Photo courtesy of Lost Media (http://lost-media.com)

Unless you haven’t turned on your TV, read a paper or surfed the Web this past week, by now you know that ABC’s epic television series “Lost” came to a highly anticipated conclusion on Sunday. As a dedicated fan of the show (some may say obsessed), I eagerly awaited this finale with both excitement and sadness—and I even flew out to my hometown of Los Angeles to attend the E! Entertainment finale viewing party (OK, maybe obsessed is appropriate).

The finale itself was amazing—it certainly hit all the right marks for this fan. Many of the scenes were intensely emotional, others were action-packed and others downright funny. Something else that struck me? Plastic! Now, when you work for a particular industry, it is no surprise that you develop radar for honing in on those products. While watching the finale of “Lost,” scrutinizing every scene, it occurred to me that plastics actually played a pivotal role in several major plot developments and essentially saved the day for my beloved characters.

Yes, that’s right—plastic actually helped save the island AND save lives. Toward the end of the finale, time is running out for our main characters to stop the island from deconstructing and for some of them to make their exit by repairing a crashed plane and flying it off the island. Our hero Jack—a man who began the show as a “man of science” and transitioned to a “man of faith”— knows he is about to sacrifice his life to save the island (and all humanity…but I won’t get into that). Before he can undertake this important act, he must quickly appoint a replacement protector of the island by offering a sort-of communion to his selection, the loveable Hurley. Jack needs something to put the sacred water in, and fast! Ben has something they can use—an old beaten up Oceanic Air water bottle he had in his backpack from all their island trekking. Talk about reduce, reuse, recycle! With this water bottle, Jack is able to anoint Hurley as the new leader and proceed to his destiny.

Meanwhile, other castaways are desperately trying to fix up a crashed airplane on the island so that they can get it in shape to fly them away. In a “the clock is ticking” scenario, two characters are frantically wrapping duct tape around a damaged section of the plane. Alpert asks Miles, “Do you think this will work?” and with a classic Miles smirk he responds “I don’t believe in a lot of things. But I do believe in duct tape.” I had to chuckle at this line, as did my fellow watchers, because we all know it is true—duct tape can do pretty much anything. And it certainly worked for Alpert, Miles and the other characters who managed to fly the plane off to safety and the start of a new life off the island.

So, I stand by my assessment that at least two plastic items—a simple water bottle and some duct tape—helped the show’s ’characters accomplish critical tasks when the stakes were high. But, it also turns out that “Lost” itself has helped plastics manufacturing as well! A recent article in the Wall Street Journal highlights the economic boom the production of the show has given Hawaii the past six years. “Lost” filmed almost every one of its scenes on the island of Oahu and, as you would expect, required a lot of large-scale structures and props to be constructed. According to the article, “The show consumed so much foam that it prompted a spike in resin imports to Hawaii” with local plastics businesses benefiting.

Could “Lost” have worked without plastic? Well, for one thing, many of the sets I enjoyed looking at the past six seasons would not exist. And as for Jack, Kate, Sawyer and the gang — well, they might have really been “lost” without plastic. As for me, and many others, I feel a bit lost without my favorite TV show.

That title probably grabbed your attention, huh? However, I am not referring to conversations in the nude; instead I am referring to the title of a book: Naked Conversations by Robert Scoble and Shel Israel, which argues that blogs have revolutionized the way business and industry talk to their customers because transparency and authenticity are now expected by the consumer. While the book was written “way back” in 2006, I think it is safe to say that this has become the new reality for business. 

At the NPE2009 show SPI President & CEO Bill Carteaux spoke in the opening luncheon about a proposed consumer outreach initiative that is currently in the works at SPI.  The purpose of this initiative is to engage key audiences, particularly millennials, in an open dialogue about plastics. The Millennial Generation is one that thrives on transparent and authentic discussions – essentially naked conversations. The initiative will aim to not only give the plastics industry a voice in the online world where millennials live , but seek out the voice of these consumers and supply them with sound science and trustworthy information to help them make informed choices.

Some of these conversations are already taking place. In the past few days, a lively dialogue has heated up on two blogs — check out the posts and comment going back and forth on Fake Plastic Fish and Plastics.com where individuals are weighing in with questions, concerns and input on various aspects of plastics and the plastics industry. You will disagree with some of these comments and others you will applaud; some will irritate you for their inaccuracies, others you will think “hmmmm… interesting point.” But my point is that these conversations are happening, and I think this can be healthy for the plastics industry, as long as we are ready to enter this conversation ourselves.

Rather than ignoring the debate that is already happening, SPI’s proposed consumer outreach initiative will let us engage with influential millennials — a generation that is actively asking questions, looking for answers and wanting to make sustainable choices for the future.

You may have seen the recent poll on Plastics News asking what people think about such an initiative. While most who voted find it to be a modern step in the right direction, some people selected “It’s a lost cause” or “What’s a millennial?” However, the real lost cause is if we do not enter the conversation already happening. Any millennial (like me!) can tell you that!

So, what are your thoughts? How can the plastics industry be better recognized as a credible source of information? How can we do a better job of helping consumers balance criticisms with relevant science? It seems Tell us what you think…and let the “naked conversation” begin!

More hours of daylight, temperatures that hit above the 60 degree mark, a few brave flowers trying to poke out of the ground — these wonderful things can only mean that spring is here!

As a kid I enjoyed getting a new spring dress with lots of ruffles and an obnoxiously loud floral print. And I looked forward to my mom (I mean the Easter Bunny) hiding dyed eggs and candy around the house for me to find.

Now, while I certainly still enjoy a new spring dress (with far fewer ruffles) and baskets full of candy, I appreciate spring more for the other benefits it brings. After what is often a long and bleak winter, spring is all about a new, fresh start. All of a sudden, it is brighter and livelier. People have a new bounce to their step. We see growth all around us and feel ready to take on new challenges .

In the spirit of all that is spring-like and new, we can also look ahead to NPE2009 in just a few short months. NPE2009 fully embodies a breath of fresh air, a new beginning and opportunities for growth. One big thing that’s new this time around? Seven conferences and educational programs that are co-locating with NPE for the first time. Together, this will be the most comprehensive education line-up in the global plastics industry, offering rich content to help your business bloom again.

All sessions from all of these conferences have now been added to one educational search feature on the NPE Web site, making it easy to search for the specific topics you need to grow your business. You can search for a particular session by key word, conference, track, speaker or date.

Even better, when you use NPE’s MyShow Plannerand search for a key word, you will not only find the exhibitors relevant to your search, but the educational offerings from all the co-located conferences related to that term. NPE makes it easy to learn about a new technology, product or service in a technical presentation and then see it on the show floor. For example, when I plugged in the word “bioplastics,” I not only saw 15 exhibitors appear in my results, but I also saw that there are currently seven different education sessions specifically on bioplastics in both SPI’s “Business of Plastics” conference and SPE’s ANTEC — two more events co-located at NPE2009. Check it out for yourself with the topics you want to focus on.

I think we are all ready for spring this year, and more importantly: while spring does come once a year, NPE only comes once every three years. Let’s put winter behind us and hop to it!