Sustainable Meetings Conference delivers a Powerful Message

The Hilton Bonaventure Hotel vibrated with sustainable power when it hosted more than 200 international delegates at the Green Meeting Industry Council’s (GMIC) annual conference in Montréal on April 22-25, 2012. Significantly, the event began on Earth Day, a day dedicated to environmental initiatives and awareness.

This was my first GMIC Sustainable Meetings Conference, and it was invigourating! And it wasn’t just from a swim in the outdoor pool that was heated by a recently-installed energy recovery system that transfers waste heat from the building. Rather, it was from the highly energized and powerful program that combined case studies of successful sustainable meetings innovations with learning design tools and new techniques to help organizers get better results out of every meeting.

The inspiring opening keynote, cleantech and green building pioneer  John Picard, pointed to rapidly-emerging technologies that will help organizers empower themselves to clean the planet and save money at the same time. Chris Brophy, Vice President of Corporate Sustainability at MGM Resorts International, shared how nicely a 35% energy saving on a recent new development had reflected on the company’s balance sheet. The unmistakable message: Sustainability is about savings, not costs.

But reducing costs and consumption is not the only long-term benefit for planners who apply sustainable solutions from an innovative mindset. “These event organizers are experiencing increased stakeholder satisfaction,” says GMIC Executive Director, Tamara Kennedy-Hill. GMIC President Paul Salinger, Vice President of Marketing at Oracle Corporation, said “GMIC challenges us to think about how we plan and execute events differently to drive more value in a more responsible way.”

Regrettably, I learned that the meetings and events industry is one of the largest waste producers today, second only to construction; a fact that makes for easy political targeting and is fueling the efforts for change by GMIC and industry leaders. Meeting professionals can exercise considerable power by making responsible choices on destinations and venues, waste management, sustainable food sourcing, corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs, and also on meeting design and execution. Something that Picard said still stands out in my mind: “Don’t wake up and ask what is wrong with the world, look at what is right and reach for what is possible.” If we all start by making the right choices, right now, each of us can become an integral part the solution.

GMIC has members in over 20 countries so it was an international group of likeminded professionals in the industry.  Ottawa’s own Jennifer Holly, Travel Alberta , Sonya Higgins, intertask -JPdL, Sandra Wood, Canadian Medical Association,  Mitchell Beer, The Conference Publishers, Doreen Ashton Wagner, Greenfield Services were in attendance. Special congratulations go to Wood, who has accepted a position on the 2012-2013 international board.

There was celebration in the announced release of the new APEX/ASTM Sustainable Event Standards after more than four years of painstaking research, and policy development. This set of guidelines will be a great new resource and tool for the industry (along with ISO 20121, and GRI EOSS). Many real-life possibilities were on display in presentations and case studies from Microsoft, Maritz Travel, and the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, which recently received the coveted Platinum designation under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED^®) program. I now better understand the pride our city can take for the new Ottawa Convention Centre with its Silver LEED^® designation.

GMIC Foundation Chair Mitchell Beer, CMM, announced a brand new fundraising campaign, which will underwrite many of GMIC’s new training programs. The foundation hopes to raise roughly a half million dollars a year to sustain the programming.

Also announced at the conference was an update to the Sustainable Event Management Tool, created in partnership with the Evolution Platform, which enables planners and suppliers to measure and report the environmental impact of their events through automated measurement tools. It is free to members of Meeting Professionals International and GMIC, according to Roger Simons, manager, CSR and sustainable events, in MPI’s Luxembourg office, and will be free to suppliers for the next six months or so.

Delegates enjoyed many meeting design innovations. A mobile app allowed participants to collect badges and connect with each other from their mobile devices. They were also encouraged to tweet using the hashtag #GMIC. One innovative session was the series of short Bl!nk presentations organized by Judy Kucharuk of Footprint Management Systems, where six professionals showcased a particular passion or insight given in two to five minutes, with accompanying slides. Another interesting format, facilitated by Adrian Segar, was a “conference weavers” session where volunteers publicly shared their key takeaways to provide additional peer-to-peer learning. Of course, there was a virtual option too, with about a dozen participants forming a “pod” in Amsterdam and other virtual attendees viewing selected sessions from their desks. Finally, dozens of “crowdsourced” action ideas filled the screens in the closing general session when the GMIC Foundation hosted an Ideas Auction, where participants could bid on promising options to make their programs more responsible.

The morning after the conference, there was a real sense of empowerment that propelled the delegates forward. Next April in Chicago is marked on my calendar because GMIC’s community is converting its energy to power, its knowledge to standards, and it’s a sustainable force for good. 

Should content be free or offered for a fee?

There could be a lot of revenue and visibility riding on the answer.
As content capture specialists, we spend a lot of time talking to clients about the objectives behind their meetings and the specific format and level of detail that will help them achieve those ends. To do our job properly, we want to understand what will happen to that content and how it will be made available to different audiences. When it comes to selling content or providing it for free, association executives are split:

• The content for free argument suggests that access to online content should be a members-only benefit, to reinforce the value of joining the organization or renewing a membership.
• Content for fee advocates suggest selling access to content to open up a new revenue stream.

But it doesn’t have to be an either/or proposition. A hybrid content strategy can provide free content “teasers” to boost an organization’s messaging and attract potential members, then deliver additional detail or multiple formats for anyone who signs up. The other option is a staggered release schedule, so that immediate access to the latest knowledge becomes a special benefit of membership.

Knowledge: Your most precious asset
Whether you’re an association communicating with members or a business trying to connect with customers and prospects, it’s crucial to get this question of access to knowledge right. Your conference content is one of your most precious assets, and in an increasingly networked world of RSS feeds, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, the old models of business and education are breaking. The organizations that use their latest and best content as a catalyst for education, conversation, and collaboration are the ones that will deliver value, stay relevant, and continue to thrive into the future.
To choose between a free, for-fee, or hybrid content model, you have to consider the community you serve and how you can best support different audiences. But don’t take too long to decide. If your organization isn’t already having this conversation, the linkages may soon happen around you (much like a fixed rock in a stream). By tackling these questions and starting your content strategy now, you begin to chart your future course, adapting along the way and using experience and member feedback to guide you.

One solution: A nested approach to content
A hybrid strategy for conference content may be the best place to start. You can draw an initial audience by offering free content from past events, or shorter capsules of your latest premium content. The more detailed premium content can go to your members free, or at a discounted rate, and any attendees who aren’t already members should have access to that content for a set time period. By charging an access fee for non-members, you can generate direct revenue while encouraging non-members to sign up for next year’s conference, join the organization, or both.
There is no one right solution for every association, or even for every event. What role does content/knowledge/news play in your organization? Where do your members go for professional development? How can you make better use of your conference content in our newly connected world? Here are some additional resources, and let us know what you think.

Resources and further discussion
1. On the Brink Video 
2. Map Out Your Content Strategy
3. Most Content Should Be for Members Only
4. More on Content Strategy