I used to post blogs all the time talking about social media, but it has been a long time since my last post.  When I began blogging on commonground, I was often asked why I was posting about social media in a community for environmental professionals where conversations were about things like phase I assessments, REC's, vapor intrusion, Sanborn maps, etc..   Then, I started to receive calls and meeting requests from many members to talk about the benefits of social media as a business development tool.    We have always remained eager to help members.  Most of those calls and meetings would end with a comment like “that all sounds really great, but how are we going to leverage that in our business” to which I would reply “it doesn't happen overnight, so …..”

Now, you cannot dispute the fact that social media is part of our lives – like it or not.  Look around your office, your local Dunkin Donuts or Starbucks, or your favorite restaurant and you will see the words Facebook or Twitter  everywhere.  The below excerpt is from a recent Altimeter Group Study on Making the Business Case for Enterprise Social Networks:

“In 2011, we reached a milestone when over half of all US adults regularly used social networking sites.  That means the majority of American adults are not only familiar with social networking sites like Facebook, LinkedIn and, Twitter, but also understand the value of being connected with the people in their lives”

Now, fast forward to 2012, it is amazing how much more comfortable the environmental professional community has become with social media.   Some environmental consulting and engineering firms have now integrated social media strategies into their marketing plans, many have lifted bans on using Facebook at their offices, and many are now trying to figure out the best ways to leverage it.   Why, because 11% of all web traffic is on Facebook.   And if people are there, which they clearly are, then businesses must be too.

This week, I received a handful of emails from Sean Dundon, Dianne Crocker, and a few other members about an upcoming Environmental Business Council Seminar on Social Media 101.  For those of you who are just learning about it, it might be beneficial to attend if you are interested. 

It got me thinking – would it make sense for us to run a free commonground web seminar on how to generate value for your business through the use social media?  If yes, what are some of the questions you would like to see us cover?

If we get enough interest and responses to my post, we can pull together a small panel of social media practitioners and experts from our industry to provide you with answers to your questions, case studies, and actionable takeaways to help you grow your business.   

In closing, I would like to thank you - our members - for your interest, for trying new things, and for thinking we were only partially nuts to build a b2b community where EP’s could collaborate, help each other, and support our industry. 

Over the last several years the industry has grappled with how to deal with vapor contamination on and around properties. Vapor intrusion—and then vapor encroachment—have increasingly played a role in Phase I ESAs as ASTM developed standards to guide screening for vapor conditions. 

Regulations and standards that deal with what happens from screening, through analysis and finally the cleanup and closure of sites impacted by vapor contamination are currently under review.  Here is a quick review on what's been happening at ASTM, EPA and one state.

Screening

• ASTM E1527-05 may be revised to clarify the part vapors play in a Phase I ESA. The E1527 task group, with guidance from EPA, is likely to- in one way or another- acknowledge within the standard that a vapor plume should be recognized just as groundwater contamination or a spill on a site. To put it another way: the state of a contaminant doesn’t impact whether or not it should be considered a recognized environmental condition. This is likely to make the E2600 standard more critical to Phase I ESAs. 

Analysis

• New vapor intrusion guidance documents are being published on both state and federal levels.  In November, Massachusetts revised its VI guidance—which is now available as a 160-page interim final guidance. Meanwhile, EPA is accepting public comments through May 2012 as it prepares to edit its guidance for the first time since 2002. The agency plans to issue the final guidance in late 2012. 

Cleanup

• Cleanup programs are also likely to be impacted as agencies revise the effect vapors have on sites. Speculation has been swirling that EPA is considering changing the hazardous ranking system (HRS) under CERCLA to account for vapor pathways.  Such changes could add sites to the NPL that currently don’t reach a level of risk to qualify them for Superfund cleanup. Closed sites may be reopened and the ranking of sites already on the NPL is likely to be shaken-up.
   
