GREEN MEETINGS 25 in planning and implementing sustainable events ... and it works without having to go to the supermarket for herbs or EVOO ( extra-virgin olive oil ).
Here ’ s how it works and how it may help you :
n “ Plan ”: Line Up Your Key Ingredients Let ’ s say you are planning a two-day national event with approximately 500 participants and you want it to be greener .
Your first step will be to create a specific goal like “ We want to reduce
CO 2 emissions by X percent ” or “ We want all catering for the event to be green ”.
From there you ’ ll want to define what sustainable principles , objectives and needs will drive these efforts , identify the key people who should be involved , and honestly discuss what issues may arise .
Once this initial plan is down on paper you will be able to more easily drive decisions for the event such as considering local suppliers , identifying public transportation options , highlighting venues with renewable energy features , and suggesting sponsors who will share your vision .
Before you move on to the next step of “ Do ”, however , you ’ ll also need to assign and clearly communicate roles and responsibilities and ensure everyone understands and is bought into the plan .
n “ Do ”: Prepare your “ Kitchen ”, Then Get Cooking With a good plan in place and initial communications started with your “ green team ”, it will be tempting to jump right in and start turning up the heat .
However , before proceeding to implementation you ’ ll need to take a few more prep steps .
First be sure to assess how the skill levels of the internal and external team members line up with your goals ... or not . You may need to provide resources or training at your end . At the provider , supplier and venue ends you might need to ask for changes or clarifications or secure added commitment levels to support your goals .
Second you ’ ll need to dig deeper into how you can tactically achieve your planned goals e . g .: Are you going to create & package specific transportation recommendations and programmes with a greener bend ? What menu choices will you make to ensure that more locally grown foods are used ? What will your print documentation policy be , and which elements will you offer only online to engage and educate participants ?
Also in the “ Do ” phase : before you go live with the plan , you should establish a measurement and tracking process to decide how to gauge success or identify areas for improvement . This Q & A process will help determine how actions will be controlled throughout the event supply chain and by whom .
Finally , once these planning elements are in place and you have evaluated the general feasibility of your goals and ideas , it ’ s time to get cooking and start executing against the plan .
Now that it ’ s “ go time ” it will be paramount to establish clear and regular lines of communication internally and externally to keep things moving in the right direction .
At the same time you will have to continue creating , maintaining and sharing documentation during every part of the execution .
Ongoing communication and documentation of your green meetings process will help build continuous understanding and buyin , create more effective progress individually and collectively , flag areas for redirection earlier , and share new or better ideas that can be adopted to get even stronger green results .
n “ Check ”: The Proof is in the Pudding ... or the Minestrone The third phase is the analysis and comparison phase .
Here you will look at how your target goals for your green meeting measured up to the actual performance of the event .
For example : how many print documents were actually used vs . posted online ? What percentage of food used was locally grown in the end ? How much recycling took place during and after your event for food waste or documentation , signage etc .? How much energy was saved at event hotels due to sustainability measures ?
Be sure to take a systematic and holistic look at the all the elements that went into or against your green goals at the show – planned or not .
This is also a great time to develop new criteria for future events , which were not considered this time around .
n “ Act ”: Refining the Recipe Now that you are post event you should feel great about the green gains you ’ ve made , but you should also take a hard look at how , when and where issues arose and why , and how goals were prevented from being reached . It is also a great time to do a reality check on your original goals , and how you might handle things differently going forward .
For example , do you want all your show hotels to be within walking distance from your event next time to reduce your CO 2 footprint ? Do you want to increase online