"Get Your Green On" Wins IMEX Award

Congratulations to Shawna McKinley, MeetGreen; Judy Kucharuk, Footprint Management; and QuickMobile for winning the IMEX Award for Commitment to Community.  This awesome threesome was recognized during IMEX 2012 for the "Get Your Green On" app designed for EventCamp Vancouver.

They also wrote and recently published a case study on developing the application which can be found here http://pdxmeetgreen.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/GetYourGreenOn.pdf

 Who says hard work, creativity and risk-taking don't pay off?

Measurement: The Next Step

As evidenced at the GMIC Sustainable Meetings Conference last month, measurement and reporting of environmental impact has finally taken hold.  Presentations were no longer about educating participants on why measure, instead they included real-life statistics and information proving the value of green meetings.  Yes (fist pump)!

Venues, hotels and meeting organizers are validating their environmental and economic savings with data. Take a look at the stats from one session compiled by Shawna McKinley.  Reporting mechanisms such as calculators, case studies, and corporate reports are being used to tell the story.  Sustainable meetings are good business!

Greenwashing tales of why an organization is a "good corporate citizen" are now being questioned and the public wants solid facts and figures to back it up.  Social media, with its radical transparency, are pushing this trend forward.

It is heartening to witness this shift in the hospitality industry and know we are on the way to a more sustainable future.

photo credit: Green Meeting Industry Council

Carpooling on the Information Highway

The media (social and otherwise) allows so much information to flow through our lives each day, it is tough to filter.  Does a certain article or post warrant a blog entry with careful consideration, or do I just need to pass the information on to you?

 Organically (no pun intended), I seem to be using my Twitter account @nancyjzavada to post quick bits of information on our industry, environmental or social impacts of meetings, and other travel/meeting related happenings.  Blogging has been used more for our organization's tips, ideas, experiences and of course, pretentious musings.  So be it.

First of all, my thanks for reading this blog and I promise to stay relevant and informative as green meetings and events continue to evolve.  Secondly, feel free to follow me on Twitter @nancyjzavada to see what has caught my eye in this big, noisy world we live in. 

Please feel free to point me in the direction of great stories and comment on any of the posts.  Like any good carpool, there is plenty of room for all of us.

Yes, Paul, We Are All In!

Onstage at the GMIC Sustainable Meetings Conference, Harith Wikrema challenged the audience to donate to the Foundation by saying he would match any donations made that day.  Not missing a beat, Mitchell Beer, Foundation Chair, popped up and said he would collect them.

Immediately, people started getting out of their seats and handing cash to Mitchell.  Someone brought him a shopping bag to gather all the money and the giving just kept on going.  Presenters had to stop their discussion while the crowd dug through purses and pulled out wallets while working their way to Mitchell.  It was like an old-time church revival with the energy in the room building with each donation.  I have never seen anything like it at an industry meeting.  Several others shouted out that they would match the total as well.

$1,008.35 was raised in a matter of minutes!

The community-minded professionals in the room walked the talk so the Foundation can continue to fund important educational programs bringing sustainability to the meeting industry.  This is why GMIC and it's members make such a difference in our world.  As Paul Salinger, GMIC President, said in his opening remarks, "We are all in!"  Two days later, we proved it.

Should You Attend Virtually or Face to Face?

Last week I attended the GMIC 2012 Sustainable Meetings Conference first virtually and then in person. I have talked about those experiences in my past two blog posts. Over the past several days, I have been ruminating over both types of participation and have finally come to some conclusions which might help you decide as well.

Reasons to attend virtually:

• You are highly interested in the content of the sessions and want to give it your full attention  (much easier without the distraction of other audience members)
• Work schedule doesn't permit days away from your desk 
• Economic and environmental savings are high on the priority list 
• You have the ability to connect with others via social media and don't necessarily have a strong bond with fellow participants 
• The personal commitments you have require you to stay at home 
• You may be an introvert and are better served by this forum 

Reasons to attend in person:

• Sessions are secondary to the networking component 
• Sales opportunities available in the hallways and during breaks are valuable 
• More time is available for connection with peers for thought leadership conversations 
• Economic considerations are not a driving factor 
• Other face-to-face meetings can be held during the event with fellow participants 
• Have a strong bond with other participants and are energized by physically spending time together 
• You may be an extrovert and are better served by this forum 

As a result, I will now have a filter to analyze each opportunity to attend either virtually or in person based on the event itself. Some events will fall into the virtual category for the reasons mentioned. Yet others, like the GMIC conference, are important for me to attend in person--even though I tend to be an introvert.  There is no other event where I return home more energized, more optimistic and more refreshed than when I left.

Just one conversation with the scholarship recipient, Timothy Chen, made all those airline hassles and time constraints disappear from memory.  He is the future of green meetings and will lead the industry toward solutions we haven't even thought of yet.  I was honored to spend time with him.

Participating Live From #GMIC

My last post talked about my experience attending The Sustainable Meetings Conference virtually. Today I am here in Montreal with my like-minded professionals, sitting in the room, I watched on the screen a few days ago. It looks remarkably the same, but now I am at a table filled with sustainability professionals eager to connect and learn more.

Over the past two days, I have had conversations with peers over tea or in the hallways that wouldn't have been possible virtually. I find myself re-energized by their passion and commitment. I have also talked with fellow tweeters that I have only known virtually--we feel like we have known each other for years. It is a hybrid world, indeed!

The buzz here is all about collaboration and communication towards a more sustainable future for our industry. While we may well be competitors in the outside world, this conference is a safe space to talk about issues, challenges and concerns. Tough to do virtually. I will defer my final comments about being a hybrid participant until later this week when I am not so tired, jet-lagged, and otherwise spent.

For now, it has been a fascinating experiment and I am grateful for the opportunity.

I Am a Hybrid Participant

When the airlines caused a two-day delay in my trip to Montreal for the GMIC Sustainable Meetings Conference, I had no choice but to watch the first day virtually. Unhappy as I am, I decided this was a rare opportunity to attend a conference both virtually and in person, a hybrid participant, if you will.

This morning I watched remotely as Paul Salinger inspired both the live and virtual audiences to "be the leaders who are going to transform the industry." His passion came through loud and clear. While I was watching, I was also tweeting, using the conference app, and generally conversing with those at the event. I felt connected.

Our MeetGreen team is also participating virtually and learning what things we can put in place to make our hybrid events a better experience for virtual participants. This morning we quickly realized there was a significant delay, the buffering was an issue, and when the keynote event event was over there was no transition or information on the screen about upcoming events. Not deal breakers, it was just less comfortable as a virtual participant.

Now I am off to the airport and 8+ hours of travel to the conference where I will attend face to face. How will my experience be different? Stay tuned!