Green Meeting Industry Council has announced a new research project, “An Analysis of Corporate Brands: How Corporate Brands Use Live Events to Underscore Sustainability Practices.”
The research, conducted in partnership with the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Center for Professional & Leadership Studies, kicked off at IMEX America, from Oct. 13–15, in Las Vegas.
The research is intended to “document evidence of corporate brands’ use of events to activate and communicate their commitments on sustainable event procurement and practices,” said Roger Simons, CMP, president of the global board of directors at GMIC and global sustainability manager for MCI, based in Singapore. “We plan to give the events industry a much clearer understanding of what level of sustainable practices are being regularly implemented. Suppliers will have an opportunity to see where they measure up and where they might gain market share.
“Evidence points to many organizations implementing sustainable practices in their events in recent years but currently no organization is collecting their stories or communicating their impact,” said Simons. “The type, extent, and frequency of these practices in events remains unclear and largely undocumented.”
The research seeks to address which sustainable practices are regularly implemented by Fortune 500 companies, and to provide a sustainable events planning benchmark against which firms can compare their own event planning.
Among the questions to be asked of participants, both corporate event planners and suppliers, through focus groups and questionnaires, are:
- What were Fortune 500 brands’ sustainability practices five years ago compared to now?
- Has the amount or degree of implementation of sustainable practices improved over the past three to five years?
- Which sustainable practices are being implemented in meetings and events planning and procurement?
- How are they measuring and communicating impact?
- How is sustainability affecting their triple bottom line?
- Do the practices follow industry standards?
- What role do their suppliers play?
Three researchers from UNLV’s William F. Harrah’s College of Hotel Administration, one of the leading hospitality colleges in the U.S., will oversee the project: Dina Zemke, PhD, Yen-Soon Kim, PhD, and Heather Monteiro, MBA. The final results expected in June 2016.
The Thailand Convention & Exhibition Bureau has signed on as exclusive destination sponsorship partner to set its leadership toward sustainability. Openings for other exclusive category partners are still available.
