The Daily Plan-It
     
 

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

MeetingNews Names Nancy Wilson and Amy Spatrisano Among Top 25 Most Influential People in the Industry! Congratulations to Amy and Nancy!

New Audio Visual Resources. Meeting Strategies Worldwide and Hollywood Lighting have teamed together to produce the first ever green AV Primer. We've also added several new resources to our Toolbox. Download the AV Primer for free at https://www.meetgreen.com/toolbox.php.

New Green Destination Resource Coming Soon! We are just about ready to launch our new website, Best Places to MeetGreen®. This site has two exciting tools to help planners find the best green destination for their events. If you are a destination interested in being a part of our new website, contactus at info@meetgreen.com.

Webcast on Green Meetings, August 5. Successful Meetings/MeetingNews is hosting a webcast featuring Nancy Wilson, CMP on August 5 about "Easy Ways to 'Green' Your Next Meeting." This is a great way to hear Nancy speak on the exciting topic of green meetings. Visit them for more information and to register.

Coming Clean About Greenwash

By Shawna McKinley

Meeting professionals be vigilant: we are becoming awash in greenwash.

In the past 12 months we have seen the market for green meeting services and products explode. This is great news for many of us who have struggled to find more sustainable options for our meetings for years. However, it has also flooded the market with companies claiming to be green, but acting to the contrary.

Some of it is easy to spot. I recently saw a sign from a conference providing "carbon negative shuttles". I had to ask myself if the bus was running on water or perpetual motion because last I had heard we still needed at least a some gasoline to power buses, never mind manufacture them.

Greenwashing is an ethical issue: it is about being clear, honest and transparent about your green meeting efforts.

So how do you spot it, and avoid it?

Terra Choice recommends keeping an eye out for the Six Sins of Greenwashing, which can be translated easily into some of the situations that arise while planning sustainable meetings and events:

  • The Sin of the Hidden Trade-off. It is fabulous that you can provide organic produce, but I would really prefer something local that does not need to be shipped 1000 miles from farm to plate, thank you very much.
  • The Sin of No-Proof. So....exactly what environmentally responsible cleaners do you use at the venue anyways? Can I see them? Do they have an eco-label?
  • The Sin of Vagueness. I appreciate that you provide a zero-waste conference, but what does that really mean? Does it mean you recycle? Compost? Conserve energy?
  • The Sin of Irrelevance. Huh. That is a new one - I've never heard of a water-conserving light bulb before.
  • The Sin of Fibbing. But I thought you said you were a Green Seal certified hotel? I don't see you listed on their web site.
  • The Sin of the Lesser of Two Evils. That is great you planned a carbon neutral conference, but did you actually reduce any emissions?

Avoiding the pitfalls of greenwashing involves turning a critical eye inward, to our own practices and watching for any signs of it. Futerra recommends six things to keep in mind to stay on the sustainable path:

  • Know thyself. Understand what your green strengths are and where you might need to improve. Be aware of what the competition is doing, but don't let the race to be seen as greener than them compromise your environmental practices. Above all, don't misrepresent what you are doing.
  • Be green by design, not luck. It is likely once you inventory the practices you have in place, it will be easier to find opportunities to improve. Look for these openings and plan for them. Look at where and how you can improve and plan for it. Innovate.
  • Check and check again. Search out internal and external experts who can help you improve. If you are holding a green meeting, show the evidence. List your practices, measure them and be prepared to back up your statements. When you're done doing it once, check again - standards and technology change, so what is greenest this month will likely be replaced by something greener next month.
  • Choose your friends wisely. Ask for the credentials and research third parties you want to endorse your meeting or service. Make sure they are respected and know what they are talking about. Ensure that green certifications and associations add to your credibility, not detract from it.
  • Remember: words can hurt you. Many international consumer agencies are cracking down on careless use of phrases like 'environmentally friendly' and 'natural'. Use language that is clear. Also understand that images can be misleading and give the wrong impression, so ensure they send a consistent message.

Case Study - Canada Media Marketplace 2008

By Shawna McKinley

Making a commitment, having a clear strategy and measuring your impact are three key ways you can work to avoid the risk of greenwashing. Collectively these help ensure you present your sustainable meetings measures in a credible fashion that demonstrates on-going commitment that can be tracked over time.

The Canadian Tourism Commission started down the green meetings path in 2007, paying careful attention to:

  • inventorying their existing practice,
  • making a commitment to sustainability,
  • outlining a strategy for implementation, and
  • measuring and accurately representing the impacts of their actions.

Canada is known worldwide for its beautiful and captivating natural environment. Through the generous support of the BC Sustainable Tourism Collective and Tourism New Brunswick, the Canadian Tourism Commission was able to take some great strides forward to green Canada Media Marketplace 2008. The Canadian Tourism Commission intends to build on this preliminary success to green future Media Marketplace events in an ongoing journey to promote more sustainable meetings.

A Green Meeting by the Numbers
In its first year the green initiative achieved the following measurable impacts:

  • 6000: Sheets of paper saved by reducing what we regularly print.
  • 6: Trees saved by recycling paper, reducing what we print and making use of 30-50% post-consumer recycled content paper for publications. Using recycled paper has saved over 141 lbs of wood, 177 gallons of water, 42 lbs of carbon dioxide emissions and 23 lbs of solid waste alone.
  • 2021: Pounds of paper and plastic were recycled during our event using a new recycling program that was implemented by the Beverly Hilton especially for Media Marketplace.
  • 42: Percentage of waste diverted from landfill at the Beverly Hilton - an increase of 16% over previous levels.
  • 62: Percentage of waste diverted from landfill at the Paramount Studio for our offsite reception.
  • 290.4: tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions offset. This includes an estimated 445,000 miles of air travel as well as energy use at the Beverly Hilton! The offset was sponsored by Tourism New Brunswick and provided by the Carbon Reduction Fund.

