It’s been a couple of weeks since I last blogged and I’m back and ready.
Yes, this blog is titled “Professional Event Production”, as we produce and manage corporate events, but we were in Vermont last week for a little R&R and discovered that Vermont not only has breathtaking scenery but most of their businesses are concerned with sustainability, doing things for the community, good business practice and the environment. The most famous of all, of course, is Ben & Jerry’s.
When Ben & Jerry sold their company part of the deal was to continue their mission of social responsibility. I won’t reiterate here, but you can go to their website and see for yourself. www.benjerry.com
How many large companies have a corporate culture that strives to help its community as our friendly ice cream guys do?
Now, where corporate events are concerned, wouldn’t it be wonderful if every corporate event strived to include social responsibility as part of their annual meeting, sales meeting, or product launch?
Of course we know that the CSuite has a responsibility to make a profit and be able to show ROI on events and meetings. If you look at Ben & Jerry, it does appear that they are indeed, making a profit on top of their mission.
I would hope that in someway, I, as well as others in this industry, could help influence clients to consider including a socially responsible aspect to their conference, their gala, and their training sessions.
Some of this may come from adding a virtual component, via a webcast. That certainly reduces one’s carbon footprint! This is never to say, though that virtual can replace face to face, but it can be an additional component that can add to success of a corporate event, it’s bottom line and that dreaded ROI.
Why not, a socially responsible team building event where you are giving back to the community, or a recyclable centerpiece, use sustainable products as much as possible, check to see if your vendors purchase fair trade products.
I realize that doing this takes a bit more research and not every component of your event will be able to be socially responsible, but heck, it certainly is worth making the effort.
You never know unless you try.
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One other thought on this. We, as events professionals, should try to educate our clients regarding sustainability. There are those who don’t feel that it’s important, but it’s still worth trying.
Lise, Thanks for your feedback.
Unfortunately, the problem lies in short sightedness and budget concerns.