Midwest Meetings | CSR/Sustainability News & Views

Latest CSR/Sustainability News & Views...

New Eco-Focused Display Showcases Sustainability Successes in Minneapolis

Minneapolis is one of America’s most eco-focused cities, and now visitors to the Minneapolis Convention Center can learn first-hand about some major projects that make the city a sustainability standout. An interactive eco-focused display unveiled today at the convention center illustrates multiple ongoing initiatives that are improving the environment, the economy and the overall quality of life in Minneapolis.
The two-sided display features a large-scale city street design of Minneapolis layered with translucent acrylic domes to call out various buildings or initiatives that represent Minneapolis’ eco-focus. Visitors can use interactive touch screens to read informational graphics about the city’s sustainability successes, ranging from energy innovation to alternative transportation to riverfront restoration.

Green Convention Centers: evolveEA’s Benchmarking Report

As sustainability has become a marketing point for event destinations and convention centers across the country, green buildings have become a mainstay for these institutions, serving as tactile representations of each destination’s commitment to sustainability. Full story...

Is There Such a Thing As a "Green" Event?

I read an interesting blog on the issue recently which argued the point that there is no such thing as a "green event." Cutting through the detail of the article and in summary, they argued that events will never be "green" because events always demand impact and there are too many layers to any event (logistics, construction, etc.) for someone to self-certify it as "green." Full story...

Top 10 Green U.S. Cities

Although the EPA has not established official criteria for ranking the greenness of a city, there are several key areas to measure for effectiveness in carbon footprint reduction. These include air and water quality, efficient recycling and management of waste, percentage of LEED-certified buildings, acres of land devoted to greenspace, use of renewable energy sources, and easy access to products and services that make green lifestyle choices easy. Full story...

Sustainable Meetings: The Medium is the Message

Not long ago I tuned into the Climate Reality Project, a 24-hour, virtual global event to share the truth about climate change. I lurked for the content primarily, but also curious about how the event was designed, wondering if it would reflect the content of the message. Full story...

Coming Up: Greener Meetings & Events Book Launch Party

Walk. Bike. Take public transit. But just be there! ISES New York Metro invites you to celebrate the US launch of the new book, The Complete Guide to Greener Meetings and Events. Full story...

Help the SEARCH Foundation Win a Grant With Your Vote

The SEARCH Foundation has been selected to move on to the voting phase in The Give, sponsored by Cultivate Wines. Now SEARCH needs your help and your vote. The winner with the most votes will receive a $10,000 grant, and the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd runners-up will each receive a $5,000 grant. Simply click the below link and log in using your Facebook account to cast your vote for SEARCH. Once you vote, spread the word to all your friends. Help SEARCH win one of these grants in order to continue to assist event professionals in need. Click here to vote...

Convene Green Alliance Focus Forum to Explore Ways to Reduce Carbon Footprint of Association Meetings

What, exactly, is a “carbon footprint?” The ASAE Convene Green Alliance (CGA) Focus Forum, “Carbon Footprinting Made Easy,” to be held November 8, 2011 at the ASAE Headquarters Conference Center in Washington, DC, will provide a complete answer to this question, and then some. The event is complimentary to association professionals. Full story...

Meetings Go Green With AMEX

American Express Meetings & Events and Maxvantage are helping clients with their green meeting objectives with The Carbon Accounting Company’s Green Hotels Global (GHG). American Express Meetings & Events is providing its support to increase hotel participation on behalf of their clients and Maxvantage in GHG’s environmental reporting program. Full story...

Competition and Supply-Chain Analysis Among Factors Driving Sustainable Meeting Trends

Among the big topics this week at IMEX America is sustainability. (Indeed, the conference itself has a detailed sustainability plan that covers the trade show venue, hotels, catering, print material, signage and carpeting, general service contractors, and transportation.) In the "Sustainability Center" on the trade show floor at the Sands Expo, Meeting Professionals International's manager of corporate social responsibility and sustainable events, Roger Simons, addressed the ways in which sustainability trends are shaping the meeting industry. Full story...