• For a state example, the Massachusetts Contingency Plan (MCP) is undergoing revisions to help "strengthen and streamline the notification, assessment, cleanup and closure of VI sites" in light of its new guidance. I attended a meeting of the MCP’s VI workgroup last week which was very well attended. I was surprised to hear how many consultants are dealing with sites on which vapor intrusion is the only environmental issue holding up closer on the site.  

Our member poll this week asks you how you think vapor encroachment should be dealt with during a Phase I ESA. Early results show that two-thirds of respondents think vapors should be considered as part of the Phase I. What do you think?

What’s happening in your state? Are you seeing changes to your guidance? What impacts will these changes have on the industry? 

Last week we resurrected the weekly poll to start gauging the community on business, political, regulatory and some just-for-fun topics. Our first questions was about the current revisions to the ASTM E1527-05 standard. Below are the results. 

While most of the community was aware that the standard was currently  being revised, it looks like there are a lot of questions about what could be changing. 

Some of you may be asking: why is this standard being revised when EPA has already required it in a Federal rule? According to ASTM policy, standards must be updated or reapproved as-is by the members of the committee every 8 years or they sunset and become unusable. Since the task group had to go through the voting process anyway, they decided to make some clarifications that wouldn't impact EPA's requirement that the standard is "at least as stringent" as the AAI Rule. 

I sit on the ASTM E50 committee and have tried to take part in as many of the task group meetings and calls that have been happening over the past few years as the E1527 task group debates what-if anything- should change. 

Here is a list of the topics that have received the most attention and will likely change a big in 2012. 

• Changes to the HREC and REC definition 
• Clarification re: the file review requirement
• Clarification re:  vapor enchroachment's relationship to E1527
• Clarification that the requirements of E1527 are for those seeking LLPs or grants (directed at "users" of the standard--especially lenders)
• New Table of Contents
• Changes to the legal appendix
• Fixing some "should" versus "shall" language throughout the standard
• requirements on database providers to update records more frequently

Did I miss any? Now this list is just what is being brought to the table, and I don't expect all of the components are going to change in the version of the standard that will go to ballot in the coming weeks. After the E50 committee sends out the ballot (I think we are shooting for sometime in late Feb or early Mar), the task group will have to deal with all of the negative comments to build consensus around the new standard. So, we will likely have a new version of E1527 in late spring or early summer. 

If you want more details on the revisions, read Tina Huff's blog. She's also a task group member and has written some good stuff on the debates we've been having.

Oh, and don't forget to weigh in on this week's poll on the homepage. It's a bound to start some debate!  

I don’t want to bring back any teenage angst or social anxiety issues that you spent years working out with your therapist, but as it turns out, no, the popularity contest never ends. Especially in a down economy, doing your job well isn’t always enough. Yep, I’m going to do it: you can’t just be good enough and smart enough, your clients, boss and coworkers have to like you, too. Luckily, though, your highschool-self can rest assured that the popularity contest has changed a bit and you will no longer be judged based on the merrits of designer jeans or the car you drive into the senior parking lot.

Last month I attended an event that featured Guy Kawasaki as a keynote speaker. I’ve heard Guy talk before but I was especially enamored by him after this event. He was there to talk about Enchantment, his new book which has been a best seller since it came out in March and is listed as one of Amazon’s best books of 2011. There is no rocket science to this book or Guy’s message, but both are incredibly powerful.  Here’s the once sentence summary: by enchanting people, you not only get them to do what you want them to do, you fill them with great delight at the same time.  

Much of the book deals with enchanting people with your company and products, and I encourage you to read it for those reasons. For this quick post, though, I am going to focus on some tips he gives for being a more likable, enchanting person.

