sustainable events

A Greener Festival announce 2017 winners!

A Greener Festival announce 2017 winners!
  • 34 festivals and events across 12 countries awarded the prestigious Greener Festival Award
  • First ever winners The Greener Event Award, launched in 2017.
  • Awards presented at Eurosonic Noorderslag, Netherlands.

Free drinking water for event attendees: how to do it?

Free drinking water for event attendees: how to do it?

We work on the principle that every person drinks at least 1 bottle of water. One bottle is half a litre. So for a 10,000 capacity festival we are looking at least at 5,000 litres. At Electric Daisy, with 145,000 attendees, we poured roughly 1 million bottles: or 500,000 litres of water over 3 days. 

The ethics of sustainable event management

A few weeks ago I taught sustainable event management to a group of students. Very quickly we were talking about different waste streams, how many tents have been left behind at music festivals this year, and why bins aren’t emptied regularly. The thing is though… sustainability is much more than just the environment.

It makes sense though to think of waste streams when you hear about sustainable event management. It’s what we can see; it’s what we can touch. But event organisers should place equal emphasis on the social and economics aspects of sustainability, according to a report from Positive Impact.

What that means is that on a social level you look at the impact your event has on the local community. Whether you can educate and raise awareness among your audience about certain issues and, for example, health and safety regulations at your event. The list goes on but these are just some concerns you can think of.

From an economic point of view you need to treat your event as a business so you want a positive ROI as you want your event to succeed and grow. You can be very aware of the environment but if your event doesn’t make any money there’s no longevity. And what is the added value of your event to the [local] economy? There are some great examples here and here.

Technology can also help your event when pursuing sustainable event management. At Event Tech Live I only had to scan my badge at stands to receive more information, rather than them handing out promotional items. Collecting data instead of waste… win-win!

What it takes to create a (sustainable) festival

Rocking the Daisies took place last weekend. This South African festival has been promoting sustainability since its inception. Craig Bright and Brian Little have been building the festival over the last decade. In January this year they gave an interview to South Africa's Entrepreneur Magazine. An interview every aspiring event planner should read. You can read the article here

To get an overview of what sustainable event management means for Rocking the Daisies you should read the article from BizCommunity. The article provides a great overview of the festival's sustainable initiatives. I hope these initiatives will inspire you!

 

My workshop Sustainable Event Management in Holland

Together with the Event Safety Institute in the Netherlands I am organising a two-day workshop about Sustainable Event Management. It will take place in Holland on the 18th and 19th of January and yes, it will be in Dutch. 

This workshop is for event planners, festival organisers, event suppliers, and event licensors. The aim of the workshop is to provide you the tools to make your organisation and your events more sustainable. 

You can find more information here. All info is in Dutch but feel free to contact me of you have any questions.

Sustainable Events Summit to take place in London

The Sustainable Events Summit will take place on Monday 21 November. According to Conference News the summit will take place at 30 Euston Square in London. You can read the full article here.  

This conference will present the findings of a research study about how global brands view sustainability. 

Early bird tickets cost £130 + VAT and standard tickets go for £160 (+ VAT). You can find more info on www.sustainableeventssummit.com. 

How a vendor policy can save your event money

How a vendor policy can save your event money

Do check that the products you allow on site comply with your vendor policy. I’ve been at one event where one vendor was temporarily shut down because they used plastic utensils. How do you deal with this? And what are the consequences for you and the vendor? Again, this requires planning. 

Are you passionate about event planning?

Are you passionate about event planning?

Getting a kick out of seeing all those visitors at my events is what got me into event planning. Looking at the students from last week’s workshop I could tell they had that same desire to organise and plan great events. To get that kick. Over the years I got that same kick out of teaching. Being able to get through to someone, to make them think, and to some degree (I hope) inspire them.

Waste Management At Music Festivals

Waste Management At Music Festivals

In a waste management plan you identify how you will deal with waste and the different waste streams at your event. There are different forms of waste. You can think of rubbish, air pollution, noise pollution, soil pollution, and sewage. When creating a good waste plan you should look at the layout and logistics of your event site.

Festival Audiences: The Eco Tent is Here!

Festival Audiences: The Eco Tent is Here!

Jakob De Proft has written this week’s blog for The Event Tutor. Jakob lives next door to one of Europe’s biggest music festivals, Rock Werchter, in Belgium. The number of tents left behind at this festival each year inspired him to create the most eco-friendly tent ever made. This is Jakob’s blog about the Fling Tent. 

Social media: a blessing and a curse

Social media: a blessing and a curse

This morning I went to a workshop organised by the Chamber of Commerce here in Brighton. I thought it be a good opportunity to figure out what the Brighton Chamber of Commerce is doing and what they can do for me.  Plus to pick up some new ideas about social media. The workshop this morning was titled: “How to run successful competitions on social media”.

I'm on my way to Bonnaroo...

So this weekend I'm at Bonnaroo to conduct research. The same research   I did at Lightning in a Bottle a few weeks ago. What do attendees think of the sustainable initiatives at the festival? Does the audience care about green initiatives or not? What do they find important? What should a festival's focus be on? Interesting stuff!

The power of solar panels at events

Last Saturday the Dutch community in San Francisco (USA) celebrated their national holiday, Kingsday. The Dutch celebrate the birthday of King Willem Alexander with parties and events. A small family festival was organised in Golden Gate Park. Dutch food, Dutch music, Heineken and a lot of Dutch people... 

Green Mary and Sol Solutions were contracted to make the event more sustainable. Orange goes green so to speak. Sol Solutions is the provider of portable solar power generators and at Dutch Kingsday they powered the DJ-stage. I've interviewed Sephyr Peling from Sol Solutions and asked him how it all works. 

For more information about sustainable event management or workshops in greening your event visit www.eventtutor.com.