Carbon Footprint
« Previous Entries Next Entries »Orlando Underwater: Here’s What’s at Stake at Copenhagen Summit
Thursday, December 10th, 2009Map of projected sea level rise from Carbon Solutions America, reposted on Climate Progress.
How will climate change affect the meetings industry if we don’t slow down and reverse the increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere?
Start with a map that shows coastal Florida and Orlando underwater by 2100, and gives you an idea of [...]
A Quiet Sense of Duty
Saturday, July 18th, 2009Late last month, I received a surprising email that will shape the lion’s share of the volunteer time I devote to our industry over the next two years.
I wouldn’t normally be quite this excited about an opportunity to pack dozens of extra hours into a schedule that is already overloaded. But this isn’t just any [...]
Does Demand from Meetings Drive Airlines’ Greenwashing?
Tuesday, June 16th, 2009Whether or not it’s deliberate, a major travel industry association seems to be applying a touch of greenwash to its members’ steadily growing carbon footprint.
And it seems likely that continuing demand from meetings and events might be one of the underlying causes.
Sometimes it isn’t clear whether an organization has set out to mislead, or whether [...]
The Green Meetings Portal Goes Live
Thursday, April 16th, 2009The Green Meetings Portal went live earlier this week.
Earlier this year, we announced that The Conference Publishers was joining with the Green Meeting Industry Council (GMIC) to launch the world’s first conference content portal. I’m tremendously pleased and proud to announce that the promise is now, finally, a reality.
The Portal begins life with coverage of [...]
‘It Sounds Like Fun’: I Beg to Differ
Saturday, March 21st, 2009The reaction from friends and colleagues when I mentioned an upcoming trip to a conference in California speaks volumes about the gap between meeting professionals’ experience onsite and the way it’s perceived back home.
It isn’t too big a leap from this particular tale to the perception of meetings as elaborate parties that has helped to [...]
The Green Meetings Portal: A World First
Tuesday, February 24th, 2009PITTSBURGH - This week, our company marks an important and very exciting milestone.
The Edge is a blog about conferences and content, not a promotional page for The Conference Publishers. But this is a moment when we’re generating industry news. And it has everything to do with the power of face-to-face meetings, the transcendent importance of [...]
Downturn? What Downturn?
Thursday, January 8th, 2009As a meeting professional, how would you have felt if you’d received the following RFP?
Meeting dates: December 15-31
Scope: Nation-wide (United States only)
Estimated participants: 50,400
Room nights: None
Venues: 4,200
Average participants per venue: 12
Food and beverage: Provided
Audio-visual requirements: None
Air travel: None
Carbon footprint: Local ground transportation; public transit and carpools encouraged
Mythical client: US Department of Health and Human Services
As [...]
A Virtual (R)Evolution-Part 2
Monday, November 24th, 2008Part 2: Greater Than the Sum of the Parts
There’s a tremendous opportunity brewing for meeting professionals and the organizations they serve. Some parts of it trace back to recent U.S. election campaigns that have become a proving ground for an unprecedented mix of live and online learning, persuasion, and mobilization.
It’ll be a while before we [...]
A Virtual (R)Evolution-Part 1
Friday, November 14th, 2008Part 1: A Recipe for Disaster
Start out with a well-rounded, well-founded measure of enthusiasm for the latest virtual meeting technologies.
Add a healthy dose of concern about climate change, with a dollop of unintended greenwashing.
Factor in a preoccupation with cutting meeting costs to the bone, without pausing to consider what may be lost along the way.
Subtract [...]
A Time to Renew
Wednesday, November 12th, 2008SAN DIEGO COUNTY—I spent much of the weekend in awe-inspiring company, attending the semi-annual meeting of the Concepts Worldwide Advisory Board (CAB).
And, as it happened, not a moment too soon.
Concepts is a company that formed 20 years ago, and has positioned itself as a world leader in the corner of our industry offering strategic [...]