SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH—Sustainability will have a prominent place on the agenda at the Meeting Professionals International’s (MPI) World Education Congress, to be held July 11 to 14 at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City. Eight educational sessions will touch on topics such as corporate social responsibility and green meetings, and attendees will have an opportunity to participate in a community service project. MPI has incorporated the principles of the first sustainable event standard, British Standard 8901, into the Salt Lake City event. This includes planning for the event, on-site implementation of the event, and a post-event review process that will allow MPI to learn from its successes and challenges and incorporate changes into its next event.
The Congress will include the following sessions:
Sunday, July 12
Joshua Grimes, Green Meetings & Social Responsibility: The Legal Essentials
Green Meetings are revolutionizing the meetings industry. Environmentally-conscious companies and associations are creating new best practices to conserve natural resources and help save the planet. But the key to green meetings is not just creating conservation practices. It’s actually putting them into place and making them work so that a meeting consumes less of the planet’s scarce resources.
The key to any successful meeting is a good contract, and green meetings are no different. Planners must be able to identify suppliers committed to conservation, as opposed to those who just ‘talk green’ as a marketing gimmick. They also need to place environmentally-friendly standards into contracts to ensure that their conservation practices are implemented and savings goals met. Meeting facilities and other suppliers failing to meet their obligations should also be subject to sanctions that don’t just involve money, but help save the environment as well.
Join an attorney in an interactive discussion of the essential legal tools needed to successfully bring green meetings to fruition, from identifying committed suppliers to special contract clauses. He will also discuss other important legal issues impacting socially-conscious practices such as leftover food donation and volunteering.
Monday, July 13
Fiona Pelham, How Does My Business Get Certified Sustainable?
Green, eco, sustainable. There are numerous words that companies are using to describe their environmental practices but how do you know what is genuine and what is greenwash? British Standard 8901 sustainable event management system is a standard launched in 2007 and is on its path to becoming an international standard. Learn about standards for sustainability within the event industry. Particular focus will be on the process BS8901 provides, evidence of international events which have implemented BS8901, and the results achieved.
Kevin Olsen, CSR: Incorporating Philanthropic Elements Into Events
Focused on community outreach and philanthropic activities, this session will highlight creative and practical ways to integrate corporate social responsibility(CSR) into your events. Brainstorm and interact with fellow attendees on topics including the importance of giving back to your local community, effectively building interest for philanthropic outreach activities, selecting an appropriate charitable organization, promoting CSR within your department, and ways for your team to create impact.
Corbin Ball, Using Technology To Green Meetings
Meeting technology not only improves efficiency, but also helps make meetings more environmentally responsible. This session will cover many ideas to reduce paper, waste and unnecessary travel, as well as improve the meetings process before, during and after events.
Tuesday, July 14
Kristi Casey Sanders, Change Begins With You: Meeting Responsibly
Have you ever considered your purchasing power? Where you spend your money can be just as influential as the conventions, meetings and events you produce. In this session, you’ll learn how to incorporate the idea of corporate social responsibility into your planning decisions, and going beyond green to see what kind of impact you, your vendors, your attendees and your company can truly have on the communities in which you meet.
Karen Purves, Green Your Meetings!
Green is in! Whether you are a planner or supplier, learn how embracing green practices makes business and environmental sense. This session will include various aspects to consider including paper, food and beverage, on-site facilities, hotels, and transportation. Discover how going green can affect your bottom line.
Joan Eisenstodt, Social Responsibilty: It’s Beyond Greening
“Green” is the issue around which everyone seems to be able to converge when it comes to social responsibility. Our world and thus our industry are impacted by many other issues raised in the UN Global Compact and in discussions among peers. In this modified open space/world cafe session, we will discuss issues you believe are critical to our world and industry.
Elizabeth George, CMM, CSR Measurement
You are familiar with discussions about sustainability, CSR and green meetings and now you are ready for the next level. How do you measure your success in implementing these programs? This session will start you down the path of being able to measure specific items at your meetings and events. This session is not recommended for a novice audience.
This year’s community service project will be held on Saturday, July 11. It will involve tree planting as part of Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon’s Million Tree Challenge. The initiative’s goal is to plant one million trees in Salt Lake County by 2017.
