This evolver thing’s been confusing me for a long, long time. The confusion started at the Greenfest in San Francisco, when I ran into evolver AND EVO — which’re sort of the same, but sort of different, companies.

From what I can gather, evolver and EVO started out as 2 branches of 1 entity. But more recently, they’ve split up.

evolver is, as far as I can tell, mainly a magazine at this point. Its website sez “It’s no longer about knowing what’s wrong. It’s about becoming what’s right.” I’m not totally clear as to what that means, but I can say I met some nice people who’re working for evolver at the last Green Business Network.

Rob, one of the evolver people, was kind enough to give me a copy of the 0 issue of evolver magazine. This zine’s a nice glossie, with some sci-fi, techy graphics. That said, I personally found the articles to be somewhat crunchy — though I’d like to point out that I may be unnecessarily biased against the “spiral dynamics” of hooping or the transformative aspects “mystical spectacle” might have on rave culture. Perhaps I’m not close enough to the hoop or rave culture to judge.

EVO, on the other hand, appears to be a not-yet-launched “membership program that connects you to the most environmentally and ethically sound goods and services – and to other people who share your vision.” Basically, if you become an EVO member, you can “get exclusive benefits and discounts from the most inspiring companies on the planet.” EVO’s scheduled to launch in the spring.

The two were under the same roof, but are sort of separate now, according to the people I spoke to at the Green Biz Network. I wasn’t even drinking at this GBN, so I’m going to have to conclude that the relationship between the two must be v. complicated, or that I’m just slower when sober….

In any case — I’m not sure what to make of evolver or EVO, except to surmise that they must have some money behind them, considering their large Greenfest presence, what seems to me like a huge number of employees, etc. And while I’m still not clear as to what exactly this EVO(lver) group’s trying to accomplish, I do know that EVO will enter you into a sweepstakes if you input your favorite local eco-friendly businesses into its directory. Grand prize: A trip for 2 from Costa Rican Adventures to the Punta Mona eco-resort.

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