Redefining Event Success in the Age of Environmental Awareness

October 23, 2017

Ryan Green

Ryan Green has worked in the events industry for the past seven years, specializing in event sustainability, including work as a GMIC chapter president and as a project manager for an APEX/ASTM certified venue. His mission is to help planners reduce their impacts by implementing metrics-based reduction strategies modeled after corporate sustainability programs.

Meetings and events (MICE) are a part of everyday life around the world and are vital to how we conduct business in the 21st century.

The Convention Industry Council (CIC) defines an event as a gathering of 50 or more people for more than four hours. According to the CIC, there were over 1.8 million events in the U.S. in 2012 alone, including more than 10,000 trade shows.

In the recent CVent Industry Benchmarking Report, event planners stated that the top three challenges of managing an event were budgeting, ROI and event promotions. Planners also stated that the top two ways to measure ROI were overall attendance and attendee satisfaction.

While events are hosted for a variety of reasons, the focus for many planners often turns to increasing attendance, resulting in the original event’s objectives being overshadowed.

In the name of higher attendance, planners will host events in exotic locations, provide amazing tours and throw lavish parties in an attempt to create an amazing event experience that drives traffic.

Exhibitors then continue this mentality by building eye-catching structures, using vibrant graphics, having celebrity appearances and anything else that will drive traffic to a booth.

When events go "green," initiatives typically come in two forms: experience-based programs like reusable water bottles, wellness elements, organic foods, CSR activities, 5K runs and recycling programs, or for the serious green planners, an operational guide like ISO 20121 or the APEX/ASTM standards.

While all of these initiatives are important and raise awareness, going green is rarely considered part of an event's core success and initiatives are thought of as "added features" that usually add more work to the operations team and more cost to the budget.

While these options and program choices are beneficial, this system explains why only a fraction of events actually go "green."

The industry has gotten so wrapped up in the "experience" that we have completely lost track of what we should be doing. Event planning is listed as the fifth most stressful job in the country, planners are concerned about budgets and ROIs, only a fraction of events go "green," there is no clear definition of success and we are producing mountains of waste and unknown amounts of CO2 emissions – all in the pursuit of the "experience."

The days of the free-for-all where planners can design anything with no sense of impact needs to end. Rather than designing events to "wow" attendees and outshine competitors, planners should design events to showcase products, facilitate commerce and share information.

The "anything goes" mentality needs to be replaced with responsibility, a sense of efficiency, a sense of success and a way to measure the environmental impacts of an event compared to the achievement of your goals – in essence, to redefine the definition of ROI for your event.

Sustainability should make a planner’s life easier, not harder, and planners need to apply sustainable practices similar to the corporate world where the focus is on the efficient use of materials, optimizing spaces and identifying cost-saving opportunities.

We need to understand the efficiency of our designs, understand and optimize supply chains, minimize waste generation, isolate each event space and lastly, isolate planners’ decisions from exhibitors so we can identify who is truly responsible for environmental impacts.

Event planners have a responsibility to facilitate events in a way that protects our environment while promoting business. Once we end the "experience" based mindset, stop treating “green” as an add-on, isolate planners' decisions, track everything and redefine success based on the objectives of the event, then we will have the needed framework to host truly “sustainable” events for decades to come.

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Overview: The award-winning Orange County Convention Center (OCCC) goes the extra mile to make every day extraordinary by offering customer service excellence and industry-leading partnerships. From their dedicated in-house Rigging team to their robust Exhibitor Services, The Center of Hospitality brings your imagination to life by helping you host unforgettable meetings and events. With more than 2 million square feet of exhibit space, world-class services and a dream destination, we are committed to making even the most ambitious conventions a reality. In October 2023, the Orange County Board of County Commissioners voted to approve allocating Tourist Development Tax funding for the $560 million Phase 5A completion of the OCCC. The Convention Way Grand Concourse project will include enhancements to the North-South Building, featuring an additional 60,000 square feet of meeting space, an 80,000- square-foot ballroom and new entry to the North-South Building along Convention Way. “We are thrilled to begin work on completing our North-South Building which will allow us to meet the growing needs of our clients,” said OCCC Executive Director Mark Tester. “As an economic driver for the community, this project will provide the Center with connectivity and meeting space to host more events and continue to infuse the local economy with new money and expanding business opportunities.” Amenities: The Center of Hospitality goes above and beyond by offering world-class customer service and industry-leading partnerships. From the largest convention center Wi-Fi network to custom LAN/WAN design, the Center takes pride in enhancing exhibitor and customer experience.  The OCCC is the exclusive provider of electricity (24-hour power at no additional cost), aerial rigging and lighting, water, natural gas and propane, compressed air, and cable TV services. Convenience The Center is at the epicenter of the destination, with an abundance of hotels, restaurants, and attractions within walking distance. Pedestrian bridges connect both buildings to more than 5,200 rooms and is within a 15-minute drive from the Orlando International Airport. The convenience of the location goes hand-in-hand with top notch service to help meet an event’s every need. Gold Key Members The OCCC’s Gold Key Members represent the best of the best when it comes to exceptional service and exclusive benefits for clients, exhibitors and guests. The Center’s Gold Key memberships with Universal Orlando Resort, SeaWorld Orlando and Walt Disney World greatly enhance meeting planner and attendee experiences offering world-renowned venues, immersive experiences and creative resources for their events. OCCC Events: This fiscal year, the OCCC is projected to host 168 events, 1.7 million attendees, and $2.9 billion in economic impact.  The Center’s top five events during their 2022-2023 fiscal year included:  AAU Jr. National Volleyball Championships 2023 200,000 Attendees $257 Million in Economic Impact MEGACON 2023 160,000 Attendees $205 Million in Economic Impact Open Championship Series 2023 69,500 Attendees $89 Million in Economic Impact Sunshine Classic 2023 42,000 Attendees $54 Million in Economic Impact Premiere Orlando 2023 42,000 Attendees $108 Million in Economic Impact