That's the Plan: Strategies for Green Meetings
Innovative Ideas for Successful Planners


By Amy Spatrisano, CMP

Many of you understand the economic and environmental merits of producing “green meetings”—a meeting that incorporates environmental considerations throughout all stages in order to minimize negative environmental impact. You may already be incorporating green practices into your meeting-management processes, like requesting recycling at your events, using more technology versus paper and requesting organic/local food.

But are your practices or requests consistent from meeting to meeting? Have you developed or implemented consistent green meeting strategies and guidelines? Do you measure your results to track improvements or economic savings? Are your members, attendees or clients asking that more environmentally responsible practices be implemented, but you’re unsure how to begin?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, read on to learn how to implement the MeetGreen Five-Step Solution. This approach entails establishing commitment, developing guidelines, communicating objectives, negotiating practices and measuring results.

Greening and You
The first step of establishing your organization’s commitment to greening is crucial to how successful your efforts will be. Begin by understanding how greening your meetings will fit into your company or client’s mission and values.

It’s likely that some environmental commitment, however subtle, may already exist. For example, Intel’s mission states, “We strive to conserve natural resources and reduce the environmental burden of waste generation and emissions to the air, water and land.” Alternatively, 3M expresses, “It is 3M policy to provide a safe and healthful workplace for all, and to minimize the impact of our production processes and products on the environment.”

Once there is a commitment to green the meetings, ensure you have support to do so. It is easier to get financial and managerial support if you develop a greening plan to show how you intend to implement environmental practices. Sometimes the best way to enroll and engage your organization is to start with one or two new practices with the intention of building on your success.

Guiding Greening
The second step is to develop minimum guidelines to incorporate in your meetings. Criteria should be created for all vendors used
—like convention centers, hotels, caterers, transportation providers and CVBs. The Conven-tion Industry Council’s Green Meetings Report
(available at www.conventionindustry.org/projects/green_meetings_report.pdf) offers helpful guidelines in eight areas of meeting management to get you started. It’s important that your guidelines are included in the RFP stage. This will make negotiating and implementing the practices much easier.

Communications, Communications, Communications
The third step is emphasizing communications. Expectations for your meeting can only happen when there is clear communication, especially if greening practices are new. Com-municate with your organization first: let them know of policies or new practices you’re putting in place to green your event, why the practices are important and how you’re planning to implement them.
Be sure to share the same information with all involved parties. The better they understand, the more proactive they will be in implementing your requests. After all, everyone wants the meeting to be successful.

Don’t forget to inform your attendees about green practices. Attendees will become engaged in what you’re doing if you’ve been properly communicating the what, why and how. Let them know why you’re doing it differently and why it’s important. Attendees don’t usually respond well to surprises.

Also, remember to market your greening practices. Informing the media about your greening efforts could offer a press-worthy angle to your meeting.

Understanding Negotiations
The fourth step is negotiating green practices. Many of your greening practices may be new to your suppliers. Decide on which practices you’re willing to compromise. Also, be aware of which practices are easily implemented and cost-saving or cost-neutral. For example, you may encounter resistance or refusal to donate food by your food and beverage provider. The U.S. Good Samaritan Law was written to support the donation of food in good faith (www.usda.gov/news/pubs/gleaning/appc.htm), and if food donation is against a vendor’s policy, you may decide the vendor is not a good fit for you.

Most green practices are actually cost-saving or cost-neutral for suppliers. The crucial com-ponent to remember is that whatever you negotiate, ensure these practices are included in your contracts.

Measuring the Impact
The last step in the solution is measuring your results. Tracking the environmental and economic results provides you with the ability to quantify your results. For example, track the pounds of waste recycled or how much money was saved by eliminating conference bags. Ask your attendees for feedback.

Did the attendees notice and like any of the changes? Do they have suggestions for next time?

Next, publish what you’ve measured. People love data. Tell your attendees and use the information as post-press on your Web site or marketing for next time. Share it with your team or organization and tell your suppliers. Sharing the measured results is a great way to enroll and engage people to want more.

The MeetGreen Five-Step Solution is a successful approach to implementing green meeting practices and moves the notion of “greening” a meeting from fringe behavior to a mainstream practice.

MPI’s Professional Education Conference-North America (www.mpiweb.org/education/pec )—Jan. 22-24, 2006, in Charlotte, N.C.—includes the “Implementing Green Meeting Strategies” session on Jan. 24.

AMY SPATRISANO, CMP, is a Portland, Ore.-based independent planner, president of the Green Meeting Industry Council and a member of the MPI Oregon Chapter. She can be contacted at amy@meetingstrategiesworldwide.com.