Sustainable practices have become important for all businesses in recent times and this is also evident with an increasing focus on sustainable business events.

According to leading Australian and New Zealand professional conference organiser RachaelZiccone, innovation has brought opportunities for conferencing and corporate events to be more sustainable and environmentally friendly.

“In today’s society, we are all becoming more aware of protecting our environment and creating sustainability within our community,” said Ms Ziccone.

“Never before has sustainability been so top of mind when planning a corporate event or conference.

“This has been a key focus of ours when organising business events for clients and the development and integration of digital and mobile technology has greatly assisted this.”

Ms Ziccone said the increased use of online registration, event applications, digital surveys, live polling and mobile ticketing were five ways that event planners could create more sustainable conferences and meetings.

“Via some user-friendly technology, distributing content to delegates can be not only sustainable but more cost effective,” she said.

“Event apps are a great tool to provide easy access to conference content, event news, sponsor advertising, speaker biographies and transport information.

“Using digital platforms such as online registration, polling and surveys will also significantly reduce the amount of printing.

“They also bring interactivity to event planning, create audience engagement and enable content to be tailored to the requirements of delegates.

“Mobile ticketing through a QR code system will not only help create a more sustainable event, but enable an efficient check-in and check-out system for delegates and enable organisers to quickly report on attendance.”

Ms Ziccone also highlighted that the event venue, catering and conference materials were areas that event planners should look at to bring greater sustainability in their practices.

“Choosing a great venue is an important decision for any professional event planner.

“Some things to look at with a venue to create a more sustainable event are if it’s close to public transport, how much natural light and ventilation it has and its waste recycling and disposal practices.

“As most business events have some form of catering, considerations should include whether the cutlery and crockery are re-usable or bio-degradable, and if drinking water can be supplied in water jugs or dispensers along with re-usable cups or glasses.

“There are often parting gifts or materials for delegates, so a sustainable consideration should be on items that are use recycled materials, re-usable and even undated likes pens, caps and USB sticks.

“If the event then has leftovers, these can be used at a later date or for the next edition of the event.”

Rachael Ziccone is Conference & Events Manager for Corporate Challenge Events and member of the Professional Conference Organiser’s Association in Australia.

Corporate Challenge Events is a leading Australian and New Zealandcorporate events, team building andcorporate training company.

For more information on Corporate Challenge Events visit www.corporatechallenge.com.au or www.corpchallenge.co.nz

ENDS

For further information contact Corporate Challenge Events:
P.O. Box 11846, Ellerslie, Auckland 1542
Phone: 0800 832 669