The business case for sustainability for event industry leaders. Directed at destinations, hotels, venues and industry influencers, the points here help show that sustainable practices are fundamental, integral and benficial to business. Prepared in collaboration with Mariela McIwraith of MeetingChange, these slides were presented to the World Meetings Forum on behalf of the Green Meetings Industry Council.

1. Sustainability is Smart Business
Michael Luehrs
Sustainability Advisor,
President, Green Meeting Industry Council
Mariela McIlwraith, CMP, CMM, MBA
Executive Director, GMIC Sustainable Meetings Foundation
President, Meeting Change

2. Our Agenda
X About
GMIC
Sustainability &
Smart Business
X
How we will work
towards
sustainability

3. About GMIC

4. Who is the GMIC?
The GMIC is the premier
global meetings community solely
dedicated to sustainability not only
through education but also by
spearheading research, policy and
standards for the meetings and event
industry.
We inspire industry leaders of all levels to
make meetings better through
sustainability.

5. GMIC Current Initiatives:
• GMIC/IMEX Green Awards
• Standards Development
– APEX/ASTM, ISO 20121, GRI
• Education, Training & Annual Conference
• Global Network: Chapters & Supporting
Business Partners
www.imex-frankfurt.com/greenawards.html

6. Better
Meetings
Through
Sustainability
Members
ready to help
Sustainable
Meetings
Experts
Efficiency &
Innovation
Tools, Resear
ch &
Knowledge

7. GMIC’sVisionUsingTNS
Enfuse scientific principles
Develop Vision of Success
Catalyze industry collaboration
Research, Communicate &
Educate
Develop standards, tools and
systems

8. Why is Sustainability
Smart Business?

9. “Highly sustainable companies
significantly outperform their
counterparts”
Eccels, Serafim, Harvard University
Iannou, London School of Business
Sept 2012

10. • 70%: sustainability
permanent partof the
agenda
• “necessary to being
competitive”
• 1/3: “contributes to
profitability”
• 68% have increased
commitments

11. • “Business cannot survive
in a society that fails””
• The need for companies to
play a more active role is
very transparent”
– Paul Polman
• Share price has doubled
since 2010 when plan
was launched

13. Return on Investment
66% customers prefer to buy from companies
that give back to society
62% want to work for these companies
59% want to invest in these companies
Neilsen Survey, 2012

14. Meetings Industry Statistics
66% of attendees would pay more for products
that are ethically and socially responsible.
30% more than 30% of buyers give precedence
to suppliers that use externally accredited
sustainability certification, only 12% have it
70% of attendees want to see CSR activities
reported on websites, only 58% of meeting
businesses do this.
MPI Research, 2012

15. The Business Case forSustainability
• Operational efficiency
• Stakeholder relations
• Public relations
• Business benefits
• Employee morale
• Risk mitigation
• Decision-making ability

16. Operational Efficiency
• Streamlined use of resources
– Less paper use, fewer shipping miles, less
materials brought on site, which reduces waste
and recycling streams.
• Green meetings programs address many
operational inefficiencies in terms of
purchasing, resources, waste, and energy.
• APEX/ASTM green meetings standards
directly target operational inefficiencies

17. Stakeholder Relations
• A focus on supporting the community
improves trust and strengthens relationships,
• Relationship management is a core
competency of many meeting professionals.
• Benefits of working with value chains include
cost-effectiveness and buy-in, saving event
professionals time and money.

18. Public Relations
• A comprehensive sustainability program
that has successfully built trust and
enhanced brand and reputation in the
community will help counteract negative
publicity.
• Improve your reputation

19. Business benefits
• Customers and stakeholders are
increasingly looking for organizations that
demonstrate a link to their own values.
– Example, if an organization is shopping for a
supplier, all other things being equal, they
may use CSR as a tie breaker.

20. Employee morale
• Employees want to work for organizations
that share their values. A CSR program
that involves its employees in their
initiatives can enhance retention and
improve morale.
– Coro Strandberg, The Business Case for
Sustainability, Strandberg Consulting (2009).
http://www.corostrandberg.com/pdfs/Business_Case_
for_Sustainability_21.pdf.

21. Risk Mitigation
• CSR helps build brand, organizational and
even industry reputation.
• By having a policy and program in place, it
is less likely that the industry will face
regulation and can help mitigate poor
public opinion.

22. Decision-making ability
• Having a sustainability policy helps guide
actions of employees, volunteers,
speakers, consultants, and suppliers.
• By providing guidance, it assists decision-
making ability in a variety of situations.

23. How will we implement
sustainability?

24. • 27 kg waste (2 at home)
• 3200 l water (976 at home)
1 event, 15,000 participants:
• 127000 t C02
• 8.5 t / pp*
• Each participant –in 3 days- emitted more than
twice what a person in Mexico emits in a year
Typical Event participant

25. Overview of Standards
ISO 20121
Provides information required for creating an event
management system
APEX/ASTM Sustainable Meeting Standards
Collects data required for planner and supplier
standards compliance in 8 areas, across 9 sectors
GRI Event Organizer Sector Supplement
Identifies data required for GRI criteria

26. Vision
Strategy
Actions
Results

27. Exhibits Food & Beverage Onsite Office
Transportation A/V & Production Communication
Meeting Venue Destinations Accommodations
APEX/ASTM Standards

28. Energy
Water
Waste
Air Quality
Procurement
Community
Staff Management
Communication

29. The cost of sustainability

30. Case Study
• 8 different NGO’s directly benefit from
event
• Supplier Collaboration
• Exhibitor incentive
• Sustainable event assessment
• No added costs

31. IMEX America
• Impact measurement
• Collaboration with partners
• Social Responsibility
– Shade Tree
– Opportunity Village
– Clean the World
• No additional cost

32. Oracle
• 46,000 people
• Measurement & Communication
• $1.5 Million saved since 2007
–Eliminating bottled water
–Reduced fueluse
–Reduced waste

33. Get Started
Policies
Request for proposals
Contracts
Reports

34. Sustainability & Contracts
Set Objectives
Discuss Objectives
Determine Measurable Objectives
Include in Contract
Monitor Compliance

35. What it is matters
How it is grown matters
How it is moved matters
Waste generated matters
Working environment matters
Food & Beverage

36. Do you give back to the community?
Do you have a list of NGO’s
With whom you partner?
How will you measure?
Community Service:
Getting Started

37. CSR Projects: MAUDE Framework
Meaningful
Aligned
Unique Skills
Destination Specific
Engaging
MAUDE Frameworks is from Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility in the
Meetings and Events Industry by Elizabeth Henderson and Mariela
McIlwraith. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

38. Tell Your Story
• Measure and report
• Social Media
• Articles
• Apply for awards

39. http://bit.ly/JjkJo6

40. Resources
•Green Meeting Industry Council
www.gmicglobal.com
•Convention Industry Council
http://www.conventionindustry.org/StandardsPractice
s/APEXASTM.aspx

41. Thank You!
michael@fightinggoodfights.com
@michaelluehrs
www.fightinggoodfights.com
mariela@meetingchange.com
@meetingchange
www.meetingchange.com