Don't Expect Change - Ask For It!

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Marcelo DeOliveira

When I set off for St. Louis, MO, for the World Education Congress, I had a couple of simple plans: meet as many new people as I could, and assess the "greeness" of the event itself.

There were numerous opportunities to meet people during the congress. Given the number of attendees, it was not hard to meet people during the networking events. I met people from as far away as Australia and Brazil and had a chance to re-connect with some of our local Chapter members as well.

There were a lot of green initiatives on display that helped reduce our carbon footprint. From paperless registration and digital seminar content to compostable serving items during meals.

The WEC12 app was a great tool to keep delegates up-to-date with agenda changes and offered enough information to prevent thousands of 8 ½ x 11s being used, as was the case in the not-so-distant past. The number of handouts was very limited and most presenters were good at advising that their presentations were going to be available at the MPI site shortly after the congress. When paper use was necessary, it was rather easy to find recycling bins throughout the convention centre and at off-site venues.

The Busch Stadium and Botanical Garden receptions had most of their menus offered in compostable/organic containers, including some compostable plastic that could be discarded with all the food leftovers.

There were, however ,some misses that we, as industry leaders, could definitely have done better.

I thought that plastic bottled water was a thing of the past for conferences but they were being handed out at the airport and at some delegate hospitality desks at certain hotels. My hotel also did not have any recycling bins available in the guestrooms or common areas, making it hard to recycle the plastic bottles or any paper, for that matter.

The biggest miss, in my opinion, was the shuttle service during the daytime. Most hotels were located within a short walk from the convention centre and there were hardly any delegates inside the 55-passenger motor coaches scheduled for the transfers. They were needed for the evening events but hardly used during the day. With today's technology it would have been easy to know how many delegates were staying at each hotel. This would have allowed for smaller motor coaches and a reduction in the number of runs completed during the day.

Overall, the congress gave attendees a lot of ideas on how to hold great events and still reduce our impact on the environment. If every delegate implements one or two of the initiatives put in place in St. Louis, or asks for them to be part of their next event, the ripple effect could be tremendous.

We have an opportunity to ask for changes in our industry. If every planner and supplier makes this a priority, we could change the way we meet - because when we meet, we change the world.