 |
          |
 |
|
|
|
In early 2007, CRO Magazine noted a spike in B2B operations-level buyers from Russell 1000 companies visiting TheCRO.com. When CRO contacted many of the buyers, they said what they really wanted was something that did not exist—the industry-standard rating on the “sustainable productivity” of firms from whom they might buy products or services. So we set out to build the ultimate in sustainability ratings—one that could be used by buyers of B2B products and services to assess the sustainability profile of prospective Russell 1000 company partners. Working with the leading environment, social and governance (ESG) ratings firm IW Financial and many operations-level execs, over 8 months we built the methodology that resulted in The Sustainable Productivity Seal of Approval, or SUPR Seal® lists. SUPR Seal® Conference & Expo is produced by SUPR Show LLC, a collaboration of four seasoned media entrepreneurs: CRO Magazine’s Jay Whitehead, former Kenexa COO Elliot Clark, Unicomm’s Jim Forberg, Illuminated Sustainability Fund’s James Lincoln, all in collaboration with leading sustainability rating firm IW Financial, Inc. SUPR Seal® is partially owned by Crossing Media LLC, publisher of CRO, HRO Today, HRO Europe, FAO Today Magazines, TheCRO.com and producers of the CRO and FAO Today Conferences--more information at www.CrossingMedia.com. PrincipalsJay WhiteheadCEO, SUPR Show LLC Since 1982, Jay has led business media companies in 8 domains: venture capital, law, human resources, finance and accounting, investor relations, computing, corporate responsibility and sustainability. Jay has been a founder or senior business leader of 17 business publications, including PC Magazine, CRN, UPSIDE, Research, San Francisco Daily Journal, California Republic, HRO Today, HRO Europe, FAO Today and CRO Magazine. Jay has founded and run several industry-leading conference businesses, including HRO World and HRO World Europe (acquired by LRP Publications in January 2006), CRO Conferences, and the Finance & Procurement Globalization Conference. He was a founder of the not-for-profit HRO Association (www.HROAssociation.org), as well as founder and CEO of HRO provider EmployeeService.com, for which he raised $20 million in venture capital. Jay has worked in broadcast, with TV stints at KTTV in Los Angeles, PBS-TV (NJN), and regular contribution to CNBC’s On The Money and Sqwawkbox, and a syndicated show on Business America Radio. Jay holds a BA in History and Russian from UCLA (1981) and a Strategic Finance certificate from the Harvard Business School (2006). A dual US-French citizen, Jay is married, has 3 children and lives in New Jersey. Jay can be reached at JWhitehead@TheCRO.com. Elliot Clark |