Will all green events happen without hypocrisy

Green Schools Expo Uses ON24 saves tonnes of carbon

Environmental Design + Construction and Sustainable Facility magazines are presenting this week the Virtual Green Expo, a virtual event focusing on green schools, one of the largest construction sectors in the United States. The August 4 expo is being produced by BNP Media on the ON24 Virtual Show platform.

"Virtual events are inherently green, so of course a green expo should be conducted virtually," said Sarah Gorajek, BNP Media Online Events Manager. Attendees will hear from industry experts, earn continuing education credits, download white papers, network with peers and visit multiple suppliers… from their desktops. "Virtual 'travel' is inexpensive, fast and effective, an efficient way to reduce carbon footprints," Gorajek continued.

"We would describe the Virtual Green Expo as a green convention without hypocrisy," said ON24 CMO Denise Persson. "So often we hear about people having to fly to conventions that deal with environmental issues. It's a very inconsistent message."

According to statistics compiled by ON24, the typical virtual event with 2,300 participants reduces carbon emissions by some 3,300 tons; an estimated 17,000 trees would be needed to have a similar effect. In addition, the average number of pieces of paper saved by the use of digital documents at virtual events is 36,000 per show.

"Our state-of-the-art virtual expo brings a new dimension to the conference experience, and we're excited to be part of this innovation," Gorajek said. Specialized Virtual Green Expo webinars for high-performance K-12 and college/university buildings and educational facilities will address financing, operating, maintaining and cleaning a green school.

In honor of Earth Day earlier this year, the Virtual Edge Institute described the environmental impact of typical physical events:

• Carbon Emissions: On average, each attendee will fly 1,300 miles to attend an event, which contributes 528 pounds of CO2.
• Water Consumption: Attendees consume energy, water and other resources while staying at hotels. Most hotels consume 200 gallons of water per day for each occupied room.
• Waste Consumption: The typical convention attendee generates about 20 pounds of trash per day at a hotel, versus 4.6 pounds per day at home.

"Virtual events are simply greener," Persson concluded. "Virtual communication technologies allow companies to bring people together while reducing environmental impact."

Persson added, "We don't see virtual events ever completely replacing physical events. But even traditional physical events could be greener and extend their reach if they were to incorporate virtual components."

The Virtual Green Expo (#GreenExpo) will begin at 9:00 a.m. EDT August 4 and end at 4:00 p.m. For the full conference agenda and to register, go to http://www.TheVirtualGreenExpo.com.

Valere Tjolle
Valere Tjolle: Valere is editor of the Sustainable Tourism Report Suite 2011 Special Offers HERE