At the moment I am proofing stories that will appear in the August/September issue of Facility Manager magazine. Maybe because it is the VenueConnect--Annual Conference & Trade Show issue, but it seems that all the writers are truly putting on their "Sunday best" and have engaged various facets of sustainability as their topic.
Sometimes I feel as if I am on a sustainability overload when I am proofing articles for the magazine. It seems that not an issue goes by without at least one article on this timely topic making its way into the publication. Just when I think there is nothing different I can read about sustainability, I am again proven wrong and find that there is always something more, something new, something thought-provoking about sustainability, greening or whatever phrase you use to call it.
Want thought-provoking? For a sneak preview, you will read this phrase in a wonderfully written Convention Center column that will appear in August/September: The fact is that while we may have made huge advancements in green meetings and facilities, the only entirely "sustainable" meetings are those that don't actually happen.
But before you think the writer is advocating doing away with meetings, let me tell you that you will find the full text of this story to be just the opposite with ideas on promoting a better understanding of the meetings industry and the value they deliver.
I hear venue manager after venue manager discuss the state of the industry and a common remark is that as human beings we have the inherent need to meet and congregate with fellow humans, whether that is at a trade show, convention, sporting event, concert, theater performance or anything else under the umbrella.
No, I don't ever see us becoming so "sustainable" that we just shut down meetings. We need to work smarter, though, in determining those face-to-face meetings that DO make sense and while we are at those ... well, let's put some of the myriad sustainable tips and hints that have appeared and will continue to appear in the pages of Facility Manager to good and practical use.