Shaping the Future of Green Meetings and Events

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By Michelle Lizak, CMP

The Convention Industry Council (CIC) is partnering up with local meeting, convention and exhibition industry officials in 17 cities globally to host City Discussion Groups (CDG). This effort is part of the ongoing green meetings and events efforts of the Accepted Practices Exchange (APEX).

The CDG's are similar to town hall meetings and are an important part of the creation for the meeting, convention and exhibition industry best practices. The groups will meet to review and discuss the recommendations of the Green Meetings and Events Practice Panel. This panel will create the standards for the meetings and events industry in nine topic areas: accommodations, audio/visual and production, communication, destinations, exhibits, food and beverage, meeting venues, on-site offices and transportation.

The first round of CDG's will be held March/April in Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Gainesville, Louisville, Portland, San Diego, Seattle and Vancouver. Later this spring additional CDG's will be held in Denver, San Francisco, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, South Florida, Toronto and Frankfurt.

The first three standards under review in this round of discussions will be transportation, meeting venues and destinations. CMP's are invited to join this panel discussion. All CMP participants will be awarded 2 points towards re-certification.

If you are unable to attend any of the CDG's in person, a virtual discussion board will be coming soon to the APEX Solution Web site.

For more information or to register for a CDG, go to www.APEXsolution.org.

Click here to learn more about the Green Meetings and Events Practice Panel.

(Michelle is a Marketing and Corporate Events Manager for US Central and is KCMPI's 2009-2010 President. She can be reached at michelle.a.lizak@gmail.com).