Next Generation Event

Off to Pittsburgh for the GMIC Conference

I'll be heading to Pittsburgh tomorrow morning for the Green Meeting Industry Council Conference in Pittsburgh. I'll try to blog, but I'll be without internet connectivity in the conference room, so the best place to get updates will be my Twitter feed (as long as my phone battery holds). You may also want to run a search for #GMIC09, as there may be others twittering, as well. I'm looking forward to learning quite a bit!

Early Bird Registration for GMIC's Annual Conference Ends Friday!

Are you interested in a supportive, informative, and collaborative forum to learn about and discuss the best sustainable practices for your meetings and events?

Run [don't walk] to sign up for the Green Meeting Industry Council's Annual Conference. This year it will be in Pittsburgh, February 24-26. Early bird rates end Friday!

Tips for Avoiding Greenwashing from the Green Meetings Master

From Nancy J. Wilson, a pioneer in green meetings, these tips on making sure your green efforts are more than skin deep:

1. Be informed
2. Understand the terms
3. Be clear on the criteria
4. Participate
5. Be transparent

Just Because It's LEED-Certified Doesn't Mean It's Green

Image by Kim Scarborough

News of a soon-to-be-LEED-Certified hotel came across my news reader this morning. This is great news. Since I started blogging back in March, the number of properties seeking LEED certification (or, at the very least, the number of properties getting press for seeking LEED certification) has really gone up. I think I probably read about a new hotel each week.

This property boasts that it uses 30% less water and 21% less energy than hotels of comparable size. Fantastic. So where is it? Naperville, IL.

Naperville is about 45 minutes outside of Chicago and Midway, and 35 minutes from O'Hare (on a good day). That adds up to a lot of single-passenger vehicles on a long stretch of road.

Of course, this takes nothing away from the hotel's intent to obtain LEED certification. I applaud its efforts and I don't mean to single it out. I should really be singling out Brad Pitt, because it was the announcement that he was building a green hotel in Dubai that first got me thinking about this.

While some organizations might not consider the location of the hotel (and, therefore, the footprint generated by attendee travel) when calling a property "green," event planners should.

Great Tips for Making Your Events Eco-Chic

From natural grass mats in place of table cloths to tableware made from potatoes, this article by Andrea Doyle has some great ways to green things up.