Event Marketer Spring 2022 - 35

4. INCORPORATE ECO-FRIENDLY
SIGNAGE AND EXHIBIT MATERIALS
Signage and exhibit materials have historically
been responsible for a significant
amount of event waste, but the tides are
turning as brands take a harder look at
their ecological impact. Take a cue from the
array of event marketers that are now either
reusing signs and exhibit items, or incorporating
ones built with recyclable and/or
biodegradable materials (hint: paper beats
plastic). Some are also reducing their event
signage overall, opting for quality over
quantity without compromising attendees'
ability to navigate the experience.
5. REDUCE MEDICAL WASTE
The pandemic has created
a tsunami of medical
waste, from masks and
other forms of PPE,
to Covid test kits, to
vaccine vials-and
the majority of it
ends up in the trash. For event marketers
that are distributing or utilizing some of
these materials as part of their health and
safety protocols at events, it's worth taking
the World Health Organization's advice,
and looking for eco-friendly packaging,
reusable PPE and/or PPE made from recyclable
or biodegradable materials wherever
possible. Also keep an eye out for vendors
that recycle medical waste, not just dispose
of it. Like TerraCycle, a waste management
company that operates in 22 countries and
specializes in recycling hard-to-recycle
materials at events, restaurants and beyond.
6. ADD A CARBON OFFSET FEE
TO REGISTRATION
It's becoming fairly common practice for
brands to purchase carbon offsets that
reduce the carbon footprint of their events.
The idea is to put money towards a project
or initiative that helps the planet (like planting
trees) to compensate for actions that
contribute to harming the environment
(like air travel to an event). But the cost of
these offsets is rising. One idea to tackle the
growing expense? Add all or part of the carbon
offset price to registration fees, and use
it as an opportunity to introduce attendees
to your broader sustainability efforts. You
could also make the fee voluntary-as more
and more attendees become conscious of
eventmarketer.com
their own environmental impact, plenty
will opt-in.
7. DEVELOP A GREEN
TRANSPORTATION STRATEGY
which was digital and very well-received, "
says Jackie James, group director at World of
Concrete. " We decided we'll mail it twice-
we'll make it the pre-show planner and
we'll make it the online [guide]. Everything's
connected; it's all linked. That has worked
very well and we no longer print 60,000
publications for handout, and distribution
bins and such. "
Even if attendees aren't hopping on planes
to come to your live experience, there's typically
a fair amount of travel involved in
getting to, from and around larger events.
Group transportation is key to reducing an
event's environmental impact in this arena.
When implemented
efficiently,
buses,
rideshares and shuttles that run at specific
hours are viable options (with bonus points
for using electric or hybrid vehicles), as is
encouraging attendees to walk or utilize
mass transit-and providing them with pertinent
scheduling and accessibility information
ahead of time to make the process
hassle-free. You could even incentivize the
use of public transportation and ridesharing.
Another fun option for a more sustainable
transportation strategy is utilizing
bicycles, whether it's pedicabs or bike-share
programs.
8. TRANSFER PRINTED MATERIALS
TO THE EVENT APP
Events are often supported by an app that
helps attendees navigate the experience. So
why not ditch printed event materials and
bring it all to the app? It's a straightforward
way to reduce paper waste by a considerable
amount, and gives attendees access to all of
the event info they need with a few taps of
their smartphone. If you do go this route,
ensure the transition is user-friendly. That
was the strategy for the 47th annual World
of Concrete trade show this year. Organizers
completely did away with printed
materials and put all pertinent information
in the event app, all without disorienting
attendees.
" We started using a pre-show planner
that we'd always had just prior to the show,
9. ADD A SUSTAINABILITY
CLAUSE TO YOUR RFP
Before selecting partners, particularly the
venue, consider adding a sustainability
clause to your RFP that ensures all parties
will work to build a more environmentally-friendly
event-because they'll be contractually
obligated to. The clause could
include any number of sustainability specifications,
from eliminating all single-use
plastics to requiring that event items be
purchased in bulk to using products that
come without individual packaging, like
bathroom soap. Energy-saving components
could also be part of the deal, like ensuring
the venue maximizes use of its HVAC system
or uses natural daylight to cut back on
electricity.
10. OFFER ENERGY-SAVING
EXPERIENCES
When it comes to sustainability,
the beauty
of
experiential
marketing is that
there are a number
of creative ways to
get attendees actively
contributing to a
greener event while simultaneously
participating in an activation. An industry
go-to has been incorporating kinetic floors
into events, which use the energy from
attendees' movement to power certain elements
of the experience.
Take Mercedes, which offered an interactive
energy-harvesting pathway at two
of its Mercedes-EQ Experience pop-ups
last fall. Attendees were invited to walk
across kinetic tech floor tiles that generated
reusable clean energy. Another option:
plus-up your wellness strategy by installing
treadmills or stationary bikes that use participants'
steps or pedal strokes to produce
clean electricity.
-Kait Shea
SPRING 2022 EVENT MARKETER
35
http://www.eventmarketer.com
Event Marketer Spring 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Event Marketer Spring 2022
