Share your brightest ideas

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Christina Williams is the editor of Sustainable Business Oregon.

If there's anything that I've learned in my years covering sustainable business, it's that we're all still figuring this stuff out.

You could make the argument that the fact that our state leads in many aspects of sustainable business is because Oregonians, by nature, are born collaborators. Peer groups of sustainability managers regularly meet up — in conference rooms, exhibit halls, coffee shops and brew pubs — to share ideas, discuss challenges and document best practices. And this very website was launched with a mission to become a forum for the exchange of ideas in addition to being a news hub for the latest on the state's sustainable businesses.

So it's gratifying that the GoGreen conference series, which was born in Oregon and has spread around the country, is trying something different for its fifth annual conference coming up in Portland on Oct. 11. After hearing feedback from its attendees that they'd like more opportunities to learn from each other, GoGreen has issued its first call for proposals, seeking the best ideas from the local business communities to share with their green-minded peers. The conference will also feature discussion groups to pull even more actionable ideas out of the presentations.

Companies with rocking green teams should be queueing up to share their strategies for success. Ditto for executives who have figured out ways to embed sustainability into the core of their business and leaders who have taken community responsibility to new heights. Submit a proposal, do it today.

And while we're on the topic, if you've got an idea that's bright enough to share with your neighbors, why not take it to the national stage? SXSW Eco, a national conference in its second year, is accepting panel submissions until June 11 for its own October conference in Austin, Texas. What better venue for Oregonians to show the nation how we do sustainability?