MPI, Leeds Announce Early Findings of Global CSR Research Study

“Over-complicated, under regulated but on the money” are three characteristics of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the meetings and hospitality sector, per initial findings released today by Meeting Professionals International (MPI). The findings, which will debut at IMEX America in Las Vegas, are only the first part of a landmark three-year global study into the impacts, trends and drivers of CSR in the meetings and hospitality industry. Full story...

MPI Provides Suppliers Free Access to Sustainability Tool

Meeting Professionals International (MPI) now provides free access to its Sustainability Event Measurement Tool (SEMT) to supplier organizations, a value for companies looking to proactively reach CSR-minded planners. Suppliers who upload their information to the system become part of the database event organizers around the world can search when determining the sustainability standards of venues. Full story...

Meeting Planners, Teambuilding, and Philanthropy

Teambuilding, in general, is a wonderful opportunity for individuals to really get to know each other and bond in an entirely different and creative way outside of the office. A philanthropic goal establishes a generous mindset and is great use of time and energy. Full story...

Green Events Are Now Easier Than Ever

Picture your last party: the red plastic party cups left all over the house. Garbage bags overflowing with guests' food, paper plates, bottles and soda cans. Pounds of food on the table that will be thrown out in a few hours. A balloon or two floating off into the atmosphere. These are long-held party standards. But for some, the standard is giving way to more eco-friendly ways to celebrate. Full story...

Going Beyond Green: CSR at WEC 2011

As a leader in industry sustainability, Meeting Professionals International (MPI) presented another a slate of innovative CSR (corporate social responsibility) projects and innovative professional development at the World Education Congress (WEC). The offsite and onsite projects, in addition to the education sessions, ensured that attendees gained the experience of giving back to the greater Orlando community while learning about best practice in the industry. Full story...

Pondering Measurement in Sustainability

The mantra used to be "if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it." That certainly still holds true. But lately a more pressing axiom is that if you can’t measure it, you can’t report it. Reporting and communicating sustainability efforts and their achievement requires more precise measurement. Though seemingly common sense, it was not always the case. Full story...

MPI Foundation Achieves Record Fundraising

Meeting Professionals International (MPI) Foundation announced a landmark year for investments, with more than $2.566 million raised toward the foundation’s goal to bring vision and prosperity to the meeting and events industry. The moneys represent the most raised in a 12-month period by the MPI Foundation. Full story...

Decoding Corporate Social Responsibility for Meetings

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is one of the biggest corporate buzz words of the past few years. But it’s one of those things that needs decoding to be effective. We hear about carbon footprints, LEED certification, and Energy Star standards, and while they are all important programs that keep corporations on their toes, what does it all mean? When you’re planning a meeting are you being socially responsible? Are you CSR meeting savvy? Full story...

ASAE Reports on “Green IT” Initiatives That Save Money and Reduce its Carbon Footprint

Are the days of meeting planners hauling around huge binders full of every detail about a meeting going the way of the dinosaur? Yes, according to Larry Covert, the ASAE Director of Information Technology, who led a session on “Green IT” at the ASAE Technology Conference in early December. The session was sponsored by the ASAE Convene Green Alliance. Full story...

CIC Announces Sustainability Standards

The Convention Industry Council (CIC) has announced that eight of the nine APEX/ASTM Environmentally Sustainable Meeting standards are complete. "This is a major accomplishment for the collective conventions, meetings, events and exhibitions industry," stated Karen Kotowski, CAE, CMP, CEO of the Convention Industry Council. "Sustainability is a strategic concern for planners, suppliers and the organizations they represent. These standards are much anticipated, so this is a great moment for the volunteers who put such effort to this project.” Full story...

Identifying Essential CSR Practices for Meetings

Meetings Professional Internation (MPI) released the initial findings of Phase 1 of a three-year study on industry corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices that will provide guidance to meeting professionals on benchmarks and effective practices to consider in event design. Leeds Metropolitan University researcher James Musgrave discussed the report in his recent presentation at IMEX America in Las Vegas. Full story...

Small Changes Add Up to a Big Contribution for Sustainability at Live Events

The event and exhibition industry has traditionally been a wasteful and environmentally unfriendly sector. For example, an exhibitor will very often use the materials on an exhibition stand once before throwing them away. Also, the industry operates on a global scale, which means carbon emissions from transportation, such as planes, road vehicles and trains. In addition, all events have tons of printed brochures and literature, which means cutting down trees for the paper and energy usages from the production process. But it’s not all doom and gloom. Full story...

