One of my recent bits is: The only reason to have a meeting is to change the world.
How does a meeting do this? By setting an example and evangelizing a message. This is done by event design, content, educational offerings, networking situations and meal-time experiences. Meetings can teach themes (strive, reach, innovate, etc.) or specific ideas such as “pursue quality” or “be green.”
As a speaker on this subject, I’ve had the opportunity to participate in several meetings with green intentions over the last year. These meetings minimized environmental impact via electronic registration, recycling and digitization of all information. I was part of the program to tie it all together with some business impact and inspiration. In some cases, there were discreet sponsors that were recognized for “greening the meeting up.”
In every case, I observed changed point of view in the audience: Validation (doing it right!) or Provocation (i could be doing much better). Audience members that get the green point of view reduce their use of stuff, saving their company money. They also set examples for non-attendees including associates, vendors and associations too. By connecting green at work ideas, meeting attendees can help their departments and groups connect with one of the most important business trends of the next decade: The Responsibility Revolution.
When I worked at Yahoo, I served on several meeting committees (sales, year end party, customer education offsite) and had input into event design and execution. Likely you do too, even if you are not a full time meeting professional. To help anyone involved in any meeting, I posted ten simple innovations that turn a regular meeting into a green meeting that matters. READ: The Dirty Dozen Rules of Green Meetings
Join the relaunch campaign for Saving The World at Work (win a book, help a cause, make a difference with your Tweets and emails).
