Mark your calendar—March 1 is the nomination deadline for the new IMEX–GMIC Innovation in Sustainability Award.
IMEX is taking its three green-focused awards and revamping the program into one new award that will “celebrate event professionals driving sustainability forward through innovation, collaboration, and idea sharing.” Apply as a meeting, incentive, or exhibition stakeholder team, including the planner, venue, and suppliers. The application must be based on a meeting held in the 2016 calendar year.
And the emphasis on teamwork is important. In a post on the IMEX Group blog, Mariela McIlwraith with the Green Meeting Industry Council—IMEX’s partner in developing the new award—explains, “Collaboration is the watch word here. It’s only through working as a wider team—with the event destination, suppliers, stakeholders and the wider community—that we can identify sustainability challenges and gain fresh and innovative insight into how these challenges can be addressed.”
The sustainability effort should itself be sustainable over time. McIlwraith says, “Careful planning and collaboration help to create solutions that deliver impact in the long term rather than a one-off. Ideally, sustainability programs should be built in such a way that they can be used time and time again—recycled if you will! Considering the event’s legacy and how to deliver this via education is crucial.”
To read more on the award criteria or to apply, visit the award nomination page.
The award will be presented at the Gala Dinner at final evening of IMEX in Frankfurt, Germany, May 16–18, 2017.
