Event Marketer Spring 2022 - 63

TEAM
CAPTAIN
" Cisco has committed to
reaching net zero across all
scopes of emissions by 2040,
and we, the events team,
want to support that. I want
the benefits of our processes
to account for how Cisco is
going to achieve that goal.
The world is telling us it's
time to do something more
meaningful and purposeful. "
ple. Six years after that launch, Sapiz was part
of what you might call the " original pivot "
when she flipped that event back to in-person
in only 18 weeks.
" In order for you to bring a program of
that scale together, you need a team that is
absolutely hyper-focused on a single outcome.
And that was not just an incredible
leadership lesson for me, it taught me resilience, "
she says.
The digital pivot of the pandemic
opened the door to more valuable data, and
Sapiz wants to keep up that momentum and
reach. Looking forward, she says her teams
are not settling on one definition for hybrid.
Rather, they are looking at four or five different,
multi-layered models.
" We don't want to leave behind the tools
we've acquired. We will absolutely continue
to deploy the learnings, " she says. " The
challenge and the opportunity are: You're
not getting double the budget, your teams
are not doubling in size, and so how do you
organize your teams in a way that you can
deliver the best in-person experiences that
your customers expect from you and, at the
same time, fulfill an online presence that
captures the richness of the in-person event
eventmarketer.com
for an audience that may not come to you. "
Given the latest global climate studies
and recent world events, including historic,
deadly February flooding in Petropolis, near
her hometown of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Sapiz
says the commitment to sustainability in this
next chapter is critical. And while many organizations
struggle with setting goals, Cisco
has a long history of sustainable practices it is
constantly building on.
One such program is a full-scale food
donation program developed with MGM
in 2016-an industry first. Cisco redirected
2,600 pounds of event food waste from
landfills to feed those in need in the local
community. The program is now offered to
all MGM customers interested in participating.
Recent initiatives have included a partnership
with Tentree Climate for the virtual
Cisco Impact in 2021. Cisco planted trees
for each virtual attendee, and in combination
with other efforts, neutralized 100 percent of
the production impacts of the show.
Over the last two years, the team has
delved into research that demonstrates how
digital events, and the lack of in-person
events, have had a " profound " and positive
impact on the environment.
" As we return to in-person events, we
have to double-down on policies, protocols
and guidelines that we put forward for ourselves
to meet in order to continue the progress
that was gained over the last two years, "
Sapiz says. " I take that very seriously, and I
actually have created an organization that
runs across all our programs, and
we are going to measure that progress
on a QBR basis. And there
will be goals to meet. "
She wants to see the industry
look at sustainability pragmatically,
as it would establishing
KPIs. Event marketers have to
decide how to measure impact,
whether it's in carbon footprint
reduction, waste reduction, or
working with exhibit houses on
the materials used or establishing
guidelines around giveaways.
" We
have to recognize that we made incredible
progress by holding back, even though
it was unwanted, " Sapiz says of the past two
years. " Now that we are coming back, we have
to be even more careful about not forgetting
some of these ground rules. "
Beyond sustainability, her team is also
working to normalize health and safety,
knowing those protocols will ultimately
influence whether attendees return to in-person
or not.
" We have to make this a very normal part
of our operating processes, that we account
for, not just budgetary, but for the skills and
teams that are dedicated to health and safety, "
she says. " We need to help people feel comfortable
again as they come together, and it's
our responsibility to make that experience
feel right. "
We're feeling it, Sapiz, and your leadership
of our Dream Team.
SPRING 2022 EVENT MARKETER
63
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Event Marketer Spring 2022

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