scottish festival cancelled

The organizers of the Outsider Festival have blamed the recession for forcing the cancellation of June's event.

The festival was first held in 2007 and organizers had promoted it as an environmentally-friendly event with an emphasis on outdoor pursuits.

The message on the site says "The Outsider programme was ambitious and ground breaking, combining live music and DJs with activities - including mountain biking and running - with debate and discussion, film, comedy and food in a uniquely beautiful and environmentally important setting; Rothiemurchus in the Cairngorm National Park.

"Clearly a recession is not the time to realise this bold new concept but we still believe the Outsider was right for its time and perfect for its place and are hugely disappointed that it is not going ahead."

resisting the squeeze

Lays off, cut backs, bail outs. The list goes on, but business is still hanging on to green ... but for how long?

Trend-watcher eMarketer reports that polls from the American Marketing Association and Fleishman-Hillard show that companies are still investing in green projects and products—and they want their customers to know it. Yet, when asked if consumers would pay more for green products now, only 40% agreed.

As for them, over half surveyed said that sustainability is an essential element of their company’s reputation. What's worse, the survey showed that even popular sustainability programs, such as recycling and electric energy efficiency, were embraced by only a minority of businesses, 36% and 20%, respectively.

eMarketer's round up? Green marketing is good, but no one can be certain whether—under continuing pressure from the economy—it will wilt.