Conversations withNetwork for Sustainable Meetings & Events
- NSM&E
- Jun 17, 2021
- 3 min read
Photo credit: Marv Watson on Unsplash
Join us for the First Conversation: Take One Step
MARK YOUR CALENDARS: June 24, 2021 12:00 PM EST / 9:00 AM PST
The Network for Sustainable Meetings & Events is a new group of Meetings & Event professionals: specifically, planners, operators and suppliers. This Mastermind-like group plans to meet monthly, via Zoom, for focused conversations about how we make meetings and events more sustainable day by day. As we move forward, it is our intention to Educate, Communicate and Innovate what we learn from each other: what’s working, what’s not and what might. We are dedicated to creating a space for small business owners to talk about their approaches and needs to making not only their meetings and events greener, but also their own businesses.
We are a support network to explore how we try to make better decisions today than yesterday, building for a better tomorrow. We are looking for the independent planners, small business suppliers (A/V, Printers, F&B, DMC’s, Designers, Florists, Rental Companies, Tourism, etc.)
Join us - there is no cost to join. We do ask that you bring your experience and your questions to this group.
Conversation with Lou Marrocco, Brandywine Events (June 2021)
Why is it important to you to have these conversations with others in the industry?
It is important for us to get together as a group and help each other grow and find our way… to bring more substance to the fact that we want to do sustainable meetings, talking about what could that be and then that becomes more of a universal thing. We all have experience and wisdom – this is kind of like combining all those ingredients, cooking it down and ending up with this rich, wonderful sauce to share.
Why now?
Some of the great work that had been done to help bring sustainability around has gone by the wayside due to the COVID response. We need to get everyone back on track and moving forward quickly.
Each month, we plan to focus on a single topic for our conversation. Why do that?
We want to Educate, Communicate and Innovate the community – the topics are like building blocks creating a foundation to build on. This will start to give us some common ground and common language, peer to peer, so we can individually and collectively make change in the world through sustainable meetings and events.
What aspects of planning a sustainable event do you find most difficult or troublesome?
It's really getting everyone on the same page - from the clients and stakeholders to the suppliers that you bring in, from venue to transportation. A lot of clients say “Yes, absolutely, I want a sustainable event” but they don't really understand what that encompasses. Most people want to do good – we have to help them overcome whatever barriers they throw up to reaching that goal. We need to the information and tools to help make that happen. We need the language to effectively communicate expectations. We need the verbiage to put into RFPs and contracts. And the understanding that, while not perfect, we can take steps every day to make an impact.
If you had a magic wand, where would you point it to fix the current situation?
So many of the discussions are big picture, on a world stage… we need to focus on what can be done locally. My magic wand would be directed to my fellow operators and colleagues in my community, to my suppliers in every aspect of the industry. How we communicate and get just one bit of information that they could then use for their business and finally understand it's not costing them more money but it's actually saving them money as well as doing good for our community as a whole.
Lou’s Sustainable Tip:
Start! Do something…. Take the 1st step and know that every little bit helps. You will find that one step leads to another and another. As they say: "How do you eat an elephant sandwich"? One bite at a time!
Join us for the First Conversation: Welcome
June 24, 2021 12:00 PM EST / 9:00 AM PST
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