Welcome to this issue of the Daily Plan-It, a publication designed to inform and inspire your meetings and conferences to higher levels of success! Read on for ideas and tips to expand the strategic importance of your meetings, enhance your delegates’ satisfaction, reduce costs and help the planet. Further ideas and information can be found at www.meetingstrategiesworldwide.com. If you prefer not to receive future issues of the Daily Plan-It, please contact editor@meetingstrategiesworldwide.com.
In the News & Announcements
Glossary Posted to Website For those searching for a glossary of green meeting terms, we have now posted a list of commonly used terms and definitions. Bookmark it for quick reference. http://www.meetingstrategiesworldwide.com/resources/glossary.
Blog Launched Nancy launched her new blog last month, "Pretentious Musings of a MeetGreen Martyr." Read and subscribe to the blog here: http://blog.meetingstrategiesworldwide.com/
DC Seminar Our "Simple Steps to Green Meetings and Events" seminar is coming to Washington, DC on May 22. The first 25 registrants for each seminar will get a free copy of the book plus access to the MeetGreen® Calculator. For more details and to register, visit: http://www.meetingstrategiesworldwide.com/services/seminars/.
Save the date! We've picked the cities for the seminar this fall: June 26-Chicago, September 11-Atlanta, October 23-Pittsburgh, November 13-Seattle, December 4-Las Vegas. (Dates subject to change.)
Corporate Social Responsibility - An Overview
By Vanessa Kapinus
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a buzz word getting a lot of attention these days. So, what is CSR and why is it important to the meetings industry? In general, it refers to an organization's policies and efforts to be responsible for the impacts of their activities. Those impacts include the environmental, social and economic effects of doing business on both the local and global community. Often times they are voluntary initiatives as opposed to mandatory regulations.
How does CSR relate to meetings? It is the next step beyond green meetings. In addition to just environmental factors, it takes into account how a meeting impacts the people and economy of the community where it takes place. Some questions to consider as you are planning a meeting: Are products produced sustainably and sourced nearby to support the local economy? Are vendors being hired that use fair trade practices and pay good wages to employees? Does a meeting minimize its use of resources and/or engage in volunteer projects that benefit the local community?
Like many trends, corporate social responsibility is not without controversy. Some consider CSR campaigns to be nothing more than slick PR initiatives that are designed to pull consumer and watchdog eyes away from business practices that are harmful. Others are concerned by the lack of oversight and standards for what CSR means and how it implemented. As with environmental claims, it is always a good idea to look at the whole picture of what is being said, why it is being said and what is being done in reality. Ask questions and look for practices in action.
While there are currently no set standards or measurement tools for CSR for the meetings industry specifically, documentation and transparency are good rules to follow. Be open about your practices and outcomes, do not misrepresent how responsible your event is, and engage vendors with sustainable products and fair employment practices.
Industry and consumer interest in corporate social responsibility are growing rapidly. The Convention Industry Council recently convened its first ever task force on CSR. The EventView 2008 Report published by MPI states that of the respondents greening their events in the next 12 months, 50% are doing so because of corporate responsibility mandates. According to a 2006 survey by Fleishman-Hillard, 46 percent of consumers said that they search for information about a company's corporate social responsibility program "all of the time" or "sometimes."
Case Study - Greening the Hospitality Industry Conference
By Mary Peters and Dana Lee
When greening a conference, one of the things you can do to make a difference is to have a community legacy project. For this year's Greening the Hospitality Industry Conference, which was held in February, in Vancouver, BC, the organizers made a commitment to do something that would give back to the community. In addition to selecting a Carbon Offset program that supported local programs, they decided to partner with the Vancouver Food Bank and participate in their volunteer program.
Registrants were notified by email and given the opportunity to sign up, as spots were limited. The response was so great that they even had a waiting list. Transportation to and from the food bank from the hotel was provided by The Vancouver Trolley Company, whose trolleys are fueled by propane instead of gasoline.
The volunteers toured the food bank and learned about the various local groups who benefit from the food bank. While volunteering, attendees sorted and separated food and household items, weighed and measured items, and arranged goods into boxes for disbursement. Not only did attendees get to know each other, they gave back to the community. In one hour, 31 volunteers from around the globe assisted 1,600 people with meals in the Vancouver Metro area.
In conjunction with the event, the attendees also participated in a food drive. For a $2 donation, an attendee could purchase $6 in food. Actual food donations were also collected at registration and given to the Vancouver Food Bank.
The event was a huge success, and the Greening the Hospitality Industry Conference hopes to include similar projects at future conferences.
