I'm pleased to report that the 2010 State of Green Business Forums are shaping up nicely, with exciting line-ups of speakers for both the San Francisco and Chicago events. If you missed last year's Forum in San Francisco, or haven't yet sampled the 2009 sessions online, the 2010 Forums will bring to life our third annual State of Green Business report, which we'll be releasing at the February 4 event. Last year's Forum drew a sell-out crowd of nearly 500 professionals from 21 states to hear a series of panels on key trends and themes in the world of green business.

This year, we're extending beyond panels to include shorter, 15- and 30-minute talks and one-on-one interviews with key business and thought leaders, the latter by my colleague Marc Gunther. We'll be having some special guests join in via telepresence, thanks to one of our sponsors, Tandberg. These guests will appear on what we've dubbed the Green Screen, a large flat-panel display that will sit on stage. And we listened to your feedback and ramped up the networking opportunities, both at the Forums and via an exclusive online community of Forum registrants and speakers.

Please visit the event website to see the latest line-up of speakers for each city. And check back: There are more speakers to come. Like last year's Forum, I'm certain that this year's will sell out, so don't procrastinate in registering.

Seven Resolutions. New year's resolutions are so -- well, last week. But if you'll indulge us one more time, I'd like to call your attention to Bob Pojasek's fine column this week about "Seven Sustainability Resolutions for Business Leaders." It's short and sweet but offers a valuable perspective from one of the leading sustainability veterans about the roles various corporate executives should be playing in 2010: EH&S managers, corporate responsibility officers, corporate risk managers, supply-chain managers, and others. This is one article that should be shared widely among colleagues.

Professional Services Directory. GreenBiz.com's directory of green business consultants, launched last year, has become an unqualified success, boasting listings of nearly 300 firms. Every month, thousands of readers are using this service to find sustainability consultants with expertise in strategy, energy efficiency, marketing, supply chain, and more. If your firm provides these kinds of services, it's a great way to get exposure to a highly targeted audience of green professionals.

In Greenpeace's latest Guide to Greener Electronics, Nokia and Sony Ericsson retain top spots on the list while Samsung falls for not meeting a chemical-elimination goal. Greenpeace is now also rating companies based on their support, or silence, on changes to a European Union chemicals law.

This research evaluates how UK FTSE 100 companies' emission reduction targets compare against the national target and utilizes the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) 2009 dataset to analyze how companies are currently setting emissions reduction targets and what level of reduction these targets will deliver.

Mark your calendars for two 2010 State of Green Business Forums, in San Francisco and Chicago. These one-day information-packed events coincide with the release of GreenBiz.com’s “State of Green Business 2010,” the acclaimed annual status report on corporate environmental trends and progress.