Tuesday, February 22, 2011

GMIC - Virtually Amazing

For those of you that have been following my blog, you know that I am basically addicted to events, and that I believe that all events can be done with sustainability front of mind. By sustainability, I mean BIG PICTURE sustainability, as I blogged about for Engage365 - the 3ps of Meeting Planning.

While I would have loved to have been live at the Green Meetings Industry Council Event in Portland this week, for time and money, I had to make a choice, and instead found myself at Event Camp live, and as a virtual attendee at GMIC and team member of Team Spruce Almighty.  What an awesome thing, to be able to be engaged from my desk and thank you to this team (GMIC and its many sponsors and Spruce specifically) for making this possible.

Things I have learned so far:
  1. Face to face remains the most important way for people to connect, but
  2. Engaged virtual attendees have a lot to offer and including this option increases opportunity on both sides
  3. I am lucky to work now primarily in Vancouver / Whistler / Banff, all true leaders in sustainable meetings and living (I know but hey, it is my blog, right...)
  4. Cooperation is necessary - integrate and initiate discussions about how all the partners you work with can fit into a more sustainable model
  5. Solutions that start with looking at the entire supply chain and work their way through the various details of the meeting are integral to continued success
  6. APEX is a great tool and will fit well with standards around the globe
  7. We need to not only use the sustainable tools we have, but to communicate them, pre-event, during it and following - show what we are doing TOGETHER
  8. We have the opportunity to be leaders in change and we must embrace the opportunities and be leaders in sustainability
  9. Sustainability is thinking strategically - when we as planners can show that we think strategically we get to sit at the table with the "big kids" and be much, much more effective in bringing our organizations overriding brand messages and values to life in live events (which are fundamentally one of the most powerful tools in our marketing and communication mix)
  10. Every step counts  

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