BtoB Media Business - February 2012 - (Page 15)

Events Being green Newly released events standards promote sustainable practices, clear guidelines qualify for the standard. reen events standards, frameworks We built the standards for a couple of reaand protocols are in high demand. sons. We wanted everyone to be able to comThe International Organization pare apples to apples when someone says for Standardization and Global Reporting they are producing a green meeting. Right Initiative both have been working to create now in the marketplace, I could say that my sustainable event guidance in time for the meeting is green and there is no foundation. London Olympics, and the ConvenThere were no parameters around Q&A tion Industry Council stands what is acceptable behavior. poised to release its own sustainThe second part of that was recable meeting standards, five years ognizing that people are at different in the making. levels in the industry. We develAmy Spatrisano, principal of oped four levels. All of the compoMeetGreen and chairwoman of the nents of level one were designed CIC green meeting committee that to be cost-saving or cost-neutral. worked with industry stakeholders AMY However, some people are already SPATRISANO and the American Society for Test- Chairwoman, doing amazing things, so we wanting and Materials International to CIC green ed these to be structured in a way develop the standards, spoke to meeting that people can improve their perMedia Business about the new committee formance. With the way that we’ve framework. structured them, our hope is to encourage Media Business: How can organizers use continued improvement. these standards? The standards make both the planner Amy Spatrisano: The (CIC Accepted and the suppliers accountable. The planner Practices Exchange)/ASTM standards pro- can’t, without the support of the supplier, vide a checklist. They have a very prescrip- achieve a level one for the whole meeting, tive action that you must take in order to and neither can the supplier achieve level BY CHARLOTTE WOOLARD G one without the planner’s participation. MB: Are you seeing more interest in green event strategies? Spatrisano: I do think that (attendee) interest is growing. Also, it’s smart business. It’s not only because it’s the right thing to do for the environment. If you do it right, you’re saving money. That’s the key, for people who are really engaging in this. They are recognizing huge savings. Creating a sustainable event is being fiscally responsible. That’s why it’s gaining popularity. There are a lot of myths around it, one of which is that it costs more to be sustainable. That’s just not accurate. There are many things you can do in efficiencies that minimize your cost. Reducing your energy use, your wattage, your waste—you’re paying less. If you reduce your printing, you reduce your cost. There are a lot of things people can do to outweigh or balance cost of, for example, serving organic food. MB: Will there be a third-party certification, or will it be on your honor? Spatrisano: Initially (the standards) are voluntary and self-assessed. In very short order, I expect to see (third-party certifications). My suggestion to anyone in the industry is to be sure that whoever does the certification has the CIC endorsement. If it’s endorsed by CIC, it’s endorsed by the industry. People want to be certified so they can have a little bug on their letterhead, a symbol that gives them the stamp of approval. EVENTS Graph Expo 2011 Producer/Owner: Graphic Arts Show Co. What: Trade event serving the graphics industry Where: McCormick Place, Chicago Date 2012: Oct. 7–10 Date 2011: Sept. 11–14 2011 floor space: 300,604 sq. ft. 2010 floor space: 291,134 sq. ft. No. of attendees 2011: 20,451 No. of attendees 2010: 19,961 No. of exhibitors 2011: 491 No. of exhibitors 2010: 506 Producer comment: “We’ve shifted from a print show to a graphics community show, with print, online, mobile,” said Chris Price, VP of GASC. “It’s a much more complicated world, but we’re going to survive.” Exhibitor comment: “It’s North America’s largest graphics show, so it gives us the ability to communicate with the graphics community in one centralized location,” said Scott Ginnett, directordigital collaboration and social media at Ricoh Americas Corp. “When attendees and vendors make the investment to be there, that direct face-to-face conversation is the value add.” Breakdown: Graph Expo grew attendance in 2011, reporting a 7% increase in verified unique attendees and a 12% increase in verified unique buying companies. The gains came as organizers worked to build community in a diverse industry undergoing rapid technological change. “One of the key things in adapting for us has been segment marketing,” Price said. Marketing elements including the website are tailored for 12 different groups. More than 30 collocations helped boost attendance as well, with GASC focusing not just on sharing space, but fully integrating collocated events and providing organizational support, Price SHOW SPOTLIGHT said. The company partnered with its exhibitors, providing data and marketing services. It has experimented with event technologies including QR codes, PURLs and virtual offerings. A perpetual Web portal bringing together relevant content and virtual event elements is in the works. “We create this magnet, this channel,” Price said. “Can it help drive [attendance to] those events? Of course it can, but it’s more than that.” The goal is to create a yearround touch point to bring together the graphics community, Price said. —C.W. mediabusinessonline.com | February 2012 | Media Business | 15 http://www.mediabusinessonline.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of BtoB Media Business - February 2012

BtoB Media Business - February 2012
Contents
‘Economist’ drives revenue with social, mobile
B-to-b media sector growing, despite threats
This year likely to be one of transition in M&A
Sales & Marketing
Audience Development
Events
Production
People
Benchmarks
What digital media could tell Washington

BtoB Media Business - February 2012

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