Ask the Expert - Swag Donations
By Mary Cameron
All meeting planners encounter the same challenge: you are at the end of the conference and have all this "stuff" left over. Those ramdom sized T-shirts; leftover conference bags, imprinted note pads and pens, and even your directional signage. We did a conference recently that made use of plastic buckets.
What to do with it all???? You hate to throw it out, but what else can you do with it?
Answer: Donate it!!
How? Plan for it in advance. Make determining the end destination of all items sent to the conference a part of your general planning. For donations the best idea is to locate recipients before you arrive on site.
Often the facility where you are holding the meeting can be of help with this. We at Meeting Strategies Worldwide have had help in the past from Jo Licata, the Community Projects Manager with Hilton San Francisco. I spoke with her to get her advice. She suggests: " In most cases, the hotel HR Office or PR or Sales and Marketing Office will have knowledge of the hotel's local non-profit beneficiaries. Other good sources are the local Volunteer Center, Boys & Girls Club, Salvation Army or United Way Office. They will certainly have knowledge of worthy groups (including their own). In San Francisco, the Salvation Army loves to get tote bags as they give them to school kids with school supplies. Also, nearby schools can usually use supplies like left-over binders, pens, pencils. If you are using foamcore for signage, make sure you donate the signage...don't let that get thrown away. Art groups and school art programs, Boys & Girls Clubs Art Programs can use that commodity."
We also discussed assuring the recipients will come retrieve the items in a timely manner. "You have to do your homework on this one. We work with groups we can rely on. We know they have trucks. If a hotel is staging a pick up of a sort, you want to make sure you can rely on that pick up. Dock space and labor come at a premium. Do your homework, and make sure the group has a means of picking up and is reliable. Here's where your hotel can be of help. Remember non-profit groups are mostly running on a shoe-string and have to rely at times on volunteer assistance."
As to those buckets? There was a pre-school in the Bay Area that was very happy to have received those red and green buckets. They have no idea why they had a big "+" or "-" on each one, but they are giving those buckets another life.
The key is to remember that most of what we have left over after a meeting, is still very useful to others. Best of all, you will feel great knowing you have passed along your "stuff" to others who can make use of it, while at the same time preventing those items going into the landfill!
Upcoming Events!
Client and Meeting Strategies Worldwide Events:
UUA Annual Conference — June 25-29, 2008, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
The 5-day General Assembly will take place in the Greater Fort Lauderdale Broward County Convention Center. Unitarian Universalists will have the opportunity to attend hundreds of valuable programs and workshops, congregate, and meet other Universalists from across the United States. Because UUA embraces social and environmental responsibility, they have worked to determine goals, objectives, and achievable environmental practices, and to monitor the implementation of those practices for their General Assembly.State of Green Meetings 2008 — PCMA Webinar - April 22, 1pm EST
With the buzz about going green, stories on climate change and a potential energy crisis looming, does that make you stop and think? Are your meetings and events a part of the solution or part of the problem? Much of the meetings and hospitality industry - and the world - are rapidly shifting towards "greener" and more socially responsible practices.The Paperless Meeting: Communicate, Market and Sponsor Green — PCMA Webinar - May 20, 1pm EST
Maybe you've taken steps to green your meeting - but are you ready to go completely paperless? From selecting a site that can assist in your green efforts to marketing your event and even considering sponsor collateral, Nancy Wilson, CMP, will discuss how green practices can be used to reduce waste while still conducting a successful meeting that meets your objectives.Simple Steps to Green Meetings and Events Seminar — May 22, 2008, Washington, DC
This one-day seminar teaches the basics on how to green your meetings. The first 25 registrants for each seminar will get a free copy of the book plus access to the MeetGreen® Calculator.
Recommended Resources
Ceres - Sustainability Reporting
Resources on sustainability reporting and the Global Reporting Initiative
http://www.ceres.org/NETCOMMUNITY/Page.aspx?pid=556&srcid=705
CSRwire
Newswire with announcements and press releases about developments related to social responsibility.
http://www.csrwire.com/
Corporate Register
CSR reporting guidelines and searchable database of CSR reports.
http://www.corporateregister.com/
UN Global Compact
Framework for global citizenship presented by the UN.
http://www.unglobalcompact.org/
World Business Council for Sustainable Development
Global association providing a platform for companies to explore sustainable development.
http://www.wbcsd.org
Contact Us
Meeting Strategies Worldwide
6220 NE Glisan
Portland, Oregon 97213
U.S.A.
Phone: (503) 252-5458
FAX: (503) 261-0964
operations@meetingstrategiesworldwide.com
www.meetingstrategiesworldwide.com