Business for Social Responsibility’s Amon Rappaport responds to Peter Knight’s comments about sponsoring BSR’s 2008 conference

I can only hope that Peter Knight is more accurate about his fervent complaints about his landlord and his phone company than he is with his baseless claims about his experience as a sponsor of the 2008 Business for Social Responsibility Conference [Letter from America: Jumping away from responsibility, February 2009].

Contrary to his assertions, he received the same sponsorship benefits as the year before; BSR undertook extra efforts to promote the exhibit space; and BSR has spent considerable time promptly responding to his complaints, both during the November conference and since.

In light of this, we would have welcomed the opportunity to set the record straight about his allegations before Ethical Corporation printed them.

We are proud of the BSR conference – which Forbes.com recently named one of the top 12 influential executive gatherings for 2009, along with the World Economic Forum and the TED conference – and we welcome all constructive suggestions on how to make it even better.

Most importantly, we are optimistic that, despite the current severe economic difficulties, this year will see continued attention to sustainable business.

Amon Rappaport
Director of Communications
Business for Social Responsibility
San Francisco, California
US