GREEN REPORT

Is the Green revolution on hold?
In a time of shrinking budgets, are clients willing to shoulder the costs of going green? Last year, several shows went green with LED lighting, biodegradable disposables, and recyclable scenic elements. This year we have massive layoffs, cancelled events, and shrinking budgets.
My question to event producers: Is it more of a priority for your clients to cut costs or go green? If equipment suppliers are willing to purchase efficient equipment and green materials, will the end client be willing to share the costs, knowing they are behaving responsibly and helping the environment, OR, are budget restrictions a priority, and going green will have to wait for the economy to improve?
Any thoughts?

Green & Social Responsibility:

The Year that Was in Meetings

By Terri Hardin

There’s buzz in the industry about incorporating

social responsibility and green initiatives—

as well as co-locating (holding similar

meetings simultaneously in one

venue)—into events. But are these trends

driving meetings, or are we paying lip service

(and printing ink) to fads that aren’t significantly

impacting business?

MeetingNews heard from 502 corporate,

association, and independent

meeting planners,who weighed in

on these subjects. The result?

When asked, for example, if they

incorporated charity initiatives into this

year’s meeting programs, only 5 percent

of all responding planners said

they had done so for up to 100 percent

of their programming in 2008,

while 51 percent of all planners said

they had not done so—although the

number was lower (40%) for independent

planners. Only one-third of all

planners said they had incorporated

charity into their programs up to 24

percent of the time.

Of those incorporating charity

initiatives, the most popular initiatives implemented

were related to health and education

(both 43%). For the participants, health-related

charity initiatives created the most positive experiences.

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