ANALYSIS Sustainable Events Summit information now online

All of the knowledge and data which was shared at the recent Sustainable Events Summit is now available to access free online. This includes more than 50 practical tips from the day, a free sustainable events guide, and the complete BS 8901 compliance documentation for the event. All the information can be found at www.seventeenevents.co.uk by following the link in the Latest News section. 
 
The second Sustainable Events Summit took place on 22 May at One Wimpole Street, London. Some 150 delegates gathered to hear from sustainable event experts on best practice, latest trends and new techniques to help make their events greener. The focus of the day was on practical action, and provided delegates with achievable steps to make their events more sustainable.
 
The summit was hosted by journalist Lucy Siegle from The Observer newspaper and BBC’s The One Show. She introduced a varied range of panels, including keynote addresses from David Stubbs, head of sustainability for LOCOG, and Pat Mandeville from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport.

Other speakers included representatives from The Met Office, the 2010 Ryder Cup, Virgin Trains, Wembley Stadium, Amnesty International and The Guardian newspaper. Key industry figures spoke from Logistik, MCI, Jack Morton Worldwide, White Light and Seventeen Events, who also organised the summit.
 
The final panel session of the summit focused on BS 8901, and highlighted the confusion that sometimes surrounds the standard. By publishing it compliance documentation online, Seventeen hopes to demystify the sustainable event management standard.
 
“We’re really pleased with the way the summit ran, especially the level of interaction generated between the speakers and the high-profile audience,” said Andrew Williams, managing director of Seventeen Events.

“This wasn’t a normal, passive conference where delegates sit around and are spoken to – there was a real sense of purpose through the whole day, driven by our focus on practical action. I hope that by being transparent with the information we collated in the run up to the summit, we can persuade other organisers that sustainability will benefit their businesses.”
 
Another highlight was an introduction to social networking site Twitter, from industry experts Mike Fletcher and Peter Kerwood. The pair demonstrated some of the sustainable applications of Twitter and highlighted interesting people to follow to keep up to date with green issues.
 
Feedback from the summit is now being collated and more events are planned soon.