Sustainable Event Industry Conference to Feature Session on International Standard (ISO 20121)

CHICAGO - April 4, 2013 - PRLog -- In an effort to educate event industry professionals about the latest developments in sustainable event production standards, the Green Meeting Industry Council (GMIC) is hosting a session focused on ISO 20121 certification and compliance at their annual conference in Chicago, IL on Monday, April 8th.  The highlighted session will feature ISO 20121 expert Jane Fullerton-Smith (Australia) of Sustainable Event Solutions alongside green event industry leader Jaime Nack of Three Squares Inc. (TSI).  

Together, the presenters will provide an overview of the components of the ISO 20121 standard, popularized by the 2012 London Olympics, and a case study showing the standard in action.  The standard was developed by an international event industry consortium via the ISO process to inform and improve event management by incorporating an environmental management system approach. Unlike a “checklist” approach to “green events,” the standard outlines a process to help event organizers outline their sustainability objectives and to report the results of their efforts.  Fullerton-Smith will showcase an innovative new online platform, the SEMS Tool, designed to support event planners in reaching their ISO 20121 compliance.  Fullerton-Smith explained that, “the SEMS Tool guides event planners through the stages of demonstrating ISO 20121 compliance, including data collection and reporting.”

Nack’s presentation will allow attendees an insider’s view into sustainable event management by showcasing how the TSI team applied the ISO 20121 standard to the production of the Women In Green Forum, marking the first time in history that an American event organizer achieved conformity with the standard. Using SEMS as a measurement and data collection tool allowed the TSI team to document the wide range of event greening initiatives, including critical impact areas such as catering, décor, staging, conference materials and waste diversion systems. The completion of the rigorous and independent ‘2nd party’ audit and conformity assessment signified the opening of a new opportunity for North American events to demonstrate on the world stage that their events are on par with the international standard.

Although there are several green event standards, GMIC’s support of ISO 20121 and endorsement of the SEMS Tool as the premiere system for demonstrating compliance signals to the events industry that certifying sustainable event practices is here to stay.  Nack confirmed that “SEMS is the industry’s first online sustainable event management system tied to ISO 20121. This easy to use tool, built for event planners simplifies the certification process enabling any planner, event, venue or supplier to achieve this coveted accolade.”    

Interested in attending the Sustainable Meetings Conference?  

See http://www.gmicglobal.org for registration and agenda information.

For more information about Three Squares Inc., please visit http://www.threesquaresinc.com.

For more information about SEMS, please visit http://www.semstoolkit.com/?member_source=TSI. (http://www.semstoolkit.com/?member_source=TSI)