Sustainability is Smart Business Michael Luehrs Sustainability Advisor, President, Green Meeting Industry Council

Mariela McIlwraith, CMP, CMM, MBAExecutive Director, GMIC Sustainable Meetings FoundationPresident, Meeting Change

Our Agenda

X About GMIC

Sustainability & Smart Business

X

How we will work towards sustainability

About GMIC

Who is the GMIC?

The GMIC is the premier

global meetings community solely dedicated to sustainability not only through education

but also by spearheading research, policy and standards for the meetings and event

industry. We inspire industry leaders of all levels to

make meetings better through sustainability.

GMIC Current Initiatives:

• GMIC/IMEX Green Awards• Standards Development

– APEX/ASTM, ISO 20121, GRI

• Education, Training & Annual Conference • Global Network: Chapters & Supporting

Business Partners www.imex-frankfurt.com/greenawards.html

GMIC’s Vision Using TNS

Enfuse scientific principles

Develop Vision of Success

Catalyze industry collaboration

Research, Communicate & Educate

Develop standards, tools and systems

Why is Sustainability Smart Business?

“Highly sustainable companies significantly outperform their counterparts”

Eccels, Serafim, Harvard UniversityIannou, London School of BusinessSept 2012

• 70%: sustainability permanent part of the agenda

• “necessary to being competitive”

• 1/3: “contributes to profitability”

• 68% have increased commitments

• “Business cannot survive in a society that fails””

• The need for companies to play a more active role is very transparent”– Paul Polman

• Share price has doubled since 2010 when plan was launched

Return on Investment

66% customers prefer to buy from companies that give back to society

62% want to work for these companies

59% want to invest in these companiesNeilsen Survey, 2012

Meetings Industry Statistics

66% of attendees would pay more for products that are ethically and socially responsible.

30% more than 30% of buyers give precedence to suppliers that use externally accredited sustainability certification, only 12% have it

70% of attendees want to see CSR activities reported on websites, only 58% of meeting businesses do this.

MPI Research, 2012

The Business Case for Sustainability

• Operational efficiency• Stakeholder relations• Public relations• Business benefits• Employee morale• Risk mitigation• Decision-making ability

Operational Efficiency

• Streamlined use of resources– Less paper use, fewer shipping miles, less materials

brought on site, which reduces waste and recycling streams.

• Green meetings programs address many operational inefficiencies in terms of purchasing, resources, waste, and energy.

• APEX/ASTM green meetings standards directly target operational inefficiencies

Stakeholder Relations

• A focus on supporting the community improves trust and strengthens relationships,

• Relationship management is a core competency of many meeting professionals.

• Benefits of working with value chains include cost-effectiveness and buy-in, saving event professionals time and money.

Public Relations

• A comprehensive sustainability program that has successfully built trust and enhanced brand and reputation in the community will help counteract negative publicity.

• Improve your reputation

Business benefits

• Customers and stakeholders are increasingly looking for organizations that demonstrate a link to their own values.– Example, if an organization is shopping for a

supplier, all other things being equal, they may use CSR as a tie breaker.

Employee morale

• Employees want to work for organizations that share their values. A CSR program that involves its employees in their initiatives can enhance retention and improve morale. – Coro Strandberg, The Business Case for

Sustainability, Strandberg Consulting (2009). http://www.corostrandberg.com/pdfs/Business_Case_for_Sustainability_21.pdf.

Risk Mitigation

• CSR helps build brand, organizational and even industry reputation.

• By having a policy and program in place, it is less likely that the industry will face regulation and can help mitigate poor public opinion.

Decision-making ability

• Having a sustainability policy helps guide actions of employees, volunteers, speakers, consultants, and suppliers.

• By providing guidance, it assists decision-making ability in a variety of situations.

How will we implement sustainability?

• 27 kg waste (2 at home)• 3200 l water (976 at home)

1 event, 15,000 participants:• 127000 t C02• 8.5 t / pp*• Each participant –in 3 days- emitted more than

twice what a person in Mexico emits in a year

Typical Event participant

Overview of Standards

ISO 20121Provides information required for creating an event management system

APEX/ASTM Sustainable Meeting StandardsCollects data required for planner and supplier standards compliance in 8 areas, across 9 sectors

GRI Event Organizer Sector SupplementIdentifies data required for GRI criteria

Vision

Strategy

Actions

Results

Exhibits Food & Beverage Onsite Office

Transportation A/V & Production Communication

Meeting Venue Destinations Accommodations

APEX/ASTM Standards

EnergyWaterWasteAir QualityProcurementCommunityStaff ManagementCommunication

The cost of sustainability

Case Study

• 8 different NGO’s directly benefit from event

• Supplier Collaboration• Exhibitor incentive• Sustainable event assessment• No added costs

IMEX America

• Impact measurement• Collaboration with partners• Social Responsibility

– Shade Tree– Opportunity Village– Clean the World

• No additional cost

Oracle

• 46,000 people• Measurement & Communication• $1.5 Million saved since 2007

–Eliminating bottled water–Reduced fuel use–Reduced waste

Get Started

Policies

Request for proposals

Contracts

Reports

Sustainability & Contracts

What it is matters

How it is grown matters

How it is moved matters

Waste generated matters

Working environment matters

Food & Beverage

Do you give back to the community?

Do you have a list of NGO’sWith whom you partner?

How will you measure?

Community Service: Getting Started

CSR Projects: MAUDE Framework

MAUDE Frameworks is from Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility in the Meetings and Events Industry by Elizabeth Henderson and Mariela McIlwraith. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.  All rights reserved. 

Tell Your Story

• Measure and report • Social Media• Articles • Apply for awards

http://bit.ly/JjkJo6

Resources

• Green Meeting Industry Council www.gmicglobal.com

• Convention Industry Council http://www.conventionindustry.org/StandardsPractices/APEXASTM.aspx

Thank You!

michael@fightinggoodfights.com@michaelluehrswww.fightinggoodfights.com

mariela@meetingchange.com @meetingchangewww.meetingchange.com