TORONTO—The Hotel Association of Canada (HAC) is gearing up for its annual conference on February 25 to 26 at the Hilton Toronto Hotel. More than 350 hoteliers are expected to attend. The program will include several important green elements, including a plenary session entitled, “How Big is Your Carbon Footprint and Who Really Cares?” and a special Green Key room where a select number of HAC Green Partners will be on hand. More than 750 hotels have already signed up for the highly successful HAC Green Key Eco-Rating program.
The “How Big is Your Carbon Footprint and Who Really Cares?” session on Tuesday, February 26 will address how going green can be done cost effectively and how it can have a positive impact on bottom line results. Going “carbon neutral” also will be addressed in this session moderated by Allan Gregg, host of TVO’s “Allan Gregg in Conversation With.”
Participants in the green session will include:
• Bruce Cords, Vice President, Environment, Food Safety & Public Health for Ecolab Inc. In his position, Dr. Cords is also responsible for managing Ecolab’s external technology partnership activities. Dr. Cords is a nationally recognized authority on food borne disease and an industry expert on food borne viruses.
• John Lambert, Direct Energy Business Services. Direct Energy is one of North America’s largest energy and energy-related services providers with more than 5 million residential and commercial customer relationships. Direct Energy provides customers with choice and support in managing their energy costs through a portfolio of innovative products and services.
• Ted Manziaris, Turtle Island Recycling Co. Manziaris will represent this company that he helped found. Turtle Island Recycling is a multi-material recycling and waste removal company that provides service for the collection of recyclables. Turtle Island Recycling employs more than 250 people.
• Vince Quattrociocchi, Vice President of Operations, Metro Toronto Convention Centre (MTCC). Quattrociocchi oversees the engineering, housekeeping, security, parking and docks operations at MTCC’s North and South buildings. Over the past several years, with Quattrociocchi’s leadership, MTCC has witnessed significant advancements in each building’s environmental recycling initiatives, energy conservation and physical upgrades.
• Michelle White, Director, Environmental Affairs, Fairmont Hotels and Resorts. With a passion and dedication to protecting the unique ecosystems in which Fairmont Hotels & Resorts operates, White is an authority on sustainable operations within the tourism industry and brandwide ambassador of Fairmont’s award winning Green Partnership program.
Marketing Session Also Planned
The conference’s lead-off session, “So You Think You Are A Marketing Maven?”, will bring together the following Canadian consumer marketing leaders: Tony Chapman, CEO of Capital C; Arlene Dickinson, CEO of Venture Communications and one of the five Dragons on the CBC’s Dragons’ Den; Robert Deluce, CEO of Porter Airlines Inc.; and David Kincaid, CEO of Level 5 Strategic Brand Advisors. These marketing experts will address the future marketing direction for Canadian hotels.
On Tuesday evening, at a gala dinner, HAC conference attendees will celebrate with the winners of the Humanitarian Award, Human Resources Award, and Energy and Environment Awards. The guest speaker at the dinner will be Canadian Chief of Defense Staff General Rick Hillier.
In the Green Key room, six organizations will be present as Green Partners. These will include:
• Natural Resources Canada, Office of Energy Efficiency (OEE). This organization offers a number of financial incentives to those hotel developers building new buildings or renovating old ones. The OEE is aggressively pursuing its vision of “Leading Canadians to Energy Efficiency at Home, at Work and on the Road” in ways that benefit both the environment and the economy.
• Innovolve Group. Innovolve is creating the inaugural Canada Green Meeting Guide—a planning tool and directory that will offer event planners unparalleled access to green event suppliers and services. The guide, scheduled for release in June 2008, will go to 10,000 meeting planners and highlight those hotels that are Green Key participants.
• Earth Day Canada. Earth Day Canada (EDC) is a national environmental communications organization mandated to improve the state of the environment by empowering Canadians to achieve local solutions. Since 1991, EDC has been coordinating Earth Day/Earth Month events, and creating successful community programs and award-winning artistic and media projects.
• Ontario Power Authority. The Ontario Power Authority’s vision is to provide a sustainable, competitive and reliable electricity system for the benefit of Ontario customers. Its guiding principle is to balance the short- and long-term needs of electricity users while developing a sustainable system.
• Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE). ACTE is a not-for-profit association established to provide executive-level global education and peer-to-peer networking opportunities. Membership spans all of business travel, from corporate buyers to agencies to suppliers, and accords all sectors equal membership. ACTE serves more than 6,000 executives in 50 countries.
• Green Lodging News will also be represented as a Partner in the Green Key room.
Green Key Benefits Highlighted
“The purpose of the Green Key room will be to emphasize the various benefits that Green Key membership provides,” says Walter Willett, director of business development for HAC.
Conference attendees will also have an opportunity to preview an Energy Innovators Workshop that HAC has put together. The workshop will be held in up to eight cities throughout Canada in 2008.
The HAC Conference has long provided lodging industry executives, managers and suppliers with an outstanding opportunity to hear about current topics and network with high-profile hospitality experts. Registration is open to members and non-members of HAC.
Go to HAC for more conference information.
Glenn Hasek can be reached at editor@greenlodgingnews.com.
