ATLANTA—As part of its mission to “transform the global meetings industry through sustainability,” the Green Meeting Industry Council (GMIC) announced its partnership with meeting industry leaders in Atlanta to form a chapter. “We recognized that the meeting leaders in Atlanta were not only aligned with our mission and values but also wanted to make an ethical commitment to a global movement,” says GMIC Executive Director Tamara Kennedy-Hill.
“Convention and meeting planners and suppliers in Atlanta have worked together informally for years to share information about how to incorporate sustainability into their events,” said Audrey Davies, Home Depot, Atlanta chapter-in-formation president. “GMIC’s Atlanta chapter will take the guesswork out of the process by providing its members with an array of resources to implement practical sustainability standards to conduct a truly ‘green’ meeting.”
“Atlanta was also chosen as the location for GMIC’s first southern chapter in the U.S. because of its robust convention business as well as being the headquarters for a large number of Fortune
500 companies,” Kennedy-Hill adds. “We look forward to replicating our success in Atlanta in other cities around the world.”
GMIC defines a green meeting as one that incorporates environmental considerations throughout all stages of the meeting planning process. Working in collaboration with the CIC’s APEX and the USEPA, the GMIC is developing accepted green meeting standards for the meetings industry. The organization advocates full integration of environmental responsibility into return on investment analysis for all meetings. By the year 2020, GMIC envisions green meetings as standard practice with zero net environmental effect.
Visit www.greenmeetings.info for more information.