Legacies...
By making a commitment to plan a greener Media Marketplace 2008 the Canadian Tourism Commission has planted the following seeds which have remained in place after our event:

  • A Beverly Hilton Green Team, which has collected information on existing green practices, implemented new programs for the event which will remain in place, and identified future green opportunities with the goal of achieving green hotel certification.
  • Permanent plastics and paper recycling program at the Beverly Hilton.
  • A green room option at the Beverly Hilton, which provides reduced energy and water use.
  • Partnership between a local live-in care facility and the Beverly Hilton to receive left-over floral donations.
  • New contract language for the Media Marketplace team to use when contracting with vendors beyond 2009.

Upcoming Events!

Client and Meeting Strategies Worldwide Events:

Community Events:

Oregon Food Bank, SAVE THE DATE: July 25, 2008, 1-4pm
Dishing it out...again. Those of you in Portland are invited to join us on Friday, July 25, from 1-4pm for our quarterly volunteer time at the Oregon Food Bank. All you have to do is RSVP to Nancy Wilson and show up. We hope you can join us and spend a few hours with other folks in our industry volunteering for this very worthy cause.

Oregon Food Bank
7900 N.E. 33rd Drive
Portland, OR 97238
*Volunteer Reception to follow

Client Events:

Oracle OpenWorld 2008 — September 21-25, 2008, San Francisco, CA
The world's largest gathering of Oracle customers, partners, developers, and technology enthusiasts with opportunities for learning, collaborating, and connecting with experts and peers.

OOPSLA 2008 — October 19-23, 2008, Nashville, TN
OOPSLA is the premier gathering of professionals from industry and academia--practitioners, researchers, students, educators, managers, and more--all sharing their experiences with today's object technologies and its offshoots. Whether you are new to OOPSLA or a veteran, you will find a wealth of information and people with whom to share experiences and knowledge.

Healthy Brain Development Conference — October 22-24, 2008, Eugene, OR
This regional conference will provide cutting-edge research, prevention strategies and intervention techniques to maximize child brain development.

Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers - 27th Annual Conference — October 22-25, 2008, Atlanta, GA
The ATSA Annual Conference will offer symposia, workshop presentations, poster sessions, discussion groups, and advanced clinics relating to issues in both victim and perpetrator research and treatment.

Speaking Engagements:

Corporate Event Marketing Association (CEMA) Summit — July 20-22, 2008, Las Vegas, NV

  • "The ROI of Green Meetings" - Mary Peters

Destination Marketing Association International - 94th Annual Conference — July 28-30, 2008, Las Vegas, NV

  • Going Green: Practical and Legal Implications and Ideas for Destinations - Amy Spatrisano

National Association of Catering Executives Conference — August 4, 2008, Philadelphia, PA

  • "Green Events: Why it Makes Sense & How to Do it" - Shawna McKinley

Successful Meetings/MeetingNews — August 5, 2008, Webcast

  • "Easy Ways to 'Green' Your Next Meeting" - Nancy Wilson
    • Register!

Meeting Professional International - World Education Congress — August 9-12, 2008, Las Vegas, NV

  • "Green Standards and Certifications: An Industry Update and What It Means for You" - Amy Spatrisano
  • "Step Lightly: Reducing the Carbon Footprint of your Event by Choosing Greener Destinations" - Shawna McKinley

IncentiveWorks — August 19, 2008, Toronto, ON, Canada

  • "Tread Lightly: Reducing the Carbon Footprint of Your Even" - Shawna McKinley

Recommended Resources

GREENWASHING

Canadian Competition Bureau of the Canadian Standards Association
"Environmental claims: A guide for industry and advertisers"
http://www.competitionbureau.gc.ca/epic/site/cb-bc.nsf/vwapj/guide-for-industry-and-advertisers-en.pdf/$FILE/guide-for-industry-and-advertisers-en.pdf

CorpWatch
Website that tracks corporate activity including greenwashing and fights for corporate accountability, human rights, social and environmental justice.
http://www.corpwatch.org/index.php

US Federal Trade Commission
Guides for the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/grnrule/guides980427.htm

Futerra Sustainability Communications - The Greenwash Guide
Good introduction to greenwashing with clear examples of what to look for. Also discusses how greenwashing infractions have changed.
http://www.futerra.co.uk/downloads/Greenwash_Guide.pdf

Greenwashing Index
List of ads and rating of how much greenwashing they have.
http://www.greenwashingindex.com/

Source Watch - Greenwashing
List of how to spot greenwashing plus case studies from around the world. It also has a good list of articles and resources at the bottom.
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Greenwashing

Terrachoice - The Six Sins of Greenwashing
http://www.wbcsd.org

ECOLABELING

Environmentally Friendly Hotels - "Consumers Seeking Green Hotel Eco-Labels"
Article on green hotel labels.
http://www.environmentallyfriendlyhotels.com/eco-label.html

Greener Choices - Ecolabels Center
Searchable database of eco-labels.
http://www.greenerchoices.org/eco-labels/

Ecolabelling.org
Good introductory article and lists of ecolabels and ecolabel associations.
http://ecolabelling.org/eco-labels/

Contact Us

Meeting Strategies Worldwide
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Portland, Oregon 97213
U.S.A.
Phone: (503) 252-5458
FAX: (503) 261-0964
operations@meetingstrategiesworldwide.com
www.meetingstrategiesworldwide.com