Green Drinks Happy Hour

From Net Impact Austin –

This month’s Net Impact Green Drinks networking happy hour will feature speaker Dianne Odegard from Bat Conservation International, headquartered right here in Austin, Texas. We’ll meet at Alta’s Cafe on the river to grab a drink (check out their wine, beer, coffee and smoothie selection here) and hear Dianne speak with us about the many benefits of bats and essential information about keeping bats AND humans safe.

After the talk, we’ll walk a couple of blocks down to the Congress Avenue Bridge to see the world’s largest urban bat colony make their nightly flight, so remember to wear comfortable shoes!

Our friends from SXSW Eco will  also be there to share information about what this conference can offer you and your business. Discover the 2016 program and enter a drawing for free badges!

SXSW Eco creates a space for business leaders, designers, policy makers and innovators to advance solutions that drive social, economic and environmental change. The conference features collaborative events to create new relationships, as well as dynamic sessions and exciting competitions that introduce attendees to transformative designs, technologies and ideas. SXSW Eco takes place October 10-12, 2016in Austin, Texas.
Parking instructions: If you are visiting by car and you don’t find parking at the top of the hill leading down to the Boathouse, there is plenty of parking at the Mexican American Cultural Center at 600 River St, Austin, TX 78701.  Park at the back of the lot and follow the trail west – it’s a 3 minute walk.

About Bat Conservation International
BCI is dedicated to the enduring protection of the world’s 1300+ species of bats and their habitats and creating a world in which bats and humans successfully coexist. In pursuit of this vision, during the next five years BCI will work worldwide at scale with local, regional, national and multinational public and private partners to respond rapidly and effectively to bat conservation crises, preventing the extinction of threatened bats and the extirpation of globally significant populations of bats.

About Dianne Odegard
Dianne joined the BCI staff in January of 2005, and is thrilled to work for an organization whose mission is to protect bats worldwide. She anchors BCI’s education and outreach initiatives, including training and managing docents at Austin’s Congress Avenue Bridge. Though her college major was graphic arts, her life-long love of animals and passion for mediating human/wildlife conflict, is well-satisfied here! She serves as public information liaison for the organization, with specialties in education, artificial roosts, bats in buildings, and bats and public health, and fields the frequent requests for speakers and educational materials about bats.
Dianne and her husband are Texas-permitted bat rehabilitators. Their facility provides a wealth of educational opportunities and keeps a finger on the pulse of the local bat populations. Besides the native Texas bats that reside with Dianne and Lee for periods of time, BCI’s long-time “Bat Ambassadors,” African straw-colored fruit bats Zoey and ZuZu, also roost at their home.