• Smile. Not a fake smile, but a real smile that makes your eyes squint a bit is the first step in winning people over, even in business.
• Default to “Yes”. When your boss asks you to do something when you’re busy, the natural thing to do is to explain why you cannot help. You probably have a totally legitimate reason and saying yes may even be irresponsible. However if you do this too often, you risk being labeled as an anti-team player. Here’s an alternative-  Boss: Can you help me with Project A? You: Yes, I can. Let me see my schedule. It looks like I can help with Project A, but I’ll have to let Clients B and C know that the work I’m doing for them will be a day or two late. Is that ok? Chances are your boss will probably find a solution that works for clients A, B and C and you won’t have to work till 11pm.
• Find something to agree on. From time to time, you’ll probably have to work with someone you really do not like. This is challenging, but finding commonalities can help, even if it is something small and unrelated to work. Some examples:  your kids play soccer, you both grew up in the south, or you like the same TV show. This will humanize the person and make their flaws less central to how you perceive them.
• Allow people to pay you back. Especially in professional services and consulting, we always want to do, do, do for our clients.  If the relationship is always a one-way street, the other person may feel indebted to you and guilty. This is straining. The same is true of your boss and your colleagues. If you try to do everything and never take help, you may get labeled as an over achiever or know-it-all; which are equally bad labels today as they were in high school. Allowing people to reciprocate a favor will help build your relationship.
• Deliver bad news early. The project is over budget, late, or a complete flop. These are painful things to admit and you will be tempted to sweep news like this under the rug. But being upfront with your client or boss is much less bad than trying to cover things up, failing, and then having to admit to covering it up in addition to delivering bad news. You can often work out a solution by owning up to mistakes as soon as they’ve happened.
• Suck it up. No matter what your role is at your company, being willing to do the dirty work shows you understand what your employees and colleagues are going through and are committed to the common mission.  This also extends to asking people to do things for you. If you wouldn’t miss Thanksgiving to complete a project, don’t ask your employees to.

Easy, right? Yes. But the easiest things to do are the easiest to forget. How important do you think likability is to business success? What small things have you done to enchant people?

Oh, and if you need a daily affirmation, Stuart Smalley has one for you.  It's the Halloween edition. How timely? 

Whether it be your neighborhood, your kids’ school or you workplace, there are several things we can all do to help build a strong community:

• Respect other members;
• Offer support to those who need it;
• Share resources and knowledge;
• And have a little bit of fun!

We’re rolling out a mentorship program. Now, all members who are new to the industry have a place where they can connect with some of the brightest, most experienced environmental consultants in the field in a nurturing environment. Our mentors include several of our Executive Committee members as well our commonground University facilitators. In a field that values experience as highly as ours, it is vital that the next generation of professionals benefits from the knowledge of today’s leaders.

For the first time, commonground has a structured giving program. I am personally very proud of this. By partnering with donorschoose.org, we will be supporting classrooms in high-poverty communities. Our giving is targeted towards improving science curriculums to help build the next generations of professionals as well acting as a lifeline to schools in cities and towns that have been particularly hard-hit by environmental contamination. We are donating $1 for every new member we add until mid-September as well as for every new LinkedIn group member, Twitter follower, and Facebook fan that connects with us. After just a few weeks, we’ve raised enough money to buy headphones for all of the computers at a Binghamton, NY school library. As many of you know, Binghamton has been impacted by VOC plumes stemming from its industrial past for the last decade. Finally, we’re doubling up our giving by sending 2% of all commonground University and Environmental Service Directory revenue to the cause.

Here is todays’ take-away: when it comes to bolstering a community, it doesn’t take a lot of money or a lot of time. Helping a fellow member with an answer to a question may take you 2 minutes and save them several hours. For less than $200, we can help an entire school full of kids in a needy neighborhood learn next year.

This blog is well timed, as many of us on the east coast are bracing for Hurricane Irene. I actually ran out this morning and picked up some cat food for my 81 year old neighbor who “adopted” the neighborhood stray last year. It only took me a minute, but was such a big relief to her—and Cato, as she’s been named.

How else can we bolster our community? We are always looking for new ideas and like the two that we’ve acted on above, the best ideas are usually a community effort!