Executive Director's Blog
With National Meetings Week upon us and the theme being ‘A Green Agenda,’ I’ve been thinking about our environment and how I can personally be more responsible in my daily living, but also how I can drive Eventia’s activities towards becoming more environmentally responsible.
Coming from clean green New Zealand I’m quite used to the everyday stuff like recycling, using sustainable materials and cycling instead of driving. This is all second nature to me but what I am not as aware of is how, as an organisation we can be more responsible, and how as an industry we can even undo some of the damage and contribute to create a better future for us all.
At the same time there is a need to remain practical about the costs of running a business and the many benefits that some of this ‘environmentally damaging’ technology gives us in our daily life. One of the barriers to environmental responsibility is the cost involved. Another is getting hold of the knowledge of what we can specifically do in any given situation. And the final hurdle is incorporating those steps into our business processes.
Chatting with C&IT Editor Yasmin Razak, it became quickly apparent that we shared a similar interest in wanting to raise the profile of this issue within our industry, so I’m very pleased to announce that we have teamed up to create some joint initiatives that will call the industry to action over this issue. Watch this space for further details.
During our discussions one thing I was amazed to hear was that it costs less than £2 to carbon off-set a flight between London and Barcelona! However when I mentioned these figures to another colleague they found this amazing and warned me that different carbon calculators come up with different measurements. One measure they tried to calculate last week gave two very different readings - with one quoting 10 times the amount of the other!
It seems to me that we still need education to help us find solutions that work in a commercial environment.
I visited the 'Footprints of a Generation' exhibition at the Science museum last week and met with the Creative Director from event agency Out of the Blue, which had been tasked with creating this exhibition by Visit London. This is a brilliant exhibition so if you haven’t seen it, go check it out. If you don’t learn something new then I’ll be amazed! (PS - it does move location so check out Visit London's website to find out where it's going to be next).
And finally, hats off to Martin and the team at M&IT for putting together another great National Meetings Week, that kicked off Monday morning with coverage on BBC Breakfast, the MIMA Awards later that night and a feast of other activity during the week. Way to go guys! I can't wait to celebrate the final day of National Meetings Week at our Eventia Autumn Workout & Party. If I don't see you on the track or on the dance floor, then I look forward to seeing you soon.
Environmentally yours,
