An RCMA member organization—the Unitarian Universalist Association—has won a prestigious international award for the “greening” of its meetings. IMEX, the worldwide exhibition for incentive travel, meetings, and events, bestowed its 2008 IMEX Green Meetings Silver Award on the UUA.

The award—announced at the IMEX show in April in Frankfurt, Germany—acknowledges meeting planners and suppliers “committed to delivering environmentally friendly meetings and demonstrating tangible outcomes.”

The August 2007 issue of Religious Conference Manager chronicled how the UUA’s meeting planner, Jan Sneegas, has devoted herself to greening not only her meetings, but those of other meetings as well.

Sneegas, the sole religious meeting planner serving on the board of the Green Meeting Industry Council, said in the article: “The time is now for religious groups to be involved in the greening of meetings. It’s so in line with the values that most religious groups espouse. It’s the right thing to do.”

For more on the UUA’s award-winning efforts, click here.

Also honored by IMEX:

• Scandic Hotels, with the 2008 IMEX Green Meetings Gold Award.
• The Malta Tourism Authority, with the Green Exhibitor Award, which is given to the exhibitor who spends considerable time and resources to make its booth environmentally friendly.
• Fairmont Hotels and Resorts, with the inaugural Green Supplier Award, developed to recognize environmental excellence and innovation within the meetings industry.