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Events Industry Council Seeks Sustainable Event Standards Volunteers

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NATIONAL REPORT—The Events Industry Council (EIC) is seeking volunteers to join committees to update and improve its sustainable event standards. The APEX/ASTM Sustainable Event Standards (ASES) were launched in 2012. The standards were intended to provide an overall accepted level of performance for a sustainable/green event. They covered the nine areas of event management: accommodations, audio/visual, communications, destination selection, exhibits, food/beverage, meeting venue, on-site office, and transportation.

The event industry has been slow to adopt the standards for the following reasons: as written, the standards are difficult for meeting professionals to understand and interpret, the standards’ structure limits the ability of planners to comply or to be certified and there is a lack of industry awareness of the standards or the importance of adoption. Moving forward, EIC will own the standards’ intellectual property and is now leading an effort to revise the standards.

After a six-month Redesign process, EIC now has a framework for a more user-friendly approach to the standards. EIC is also introducing elements that make the standards more effective for the overall triple bottom line. In addition to the already rigorous environmental standards, social/community benefits will be enhanced, and innovation rewarded. The Supplier categories have been slightly modified to represent the evolution of the events industry and the overall goal to facilitate greater adoption. Audio/vision has been expanded to include production, transportation will incorporate general accessibility and mobility considerations, marketing/communications now encompasses marketing and on-site office, and community has expanded to include more social aspects. Because of the redesign, planners will have a separate but related standard.

The next phase is Rewrite. EIC is looking for industry professionals, from both supplier and planner perspectives, to join a supplier or planner committee and contribute to the rewrite efforts. The goal is to vet and edit the existing standards with the aim of balancing rigor, attainability, and affordability. EIC also aims to have the standards in language that is more accessible and relatable to industry practitioners.

The Rewrite work will take place from April through July of 2018 so if you are interested in joining a committee, please email Amy Spatrisano at amy@azanoinc.com.

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