The Green Meeting Industry Council is pleased to announce the tremendous success of their "Greening the Hospitality Industry Conference" which took place October 5-7, 2005, in Metro Washington DC. Over 80 hospitality professionals convened to discover and discuss green meeting practices for meeting and event planners, hotel properties, convention and conference venues, and suppliers to the meeting and event industry.

Perhaps the most compelling part of the conference was the plenary working session focused on creating action items and goals for increasing sustainability in the hospitality industry. From this, GMIC established the next steps to integrate green meetings practices by committing to the follow tasks: establish a task force to identify key target audiences and develop appropriate messages for each; collect and disseminate case studies and personally compelling stories; and encourage members to initiate conversation within their affiliated organizations. Short, medium and long term goals were laid out for future guidance and direction.

Notable plenary and breakout sessions provided timely education on such topics as energy costs trends and impacts, green lodging programs, carbon offsets, hotel/non-profit collaborations and green meeting practices. In the words of one attendee, "I really came with a blank slate of knowledge and I learned a ton. Thank you!"

Key benefits and positive outcomes of the conference included the sharing of knowledge and resources, energizing consumer demand, identifying strong leadership to attract like-minded people, and coordinating efforts to have green meeting practices be mainstream behavior. Discussions during the conference indicated there is a need to identify motivating factors that will influence attitudes and behaviors of stakeholder groups. This includes developing an understanding of all aspects of the business, environmental and community case that support greener meetings.

For more information about the conference, including program, session presentations and the complete closing session proceedings, please visit our website at www.greenmeetings.info and look in the Conference section.

Green Meeting Industry Council

Green Meeting Industry Council

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