IMEX Weighs in on 2011

The latest IMEX Global Insights Report predicts increases in both number of meetings to be held as well as available budgets. All good news.

More good news in the report includes, "Fears that increased financial pressures over the last 12 months would have caused Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policy to take a back-seat were also allayed in this report. Respondents demonstrated high levels of appreciation for the importance of sustainable and environmentally-friendly practices. 42 percent stated that they are fully committed to CSR and that it underpins all that they do while 26 percent said they are currently developing policies to fulfill this brief."

Like the song says, "Feeling Stronger Every Day!"

Here's the full report. http://www.imex-frankfurt.com/documents/IMEXGlobalInsightsReportNov2010.pdf

Extra Incentive: Charity

It's that time of year when the trends for 2011 (for all areas of meeting and event planning) are being published. I am drilling down into each survey and study to look for the sustainable practices to share with you. That usually requires a lot of wading through budgetary items as in the "2011 Incentive Trends Survey" recently published in Corporate Meetings & Incentives Magazine.

In the fine print, the survey reveals, "Though 76 percent of incentive trips in 2000 included some meeting or training component, including CSR-oriented activities was unheard of back then. In this year’s survey, 35 percent of respondents included a charitable activity during their trips."

A 35% increase. Hats off to the incentive industry!

Here's the full survey
http://meetingsnet.com/corporatemeetingsincentives/news/2011_incentive_survey1228/

For the Sake of Our Children

Want to get meeting participants to conserve water? This sign on a water station in Beijing goes straight for the heart strings. And they are absolutely right!

It Turns Out, Success CAN Be Measured!

Since Oracle OpenWorld turned its attention to event sustainability in 2007, the progress has been impressive. Here's an example of what they have accomplished:

Enabled re-investment of $1.3 million in event elements through waste-cutting actions
Diverted enough trash from landfill to fill 37 garbage trucks
Avoided emissions equivalent to taking 190 cars off the road for a year
Conserved enough water to fill 3 Olympic-sized swimming pools
Saved enough energy to power 62 American homes for a year
Prevented the cutting of 1363 trees

Paul Salinger, Oracle, notes, "This was a challenging year. We had a new conference added, which meant more attendees and more impact. We had new team members to integrate and educate. We had some waste diversion issues and needed to do more branding than last year.

And yet – we achieved our highest score on the MeetGreen calculator yet – getting to 80%. Just 4 years ago we were at 34%. We have made tremendous progress over the last 4 years – a phenomenal feat for the scale of an event like Oracle OpenWorld, and really unprecedented in the event industry!"

They are very proud and should be! To read the entire Sustainability Event Report with loads of data and individual success stories, download here https://www.meetgreen.com/

This Crabby Martyr is Joyous!

Great News! The Oregon Dungeness Crab Fishery has become the world's first major crab fishery to be certified "sustainable" under standards set by the international Marine Stewardship Council. http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2010/12/oregons_dungeness_crab_fishery.html

"The Oregon Dungeness crab fishery has demonstrated that they are a model fishery in terms of environmental sustainability and working hard to maintain and improve the overall health of the fishery," said Kerry Coughlin , regional director of the MSC Americas.

My family's traditional Christmas dinner is dungeness crab cooked and served whole so we can crack and enjoy every succulent morsel while we celebrate the season. Good to know our tradition is both local (within 100 miles of our table) and sustainable!