’s planary session, the SVN audience was mesmerized by Van Jones an amazingly passionate action, orientated human rights champion who is working to combine solutions to America’s two biggest problems: social inequality and environmental destruction. In his talk, he shared stories about he is trying to bring green jobs to the inner city through his many focused initiatives

Over the past five years, Van has also emerged as a national environmental leader. In recent years, he has served on the boards of the National Apollo Alliance, Social Venture Network, Rainforest Action Network, Bioneers and Julia Butterfly Hill's "Circle of Life" organization. In 2005, Van produced the "Social Equity Track" for the United Nations' World Environment Day celebration. UNWED 2005 drew dozens of mayors from around the world to San Francisco, where they developed policies promoting the concept of "Green Cities." Van's dual roles have given him a unique perspective on the country's problems and its potential solutions. Under the slogan "green jobs, not jails," Van Jones today is calling for green economic development in urban America.

At the national level, Van and the Ella Baker Center worked in 2007 with US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), U.S. Rep. Hilda Solis (D-CA), U.S. Rep. John Tierney (D-MASS) to pass the Green Jobs Act of 2007. That path-breaking, historic legislation will provide $120 million in funding to train 35,000 people a year in "green-collar jobs

In the summer of 2007, Van helped launch two new initiatives. He is a founding board member of One Sky, a national coalition working to avert catastrophic climate change. And he is also the founding president of Green For All, a national campaign for green-collar jobs and opportunities.

By the end of the weekend I not only had made many more new friends and learned new business practices and ideas, I was reunited with a tight-knit heartwarming community, a tribe of like minded spirits whose passions and missions are about being a positive force for societal and environmental changes. After the ongoing soul searching about what’s next for Ciclismo, I came away, once again, deeply touched, reenergized, renewed and bubbling with new ideas. Most importantly I feel a part of a greater good, that I can be part of an ongoing collaboration and exchange of ideas that can really change the world one step or pedal stroke at time

Joe Sibilia put it best “ Once you've been exposed to the impact that business has on society, on the environment and on the human condition, for you to go back and to operate under a different set of guidelines would be very hard. You'd have to have very little self-esteem or self- consciousness for that to happen. So as a result of the flow of people in and out of the organization there creates a critical mass within the business community and at some point we gather together and create an impression that it's not an underground or an alternative economy. It becomes mainstream. It reminds me of a quote about the definite truth, the evolution of truth traveling through three stages. First it's ridiculed. Then it's violently opposed. Then it becomes universally accepted as being self-evident. So right now people ridicule the notion that companies should be measured on their financial performance and their social impact, and many people violently oppose that notion. But we believe that ultimately that will become universally accepted as being self-evident and that'll be the next evolution in capitalism. “

What does this all mean for Ciclismo Classico? As we grow and continually run the most authentic active and transformational bike tours on the planet, Ciclismo Classico will be a platform for our CC team, guides and guests to promote and advance cycling culture as a crucial strategy in making the world better, happier and more sustainable. Welcome aboard!

In 2008 / 2009 we will be donating a percentage of our profits and operational support to the following organizations: Cycle Kids http://www.cyclekids.org/ Massbike http://www.massbike.org/ , Bikes Belong http://bikesbelong.org/ http://www.righttoplay.com, The Pan Mass Challenge www.pmc.org, Best Buddies http://www.kintera.org Spannochia Foundation http://www.spannocchia.org/ and Slow Food http://www.slowfood.com/

If you know of any organizations that might be a great fit in our Social Responsible Portfolio, let me know

Happy Pedaling!

Lauren@ciclismoclassico.com

I look forward to your support

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY: Share Your Travel Experiences with Your Kids!

Any mother will tell you the most important thing in her life is her children. Inherent in each “La Mamma” is the drive to mold her kids into upstanding adults. Ever since they were born I have loved sharing travel experiences to shape the minds, heart and spirit of my three children (Lorenzo, Valentina and Luca), aged 11, 9 and 5. Sharing my travel/cycling passion with my children is one of the highlights of our family life. It is enormously satisfying to watch my children experience travel at their own speed and with their own wonderfully playful eyes.

