Brisbane Marketing Project Manager, Juliet Lally has used her AACB (Association of Australian Convention Bureaux) 2009 Scholarship prize to undertake a study of America’s “green” business events destinations.
As part of her scholarship, Ms Lally recently travelled to the United States to spend five days with Travel Portland learning about the city’s impressive range of green and sustainability initiatives.
Following that, Ms Lally spent three days in Denver attending the annual Green Meeting Industry Council’s (GMIC) Sustainable Meetings Conference.
Back in Brisbane, she said the trip had been an invaluable experience.
“The AACB Staff Scholarship is a wonderful initiative for Australian convention bureau staff and this was a fabulous opportunity to get creative and research an issue that’s of great interest to me,” said Ms Lally.
“Portland is doing an exceptional job of positioning itself as a green destination and the local business events sector is reaping huge benefits as a result."
“I’ve truly been inspired by Portland’s example – this is a city where parking meters are solar powered, city planners replaced a freeway with a park, and the meticulous synchronisation of traffic signals results in an annual savings of 17 million gallons of gasoline.”
While in Portland, Ms Lally met with representatives from Travel Portland’s Convention, Leisure, Marketing, Public Relations and Membership teams as well as industry partners including two leading hotels and the Convention Centre.
“Meeting so many passionate people both in Portland and at the GMIC conference in Denver was definitely a highlight of the trip,” she said.
“It was also great to see such a spirit of collaboration with a strong focus on knowledge sharing.
“A huge part of helping the whole industry to become more sustainable comes down to knowledge sharing. The Portland business events community and the GMIC conference were full of examples of competitors collaborating for the greater good of the industry and the environment!”
The AACB Annual Scholarship, now in its 14th year, is jointly sponsored by Business Events Australia, Qantas and the Association of Australian Convention Bureaux Inc.
A full report on Ms Lally’s study project will be lodged on the AACB website in due course.
Related Article:
