Green Events: Technological Perspective
Background
Back then in 2015, we were planning an APPOEMN (Association
of Professional Party Organizers and Event Managers of Nigeria) seminar/workshop.
I had my ideas because I wanted it to be themed “It is time for Green Events”.
It never came to be but I had already written this paper. I and now sharing for
reading and comments
Introduction
Green event and convention
planning is now an established trend within the global tourism and convention
industry. Several cities in the United States and Europe now sport green
convention centers designed using green building principles and practices.
Several high visibility events
including the Olympic Games in Italy, Sydney, Utah, and Greece; the World
Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, and the 2004 Democratic and
Republican National Conventions have implemented green practices with varied
success. A more recent example is that of Live Earth, a series of worldwide
concerts held on July 7, 2007, that initiated a three-year campaign to combat
climate change. Such efforts aim to conserve resources, protect air and water
quality, habitat and human health, and showcase sustainability practices and
concerns.
Parts of the tourism and
convention industry now promote green meetings, conferences, and convention
planning as demand for sustainability measures increases. Industry associations
have produced standards and guides for green meetings. Government agencies and
non-profit organizations also promote these practices with research,
recommendations, grants and technical support. Some private consultants in the
meeting planning industry specialize in mounting green events, and industry
groups and governments now sponsor awards to recognize achievements.
Green conventions, meetings,
conferencing and events are part of an international movement to achieve a
sustainable world economy and livable planet.
What are Green Events?
According to Wikipedia, “Green
conventions or green meetings are conventions which are conducted in ways which
minimize the environmental burdens imposed by such activities. Green event
planners apply environmentally preferred practices to waste management,
resource and energy use, travel and local transportation, facilities selection,
siting and construction, food provision and disposal, hotels and
accommodations, and management and purchasing decisions. The practice is known
as "event greening"
or "sustainable event management.”
Another definition from Tufts
University Office of Sustainability is “A green event is an event that is
executed in an environmentally and socially responsible manner. This involves
taking into account and striving to reduce water and energy usage, waste and
greenhouse gas production and limit negative impacts on biodiversity”
Broad guidelines for a greener
event are that it should be organized electronically, minimise carbon emissions
for traveling delegates and speakers, save energy, practise recycling, and
adopt environmentally-thoughtful measures wherever practical and possible.
Role of Technology
Technology plays a major role
in making an event green. Here are some technological consideration you may use
to make your event green
Videoconferencing
Video conferencing is
technology which enables people in different locations to interact through
video and audio. The emergence of this technology has made it possible for
meetings to be organized with people at different geographical locations such
that you have the same look and feel of having everybody in one meeting room.
Organizing such a meeting is a great contribution towards achieving green
initiative.
Teleconferencing
Like video conferencing
teleconferencing also facilitates meeting with people in different location
through the use of audio communication.
Social / Online Media/Email
This is the latest trend in communication,
marketing, publicity and event invitation. A lot of events are published in
www.facebook.com, www.twitter.com, www.linkedin.com, www.eventome.com,
www.youtube.com, etc. for free. More elaborate publicity or vantage positioning
is made possible through a paid service. Therefore the event manager has this
as an option to consider while evaluating greening option for publicity,
marketing or guest invitation. Other cloud based communication media such as
Skype, WhatsApp, Yahoo messenger, 2go, Telegram, etc. are also assisting in organizing
virtual meetings with all kinds of features for chatting, audio, video and
document exchange.
Television
This is one of the traditional
means of publicity. It is also useful
for marketing and guest invitation. There is a multiplicity of channels and
programming to choose from while considering preferences. Apart from the
regular insertion as news items, there are so many independent programs such as
Goge Africa, Bisi Olatilo Show, etc. for the event manager’s selection.
Radio
This channel of publicity is
much older than the Television and it is also heavily utilized despite the
short coming of not being visible. It can be used to give an event a lot of publicity
before the D-day, provide event marketing and invite guests to attend.
Telephones and SMS
Contacting and selling the
event via telephones and bulk messaging (SMS) is quite fashionable these days.
It is also a great avenue for reaching out to intending guests and event
marketing. The message to be sent out should be properly composed, straight
forward and direct to the point such as to easily communicate the desired
information.
Event Website for Online Registration
These types of website allow
the event manager to subscribe and use their platform for event registration.
It usually helps the event manager to reduce the stress and load of paper work
on the D-day for both guests and the planner. These websites are cloud based
and available on subscription.
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)
It is the wireless non-contact
use of radio-frequency electromagnetic fields to transfer data, for the
purposes of automatically identifying and tracking tags attached to objects.
The use of this technology enables the guest to register online and make all
the required features selection. When completed, a tag is generated and sent to
the guest. The tags contain electronically stored information. This tag will be
used by the guest for fast track registration at the event venue, access to
event facilities and general movement during the event. This reduces a lot of
paper work and ink utilization.
Wi-Fi
This is a technology that
allows an electronic device to exchange data or connect to the internet
wirelessly. Many event managers and hotels these days provide Wi-Fi
connectivity for guests within the event arena. It is actually a nice to have.
Just like the internet, this technology reduces vehicular movement and paper
consumption.
