Digital Tools for Sustainable Events

• Event management applications can be used to help increase the efficiency of the planning and conducting of events in a more efficient manner than has been typically afforded by paper-based processes.

• Examples:

• Eventbrite is an event manager which helps in organizing the event and registering the event with ticket online and to manage the ticket online and to avoid the use of physical tickets.

• Cvent which is a software company that provides a complete event management with registration, marketing and more via online.

Organised virtual or hybrid events ensure that participants do not have to fly to another country or even to another city, and consequently, also eliminates the need for additional event-related structures that require carbon emissions.

Examples:

Zoom or Google Meet offer web conferencing facilities that enable one to carry out virtual meetings and webinars without physically being in the same room.

Hopin helps companies organize virtual and hybrid conferences by supporting live broadcasts, chat connect, and virtual booths.

Mobile apps are an excellent tool for boosting engagement and delivering information to users in real-time: no more brochures or reports on site.

Examples:

Other aspects of Whova’s product portfolio include event apps that offer events’ agendas, speaker profiles, interactive maps, and matching.

Attendify offers ready-to-use event apps that support communication and interaction between all the event participants. 

Technology serves to allow an individual to promote an event in an environmentally friendly way since they do not use printing and cut out materials to advertise.

Examples:

Mailchimp allows for the development of marketing e-mails used to announce events as well as share event updates.

With such tools organizers can easily access information on vendors that are environmentally and resource conscious.

Examples:

Sustainable vendor directories and service provider listing is available through GreenBiz Directory.

The organizers can rely on ECOVADIS supply chain sustainability platform to find environmentally friendly suppliers.

Similar to the group process, feedback tools are crucial for effective data gathering and processing.

Examples:

SurveyMonkey can provide for the designing and deploying of surveys to those potential participants.

Google Forms allows the individual to pick a free, simple online questionnaire/survey tool.

5.2 Interactive Exercise: Digital Tools for Social Sciences Research.

Those who take part in the FSE can show practical skills in applying different digital tools for sustainability aspects of events.

Introduction (10 minutes):

Before the participants are guided into the activities, a faciliator explains the different platforms.

Tool Exploration (30-40 minutes):

Participants are grouped into small groups and each group is allocated a different dimension or category to investigate in terms of digital tool.

It is recommended that participants should be asked to learn about their assigned tools’ fucntions, qualities, and its sustainability-related advantages.

Teams are provided with time for discussions and formulating a short presentation or a practical task showcasing the tool under their responsibility.

Presentation/Demonstration (20-30 minutes):

Each group writes a short description of their assigned tool and explains how the specific tool can foster sustainability in event management.

Reflection and Discussion (10 minutes):

Groups explains events management in the context of incorporating digital tools into the event management for sustainable events.

Conclusion (5 minutes):

Reflecting back on the activity, some points should be realized when it comes to the role of digital tools in making event management more sustainable. 

https://www.greens-efa.eu/en/article/event/green-tech-summit-europe-2023 

Background:

The GreenTech Summit, an annual conference focusing on sustainable technology and innovation, aimed to reduce its environmental impact while improving attendee experience and operational efficiency.

How does it work?

No paper: Cvent’s event management solutions were employed to help the organizers reduce the hassle associated with registration, ticketing, and communications with the attendees. In such a way, they eliminated the necessity to read paper tickets and agendas that were wasting paper resources.

Virtual platform: The virtual Green Tech Summit was run around Hopin platform. The success of the event was also achieved because the attendees were able to attend the event from their homes or offices which functioned to reduce the use of transportation.

Mobile App for Attendees: The Whova event app was chosen for the following reasons: to boost the attendee engagement and offer live updates. It also provided the service of reprinting programs and maps and also organizing agendas, bios of the speakers and the networking process.

Communication Tools: To market the event and share updates around the environment sustainably the organisers used Mailchimp and sent out email marketing campaigns. This aided in reaching a wider crowd as well as ensuring that environmental impacts that may occur from the use of physical post spells were eliminated.

Feedback Tools: Every person who attended the conference was asked to complete a survey through SurveyMonkey after the conference session is over. This enabled the organizers to gain the required insights in order to improve the event in the future without having to worry about paper waste that would be generated had feedback forms been used.

5.4 Results:

1. Reduced Carbon Footprint: One area where the GreenTech Summit scored is the reduction of carbon footprint; the addition of virtual components and elimination of many sheets of paper that would have been used were the Summit held traditionally.

2. Enhanced attendee experience: Participants were able to participate from anywhere in the world and felt more comfortable without the inconvenience of physical gatherings; they also had higher satisfaction from attending with the help of the mobile app.

3. Improved operational efficiency: Event management and real-time communication have been made easy through digital tools that do not consume much time like before.

Resources 

• Eventbrite. "Plan a Green Event." Eventbrite.

• SpotMe. "Sustainable Events." SpotMe.

• Eventible. "Learning Sustainability in Events." Eventible.

• Zkipster. "Event Management Software." Zkipster.

• Eventify. "Sustainable Event Ideas." Eventify.

• RideZum. "Environmental Commitment." RideZum.

• Mailchimp. "Create and Send Email Campaigns." Mailchimp.

• Hootsuite. "Manage Social Media Marketing Campaigns." Hootsuite.

• SurveyMonkey. "Online Surveys and Feedback." SurveyMonkey.

• Google Forms. "Create Surveys and Collect Responses." Google Forms.

Additional resources 

GreenBiz. "10 Tips for Planning a Sustainable Event." GreenBiz.

Procurement Tactics. "Sustainable Procurement Strategies." Procurement Tactics.

North Carolina State University. "Planning Sustainable Events." NC State Sustainability.

Event Industry News. "Top Tips for Planning a Sustainable Event." Event Industry News.

Food Rescue US. "Food Donation Guidelines." Food Rescue US.

Greenbuild International Conference and Expo. "Sustainability Initiatives." Greenbuild.