Traveling with children is one of the best ways to offer them unique and fun learning experiences. Seeking out unusual locations offers them an education that can’t be taught in a classroom or the “typical” family vacations. Forget Disney World, Venice offers a Disney-like fantasy experience combined with thousands of years of culture, history and a stimulating modern culture focused on art and a passion for living. Walking through the zigzagging Venetian streets is the world's best maze, eating in the piazza is like a huge dinner party, taking the vaporetti or water taxis on the Grand Canal is better than any “ride”, visiting the Murano fishing villages is a “very cool” step back in time.” This blend of play and learning is what connects us with our children. When traveling, playful opportunities abound and because I love to play, I easily connect with my children wherever we go.

Seeing the world through the eyes of a child conjures memories of a much simpler time when we were young and experiencing things for the first time. Kids at this age respond to the simplest pleasures and remind us to slow down, play in a fountain, try on a mask or chase a pigeon through a piazza. Kids always love walking through villages, taking in the pulse of life and following their serendipitous natures.”

For those reluctant to take their kids on a vacation for fear small kids will be too challenging, Consider this, kids, while amazingly fulfilling, can present challenges wherever they are, so why not take them on a trip where we parents can have a uplifting travel experience. At home, kid are in their comfort zone and can be more difficult. When traveling, it is more likely that kids will let their guard down and follow your lead. I am usually more at peace on outings or traveling with my kids than when I stay at home where I battle the ‘Mommy, I am bored’ syndrome. When I am on a bike trip alone without my kids I find that I am always wanting to share my experience with them. Our lives are simpler when we travel. There is less stuff in our travel life, no multi tasking, constantly taking care of practicalities or rushing to get places. We are focused on each other and more in the flow of life. The spontaneity, serendipity of it all brings us closer. We see each other at our best.

Allowing your children to have experiences they would not otherwise have at home will create memories to last a lifetime for all. We loved jumping off our boat into the gorgeous blue waters of Sardinia, getting soaked in Roman fountains or playing tag in The Boboli Gardens. Some of our memorable travel experiences include bouldering (hiking rocks) along the Sardinian coastline, spinning downhill 10 miles to the sea in Greece and hiking through the Dolomites. It’s a collective memory I know we will treasure for a very long time.

When planning vacations, I start off with some initial research to list things to see and do. Upon arriving in a certain locations, she’ll make adjustments depending on each day. Guidebooks and web sites like the Family Travel Forum with kid-friendly ideas are instrumental in helping find all the kid-friendly eateries and activities. I will always mix up the highly cultural experiences with fun ones. A trip to Rome will include some classics, but lots of gelato breaks and hanging out in piazzas,” says Lauren. Anything that includes swimming, the beach or open playing (like rambling fields, etc) is a hit for us. When picking sites, we usually avoid very crowded places (like the Vatican museum) for they are guaranteed stress producers. I always choose a more low key ‘attraction’ where we can have a more authentic, human experience over the more touristy ones.” As the kids get older, allow them to have some input into the vacation plans. You never know what they are going to come up with. In the near future, This year we hope to expand our travels beyond Italy to Ireland, Paris and Norway. The world is our oyster!

Lola and Pepe (Lauren and Lorenzo) in the News

Spring Vacation in Washington, DC

Of all of our family travel experiences, our recent trip to Washington, DC was the trip that had brains most constantly engaged. It was a journey into the the power of words and the risks and challenges that our Nation's heroes took to preserve and guarantee their vision. Of course our bodies got plenty of movement walking from museum to museum and climbing up and down the metro escalator. The timing was ripe for all us Our children 5, 9 and 11 were the perfect age for their introductory tour of this most fascinating and thought provoking city; I had not been since my own 8th grade school trip (and a couple of college protest marches) and for my husband, an Italian lawyer by trade/ new American citizen our week in Washington was important chapter in his own unique American experience.

