The Green Meeting Industry Council, a national 501(c)(6) organization that serves as the voice of the green meetings movement in the U.S., has its first two chapters under development and has announced plans for its 2009 annual meeting.

The organization's new chapters-in-formation are in Atlanta and Chicago. Audrey Davies, The Home Depot, USA Inc., is heading up the Atlanta group along with board members Alesa McArthur, PRA; Evena Gekes, Axiom Meetings; Joe Salazarte, Cox Enterprise; Michael Hall, IHG; and Mary Jane Myers, Long Beach (Calif.) Area Convention & Visitors Bureau, based in Atlanta.

Leading the new chapter efforts in Chicago are Deborah Popely, Green Events Source; Julie Larson, McDonald's Corp.; Beth Bracco, Blue Plate Catering; and Rhonda Chesney, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts.

GMIC will host its annual Greening the Hospitality Industry Conference February 24-26 at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh. The Center is the only meeting venue to be awarded Gold LEED certification and is also the largest green certified center. The theme of the conference is “action=sustainability.” Tiered educational tracks for meeting planners and industry suppliers will be offered, including “future leaders” 101 tracks, hands-on experiential learning, and an expert “leaders” track in the field of green meetings management.

The leaders track is a new advanced learning series that will require participants to present individual projects and then collaborate on an action plan relating to the larger social issues that affect the meetings industry.

Let's Try This Again

In the November issue of CMI, the number of guest rooms for Solis The Palmyra Resort & Spa was listed incorrectly. The correct number of rooms is 299. CMI regrets the error.