Sustainability
The triple bottom line
People, planet, and profit—that’s the triple bottom line that has always guided The Conference Publishers’ structure and operations.
We know our clients can do better financially when the communities that form around their conferences are satisfied with the results—and that they’re more likely to be satisfied if their voices are heard, their content is captured, and the conference becomes a gateway for the work they need to do when they get home.
But business performance is just one part of the triple bottom line. We’ve always structured our service to minimize its environmental impact.
Read more...We specify recycled stock and vegetable-based inks for any press work we undertake (overnight photocopying is a bigger challenge), and we help our clients minimize or eliminate printing whenever they can.
Most important, our standard project structure minimizes our need for a service that has become the meetings industry’s Achilles heel. We work with local writers wherever possible, eliminating the carbon footprint that results from air travel. When we do fly, we buy carbon offsets from a reputable supplier that meets the criteria for a legitimate offset.
In fall 2009, as the world watched faltering negotiations at the Copenhagen climate change summit, we realized our biggest remaining carbon footprint was our daily commute to a central office—where we had limited ability as commercial tenants to control our own energy and water use. Four months later, we moved to a virtual office and learned that reducing our carbon saved money and made our work schedules more flexible.
Sustainability in action
Our active involvement with the global meetings industry is an important part of our commitment to sustainability.
We see fantastic business opportunities ahead for the meeting planners, facilities, and service providers that can reduce the environmental footprint—and the associated costs—of their operations. But until then, we know our industry risks lost business due to environmental disasters, increased regulation to address those disasters, and pushback from customers who quite rightly expect their meetings to be greener.
Every problem has a solution, and we’re helping to solve this one.
Read more...- Members of our staff have been involved with sustainable meetings and corporate social responsibility projects through the Ottawa Chapter of Meeting Professionals International.
- Company President Mitchell Beer serves on the board of directors of the Green Meeting Industry Council and as founding chair of the GMIC Sustainable Meetings Foundation.
- This site contains information on the sustainability and climate communication services that we offer our clients, inside the meetings industry and beyond.