Internet
The internet has become second
to none as the platform for basically anything. The event management industry
is not left out. So the event manager must ensure that internet facilities are
abound for the use of internet savvy guests. The manager must also creatively
find a way to integrate the functionality of the internet into the organisation
of the event. Certainly this will reduce vehicular movement and carbon
emission.
Web Cast
A webcast is a media
presentation distributed over the Internet using streaming media technology to
distribute a single content source to many simultaneous listeners/viewers.
Therefore, with the right technology, your event will be broadcast on the
internet to reach people who cannot attend physically.
Podcast
A podcast is the placement of
an event content either in audio, video, picture or another format in an online
location for download by people who were not able to attend the event
physically. Event managers and owners can use this medium to promote green
events by reaching out to guests who could not make it or for event marketing
purposes.
Webinar
The word is derived from the
combination of the words ‘web’ and ‘seminar’. It is the presentation of an
event such as lectures, workshops, training through the web. It is a technology
that allows two-way communication between the presenter and the attendees using
audio, video or chat. This technology totally moves an event to online platform
thus promoting total greening.
Live Streaming
Live Streaming is the webcast
of an event in online, real-time as it is happening. It refers to content
delivered live over the Internet, requires a camera for the media, an encoder
to digitize the content, a media publisher, and a content delivery network to
distribute and deliver the content. It helps to reduce the number of people
physically attending an event.
Key Characteristics that defines Green Events
There are some characteristics
that help us to define Green events. It could be in relation to the following:
- Electronically Organised: These could be conference calls, video conferencing, Webinars, Online event streaming, etc. The common thing about these events is that the events reduce the number of people that come together in a physical venue. This reduces food consumption and waste generation, environmental pollution due to transport reduction and energy consumption. Also sending invitations via email, text messaging or phone call rather than paper medium is another measure to green your event.
- Reduction in Environmental pollution: Managing group transportation to reduce carbon emission, use of biodegradable materials, reduction in cooking for an event, environmental friendliness of event material such as using live plants instead of artificial plastic ones, using water dispensers as against plastic bottle water, etc. are all steps that help to green an event.
- Promotion of recycling: Providing for waste management and recycling, use of facilities that support recycling, partnering with waste management boards to promote recycling, avoiding plastics, are all necessary procedures an event manager can put in place to promote green events.
- Energy Saving: Using energy savings bulbs, monitoring electricity consumption and gas usage help towards organizing a green event.
- Water Conservation: Avoid unnecessary running of water during baths, tooth brushing, washing up, etc.
- Lean Consumption: Massive consumption and waste generation characterize many events. Plans and policies to put these in check are green event practices
- Thinking Locally: This means sourcing all the things you need for your event from within your community. This promotes local economy and reduces transportation, engages local resources, etc.
- Event Marketing: This aspect requires the event manager to market the event solely through electronic channels. This could be via Social media, Internet advertisement via websites, Telephone calls, Short Message System (SMS) /Text Messages, Radio, Television, mobile screens, etc. There should be no printing of handbills, invitation cards, billboards, Flex banners, etc. or the use of other environmentally unfriendly material for the event marketing. The aim is to reduce negative impact on biodiversity
- Facilities Selection: Specifically selecting facilities which practice greening is also a key feature.
Initiatives in other industries
Manufacturing: In the manufacturing sector especially in the
western countries, Organisations who burn less of fuel for their machines earn
some carbon credit.
Construction: In the construction industry, there is gradual shift
from the use of coal tar and bitumen to bitumen emulsion. Bitumen is usually
liquefied using kerosene, Naphtha or some other solvents. When the bitumen is
used for road construction, these solvents dry up and evaporate into the
atmosphere after road paving. In the atmosphere, they contribute to global
warming and ozone layer depletion. However the bitumen emulsion is very
eco-friendly because the bitumen is liquefied with a water based emulsifier and
when used for road paving, only the water evaporates into the atmosphere
causing no damage.
Refrigeration: In manufacture of Air conditioners, Freezers and
Refrigerators, CFC gas is no longer used in compressors because it depletes the
ozone layer leading to global warming. Freon, a more eco-friendly gas is
currently being used.
Telecommunications: In the production of recharge cards, initially
non bio-degradable materials were used.
Recently in an effort to reduce the environmental impact, these cards
have been made smaller, gradually
giving way to paper and may be totally transiting to the electronic format.
Way Forward
As event managers, planners
and stakeholders in the Nigerianevent industry, the way to go for us is to start
applying some of the green event principles to promote greening in our events
and join the global initiative towards sustainability and protecting the earth
we live in
Green Event Principles
1. Reduce
any negative environmental impact caused by the event.
2. Support
local economy and society through your events purchases and goals.
3. Promote
green actions by effectively communicating green aspects of your event.
4. Deploy
technology where applicable to make your events greener.
5. Monitor
the success of certain actions in concordance with the green event principles
in order to determine which actions are most effective.
6. Encourage
participants to continue green practices outside of your event.
7. Obtain
Green Certification for our events
1.
References
3. Eventome:
An Event Management Handbook by Emeka Achebe-Okosieme
4.
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