One + July 2011 - (Page 89)

2011 World Education Congress CSR Selections at WEC Orlando, Florida The 2011 World Education Congress in Orlando (July 23-26) will not only continue MPI’s partnership with Clean the World, but the event will offer delegates seven additional CSR activities, including puppy cuddling and an effort coordinated by Keep Orlando Beautiful. For more information, visit www.mpiweb.org/wec. Industry Engagement MPI is also pleased to announce a research study with The UK Centre for Events Management, The Centre for Hospitality and Retailing and The International Centre for Responsible Tourism. The CSR study will analyze industry gaps and research needs and develop ways in which the industry can be provided with the information and tools to compete in this dynamic global business environment. The study will explore levels of engagement within industry and will identify future drivers of demand both from consumers and external agencies so that businesses can be better prepared to meet those demands in the future. The study will be used as a basis for the development of information and training materials to ensure wide dissemination of best practices, case studies and tools to support the sector. Initially, the research team, in conjunction with MPI, shall establish national elements of each stakeholder and supply chain analysis. Coupled with an issues priority matrix, this analysis will then identify global and industrywide determinants—once identiﬁed, a cohesive picture should emerge. Current evidence from research conducted at Leeds Metropolitan University shows that industry drivers are initially operational ecosavings and brand legitimization. In some countries, however, CSR is now a de facto requirement to trade, which companies need to consider before deciding on providers and suppliers. Un- derstanding not only industrywide, but regional trends, is therefore a key part of this research. The research will use a stratiﬁed sampling technique of multinational, large, medium, small and micro businesses from within and outside MPI to evaluate the awareness of CSR, standards and certiﬁcations, client commitments to CSR within their strategy documents and practices, good and bad case studies of CSR implementation and ROI indicators that are presently being used. The sampling will include CEOs of agencies/ buyers, VPs of sustainability/CSR (from pharma, technology, medical, legal, insurance, ﬁnancial, etc.), meeting management professionals (outside of MPI), procurement professionals, hospitality professionals and industry leaders and executive managers (C-levels, budget owners). We have the systems in place to make this a multi-language survey. Utilizing previous studies, one key focus here is to evaluate existing ROI calculation tools, used across the hospitality and events sector with the longer-term aim of developing a more robust measurement tool for businesses within the meetings and hospitality sector to use when deciding on their own CSR activities. The research will focus on actions taken for sustainability management, methods of communicating and marketing sustainability (both for business to business and to a lesser extent business to consumer) and drivers for industry engagement. ROGER SIMONS, CMP, is manager of CSR and sustainable events at MPI. mpiweb.org 89 http://www.mpiweb.org/wec http://www.mpiweb.org/wec http://meetings.oceanreef.com http://www.mpiweb.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of One + July 2011

One + July 2011
Contents
Energy of Many
Impressions
Paradigm Shifts, Part II
Web Watch
Agenda
Thoughts+Leaders
Ask the Experts
Recognizing Community and Organizational Excellence
Overheard
Art of Travel
The Prism Effect
Top Spots
Connections
Irrelevant
Using New Tech for Old Purposes
So You Think You Can Dance
Don’t Use Tech You Don’t Understand
Are You In It to Win It?
Anything is Possible
Night of the Radishes
Well Played
When People Come Together, Magic Happens
Size Matters
Building a Better FAM
One Bar at a Time
MPI + CSR
Industry Insights
Your Community
Making a Difference
Until We Meet Again

One + July 2011