We took the overnight train from Boston hours after spending hours cheering runners up heartbreak hill for the Boston Marathon. We rented an apartment using Vacation Rentals By Owner and found a cute apartment near the zoo. We landed at Union Station and hit the ground running. First stop was the Air and Space Museum, the most visited building on the planet. We spent all day roaming through the rich collections of exhibits. My personal favorite was the Frank and Wilbur Wright gallery in which we learn how two humble bicycle mechanics evolve into the world's first pilots. The children loved all the hands on exhibits, I caught up on some sleep at the IMAX show. From the Air and Space onto the Washington, Memorial, a fun place to run around and plan the details of the week ahead

As a child I would savor the pages of National Geographic as soon as it landed in our mailbox and was certainly the inspiration for my love of travel and photography, so a visit to its base in Washington was first on my list. The National Geographic Society museum is small but always has unique revolving exhibits, we were lucky to see one that had live frogs from around the world creatures . The museum is small but has great rotating exhibits. Here we also learned about our human footprint (one Sunday paper uses 500,000 trees) and saw sculptures made of garbage. We also learned about the Genographic Project, a five-year study using DNA as a study tool to map how humankind populated the planet.

On to the Library of Congress, considered one of the most beautiful buildings in Washington, we roamed its beautiful halls and fascinating exhibits including the an original Guttenberg Bible, an exhibit on Creating the United States that offered insights into how the nation’s founding documents were forged and the role that imagination and vision played in the unprecedented creative act of forming a self–governing country and an exhibit on Bob Hope whose voluminous joke collection was donated to the Library of Congress.

We spent the rest of a perfect spring afternoon to explore the memorials, starting with the Lincoln Memorial, then moving to the Vietnam, WW2 and Jefferson Memorial, each stop stirring many great questions about life, death and freedom. Reading the Gettysburg address and thinking of Martin Luther King's words spoken here is an empowering mental and emotional journey of how a powerful, passionate vision can ground and inspire each one of us to reach great heights.

Thursday was packed with eclectic learning starting with my son Lorenzo's first choice: The International Spy Museum. While I could have passed this descent into a Bond lovers fantasy, I found the museum's rich content, including exhibits about Renaissance spying fascinating. My 5 year old loved the James Bond Car and my daughter loved scrambling through the air ducts. The museum could better orientate its visitors, it starts out with all of the Spy paraphrenalia which bogs you down (and tires you out ) until you emerge to the broader Spy culture and history exhibits which were intriguing. Be prepared for kids to go crazy in the gift shop

Another museum on my list was the Native American Indian museum, a beautiful building that was designed to reflect the Native American sense of space the natural world. The museum was not jam packed with artifacts, instead there was a calming flow of presentations about a handful of Indian cultures in the Americas.

From Spys to Native American and finally the National Archives where we, and dozens of others jammed into a rotunda to see the Declaration of Independence, The Constitution and the Bill or Rights. All faded but pretty special. The gift shop is excellent.

My favorite museum hands down was The Newseum, the world's most interactive museum, (that opened on April 11 ) that blends five centuries of news history with up-to-the-second innovation and fun. It's a great museum to wrap up your visit to Washington for it brings history full circle demonstrates how our beliefs are challenged daily. One exhibit that blended famous film clips and the first amendment offered a huge learning opportunity to internalize our most precious right. Our kids even got to be filmed as live reporters. The Newseum features seven levels of galleries, theaters, retail spaces and visitor services. It offers a unique environment that takes museum goers behind the scenes to experience how and why news is made. "Visitors will come away with a better understanding of news and the important role it plays in all of our lives," said Newseum Executive Director and Senior Vice President Joe Urschel. "The new Newseum is educational, inspirational and a whole lot of fun." We spent the entire day here, aside from an hour to tour the Capitol.

By Saturday AM we were ready for an easy stroll through the Washington Zoo with friends who live in the area. Even though it was crowded, the kids enjoyed seeing the Pandas, elephants and rhinosaurus.

What a perfect family spring destination...we'll be back