Bring Travel and Associated Emissions Out of the Closet

Delve deeply into most companies' environmental and carbon targets and the chances are that, if the company is growing, costs and emissions from travel will be increasing. Most companies will happily talk about behavior change initiatives to cut waste or office energy use, but if the conversation moves towards travel, it all goes quiet. When you talk to people about the reluctance to address carbon emissions from travel, you get a variety of stock answers. Full story...

8 Ways To Stop Trashing Food At Events

Last week the UN Food & Agriculture Organization released a report stating one-third of food goes to waste. The equivalent of 1.3 billion tons, or the weight of 3,400 Golden Gate Bridges. In the US this amounts to 253 lbs of food wasted per person every year, according to Valerie Jaffee of the NRDC. Man. Depressing. Full story...

Hotel Industry Unites on Carbon Impact

The International Tourism Partnership (ITP) and the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) are collaborating on a groundbreaking initiative to unite hotel industry efforts to calculate and communicate carbon impact by agreeing on a standardized methodology and metrics informed by the GHG Protocol standards. Leaders within the hotel industry are collaborating to reach a consensus on a single methodology for calculating carbon footprints and consistent metrics for communicating emissions. Full story...

Four Seasons Offers Environment-Friendly Options for Meetings and Events

Being a good corporate citizen is more than a policy or a program; it’s about putting ideas into action and making the world a better place, one step at a time. Now, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts offers a new, complimentary program that makes planning a green meeting or event easier than ever. Full story...

Sustainable Travel and Green Meetings Checklist

Business travelers and meeting professionals who support sustainability and sustainable travel expect hotels and convention centers to reduce their environmental footprint in ways that do not compromise the guest experience. Programs such as linen and towel reuse, recycling bins in guest rooms and function spaces, and energy and water conservation initiatives are a good start. Full story...

SEARCH Foundation Raises Over $26,500 at August Fundraiser

The SEARCH Foundation hosted its 13th annual fundraiser in St Louis in conjunction with ISES (International Special Events Society) Eventworld, where an estimated 180 guests attended the event held at Lumen Private Event Space. The SEARCH Foundation mission is to support event professionals confronted with a catastrophic occurrence and fosters, develops and promotes educational initiatives for the advancement of the special events industry. Full story...

Keep It Green: Alternatives for Trade Show Booths

Although much of the focus during a trade show is devoted to ensuring a large number of people can move smoothly through a small booth area, individual exhibitors can make choices that affect the overall environmental impact of a trade show. As you think about your next trade show booth design, keep in mind a few ideas to take advantage of sustainable practices. Full story...

Xanterra Parks & Resorts Closes in on 2015 Environmental Goals

Xanterra Parks & Resorts is making significant progress toward reaching environmental goals outlined in its 2015 Environmental Vision, a set of aggressive environmental performance goals. The operator of lodging and concessions in national parks and resorts around the country spelled out its progress using environmental performance metrics, called “Ecometrix.” The company’s achievements and measurable progress toward its environmental goals are detailed in the company’s fourth Environmental Sustainability Report, published this spring. Full story...

Volunteer Work Day in Joplin to Commemorate “Miracle of Human Spirit”

As of the one-month anniversary of the Joplin tornado, 45,304 volunteers have come to Joplin to help with clean-up efforts. In all, registered volunteers have contributed more than 207,105 hours helping Joplin residents clean up and begin to rebuild from this disaster. Full story...

Host Hotels & Resorts Give Back to the Industry

Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. contributed $5,000 to the AH&LEF 2011 Annual Giving Campaign, which supports key research and workforce development initiatives for the hospitality industry. Full story...

Lessons and Triumphs Planning #Red4Joplin

In an interview with Lindsey Rosenthal of Events for Good, we discovered the details of her fund-raising experience for “Show Me” Support for Joplin, a red-tie event she planned in less than 3 weeks for Joplin residents and sisters Kiki L’Italien and Kylee Coffman (former Joplinites now living in D.C.). Full story...