One of the most visible wastes at conferences and tradeshows are the piles of brochures, information sheets, reports and presentation details.
After attendees are done lugging them around all day and pick the few pieces of information they need form them, they'll end up anywhere from the event floor to the trash, unless of course the event location has recycling services.
Media company BDMetrics is looking to help cut down on those materials, as well as lighten the load for conference attendees with its new
Virtual Totebag program.
When exhibitors and event hosts sign up with the program, they set up codes that correspond with specific vendor or presentation materials. All attendees have to do to get that information is use a cell phone and text the code to receive and download the materials.
BDMetrics tested the program out at last week's International Sign Expo, where attendees requested 461 materials from four pilot exhibitors and 37 conference sessions.
Along with cutting down on printed materials, there are plenty of other ways for events to green up, and the
Green Meeting Industry Council recently launched its
Green Meetings Portal, an online depository of news, tips and case studies, to share those methods.
The information currently on the site comes from the 2009 Greening the Hospitality Industry Conference, and the Green Meeting Industry Council expects to add information from at least a dozen other events in the coming months.
Event papers - CC license by mackenzienicole and Benjamin Chun
