• Intelligent Use of Water™ Summit: State of the Union to be broadcast live from Washington D.C. online; Panel discussion examining policies, trends, barriers and successes in outdoor water conservation by state and municipal government water officials available as live webcast on Facebook and RainBird.com
AZUSA, CA, March 29, 2010 -- Rain Bird announced today that a global audience of media and consumers will be able to view and participate in the upcoming Intelligent Use of Water Summit: State of the Union via a live streaming webcast from the Smithsonian Institution's Baird Auditorium in Washington D.C. Scheduled for April 15th, 2010 at 10 am EDT, the summit's live broadcast will be available for public viewing on RainBird.com and on Rain Bird's Facebook fan page through a partnership with technology provider, Livestream.
Providing greater insight into the water conservation policies and legislation, programs, initiatives and trends that ultimately steer city and statewide efforts to reduce outdoor water waste, the six-person panel will feature a cross section of city and state municipalities and water agencies that excel in implementing effective landscape water efficiency and conservation programs. Panelists at the upcoming Summit will be:
Paul Goble, City of Indian Wells (Indian Wells, CA)
Karen Guz, San Antonio Water Conservation Dept. (San Antonio, TX)
Elizabeth Hurst, Inland Empire Utilities Agency (Chino, CA)
Karla Wilson, EcoWorks Unlimited, on behalf of Missouri Botanical Garden, Missouri Dept. of Natural Resources and Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District (St. Louis, MO)
Mark Risse, University of Georgia, on behalf of Conserve Georgia (Atlanta, GA)
Doug Bennett, Southern Nevada Water Authority (Las Vegas, NV)
In addition to watching the LIVE webcast, viewers across the globe will also have the opportunity to participate in the Intelligent Use of Water Summit by submitting questions for the panelists via the webcast's 'real time' interactive online chat function, or through the discussion module on Rain Bird's Facebook fan page.
Each of the panelists will have the opportunity to showcase their water conservation case study and share their successful strategies and initiatives on outdoor water conservation to an audience of landscape and water professionals as well as government representatives, NGOs, key water industry representatives and the media.
Veteran journalist, Susan McGinnis will lead the environmentally focused symposium as moderator. McGinnis serves as managing editor and news anchor for Clean Skies News, an online news network devoted to providing in-depth news, information, discussion, and commentary as it relates to energy and the environment. Before joining Clean Skies, McGinnis served as anchor of the CBS Morning News and as a business-news contributor to The Early Show on CBS.
Established in 2004 as a forum to further define the relationship between water conservation and landscape water use, The Intelligent Use of Water Summit series presents a view of the current and future state of water resources through the eyes of water conservation and environmental experts. Previous summit locations have included Pasadena, Calif., Tucson, Ariz., Tempe, Ariz., Madrid, Spain, Aix-en-Provence, France, and most recently Melbourne, Australia, in March of 2009.
The Intelligent Use of Water Summit: State of the Union will be held at the Smithsonian's Baird Auditorium on April 15th, 2010, and is open to the public at no charge. RSVP at [email protected]. The live webcast, available on Rain Bird's Facebook fan page as well as on RainBird.com is scheduled to begin at 10 am EDT.
Rain Bird devotes significant resources to its Intelligent Use of Water public education initiatives, which include: a series of white papers; public service announcements; membership on the Alliance for Water Efficiency and the steering committee advising the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on its WaterSense product labeling program; The Intelligent Use of Water Summit series; The Intelligent Use of Water Film Competition; partnerships with nonprofit organizations, including sponsorship of National Public Gardens Day with the American Public Gardens Assoc. (APGA) and water management education initiatives with the American Society of Golf Course Architects (ASGCA); development and support of elementary and middle school curriculums; and The Intelligent Use of Water Award program recognizing leaders in water conservation. For updates on all of Rain Bird's Intelligent Use of Water initiatives, become a friend of Rain Bird on Facebook and follow Rain Bird on Twitter @RainBirdCorp.
About Rain Bird Corporation
Based in Azusa, Calif., Rain Bird Corporation is the leading manufacturer and provider of irrigation products and services. Since its beginnings in 1933, Rain Bird has offered the industry's broadest range of irrigation products for farms, golf courses, sports arenas, commercial developments and homes in more than 130 countries around the world. Rain Bird has been awarded more than 130 patents, including the first in 1935 for the impact sprinkler. Rain Bird and The Intelligent Use of Water is about using water wisely. Its commitment extends beyond products to education, training and services for the industry and the community. Rain Bird maintains state-of-the-art manufacturing assembly facilities in the United States, France, Sweden and Mexico http://www.rainbird.com.
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