"It's important to walk the Corporate Social Responsibility walk as well as talk the CSR talk" states ICCA CEO Martin Sirk, "but it's equally important to remain focused on your event's core objectives, which in our case means delivering concrete business advantages to our members".

This year's ICCA Congress takes place from 27 to 31 October at the Royal Cliff Beach Resort and PEACH convention complex in Pattaya, Thailand, one of the most environmentally conscious venues anywhere.

The Royal Cliff was one of the first hotels in Asia to construct  its own wastewater treatment plant back in 1973, and today it holds the ISO 14001 environmental management certification and the Thai Ministry of Natural Resources & Environment's "Environmental Impact Assessment Monitoring Award".

The ICCA Congress itself has a range of CSR related topics on its agenda alongside the traditional Congress diet of cutting-edge sales and marketing topics, strategic discussions on the future direction of the international meetings industry, business leads exchanges and high level networking.

The topic "Corporate Social Responsibility and the Meetings Industry" is included in the education programme. CSR is the hot topic under discussion in all areas of the global economy, and is taken seriously within the meetings industry as well.

Respected Asian tourism leader Renton de Alwis focused on a case study of sustainable development in his home country of Sri Lanka, and our panel of ICCA experts will cover case studies and a framework for building CSR into general business planning.

Ranging from the steps needed to create a sensible, strategic environmental policy to how to help deserving local charities either as a local business or through the impact of the conventions organised, these are issues that will increasingly affect every ICCA member.

"Many ICCA members are innovators and leaders on this subject, both in the venue and meetings management sectors, and we aim to spread best practice and new ideas throughout our membership, rather than taking a "top-down" approach", says Martin Sirk.

"We'll be raising awareness of the challenges facing disabled delegates, discussing the business advantages of having a comprehensive environmental policy, and hearing from our Thai hosts about some of their major sustainable tourism related projects. We will also be carefully monitoring the impact of our own event" says Sirk.

As well as continuing such standard ICCA Congress practices as recycling congress bags, badges and lanyards, and providing all educational session materials online, delegates will have the opportunity to participate in local tree planting and join in a charity golf tournament whose proceeds will go towards supporting a local orphanage.

Water coolers will cut down on plastic waste, excess food will be turned into bio-fertilizer, and additional paper will be cut by making extensive use of the handheld "Spotme" networking device to carry out instant delegate satisfaction surveys.