Yesterday was day one of the Social Capital Markets conference in San Francisco - SOCAP ‘08.  They were anticipating around 300 attendees and, instead, got double that.  While the number made for some tight sessions, it’s a powerful sign of interest in the space.  The subtitle of the conference gives the basic focus:  “the intersection of money and meaning”.  With a large number of parallel sessions going on, it was a bit tricky to get an overall sense of the discussions. But a few interesting points emerged for me:

-  Many see the financial meltdown as a unique opportunity to promote the idea of social capital markets and double or triple bottom line accounting. The meltdown has revealed the risk associated with profit maximization at all costs.

-  We have to break out of silos and look at ecosystems.  Sustainable fishing, for example, is not just about managing discrete fisheries in a better way, but about rethinking the entire supply and demand side of fish, from the ocean to the plate.

- In the long-term, there are no trade-offs between doing well financially and doing well socially.  There may be some short-term trade-offs, but the two go hand-in-hand over the long term.

- We need more examples of success in the social enterprise and social capital arena. Success begets success.

-  We need better infrastructure.  There is a social capital market in the U.S., but we need a better marketplace:  financial exchanges, legal systems, auditors, ratings agencies, standards, measurement tools, etc.

- Social entrepreneurs need to be able to talk to both financial and social audiences effectively.

The Skoll Foundation is involved in the conference at several levels.  Foundation staffer Dan Crisafulli, who oversees our ecosystem and partner programs, spoke on a panel on mission-related investment.  Debra Dunn, who’s on Skoll’s board, was on a panel on building infrastructure for social capital markets.  Jill Finlayson of Social Edge will be on a panel today on online communities.  Skoll social entrepreneurs Willie Foote of Root Capital, Premal Shah of Kiva and Jim Fruchterman of Benetech, also all have speaking roles.

Back for day two this morning.