At a point in my life I was a National Sales Manager for a Large Hotel Chain based in Texas. Part of my job required that I attend tradeshows on a regular basis and I did. I attended about 10 per year. Apart from 3-5 days of mind numbing chatter between buyers and sellers another thing I hated was the waste generated at every show I attended. It was and IS incredible.
Forget the carbon footprint of the convention center itself with it’s miles and miles of open, air conditioned and heated spaces. Look at the footprint of the convention. Each attendee flying around the country or the world to attend. Shipping plastic booths around the world and the country and shipping billions of convention freebies from show to show only to give them away to attendees who then stuff their luggage full and ship it home only to throw it quickly away. Wondering all the while, “why did I carry that cheap plastic screwdriver halfway across the world?”. All that and don’t forget the waste at the hotels where they stay.
Embarassingly, I am guilty of all of the above. However, to my credit, I quit! After a year and a half I just couldn’t take it anymore and left that world. Sure I miss seeing cities all over the world and the big parties at the Hard Rock, but I don’t miss the waste. It was ridiculous.
So what brought on this rant? An article I came upon today that covered just this topic and the things conventions everywhere are doing to green the operation. From the article: “We have started the process,” Ruben said. “(The demand for) recycling, for green meetings, is the most important driver that’s (pushing) the industry to change. You’re no longer viewed as unusual if you adopt green practices; you’re seen as being ahead of the curve.” I put that last sentence in bold. Why? Because I find it funny. It is like they used to be afraid of being seen as different in the past, but now it is ok to be different. Are we caving to peer pressure? Shouldn’t it just be because it is the right thing to do?
In all seriousness, I am very happy to see that these changes are being adopted and while I know it is being done for financial reasons more than just because it needed to be done, I am happy that it is being done at all. Being a salesman I know that while the internet can do a lot of things for us, conventions bring a face-to-face element to the business that will never go away. It is necessary.
I recently learned that the Outdoor Retailers convention here in Salt Lake City has adopted many green practices to lighten their own footprint and i am going to try and apply for a press pass to see them for myself. If they accept a little ol’ blogger like me I will tell you all about it. If they don’t, well, I won’t….
