Skift Take
In this video from the Skift Meetings Forum 2023, we hear from senior vice president of convention sales and strategies at New Orleans & Company, Stephanie Turner, and chief commercial officer of the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, Tim Hemphill, about the role destination marketing organizations (DMOs) have to play in helping event planners meet their sustainability goals.
This content was created collaboratively by New Orleans & Company and Skift’s branded content studio, SkiftX.
In this video:
- How to unlock local sustainability efforts. With sustainability now such a key metric of success for both event planners and attendees, DMOs can build a bridge to grassroots sustainability programs on the ground. For example, New Orleans & Company have developed a dedicated recycling initiative for Mardi Gras. They can also connect event organizers to other sustainability initiatives like Glass Half Full, which recycles glass into sand for coastal restoration, and an oyster shell recycling program. As part of this program, small groups of volunteers can participate in coastal restoration using strategically placed oyster shells.
- What convention centers can do to measure sustainability. Large-scale events can involve huge volumes of food and other waste — but it doesn’t have to be this way. Hemphill talks about his 40-year-old convention center’s new LEED Gold certification, the first convention center in the world to meet the new V. 4.1 standard. To achieve this, the team incorporated sustainability into a $500m capital improvement plan — the outside park was designed with sustainability elements such as bioswales and rain gardens, for example. The tools used to measure the center’s waste and energy usage are now available for event organizers on an individual event level, with the convention center providing a full report after an event.
- Why sustainability starts with the RFP. Turner advises event organizers interested in sustainability to start asking questions from the point of the RFP process — in particular, “What is happening in your community?” and, “How can our attendees participate?” She said, “You’d be surprised at how these activities add up to move us forward in the sustainability front globally. We don’t have to wait for the next big-budget line item. There are a lot of things happening in cities across America that our customers can bring forward in their program.” For example, the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center involves a director of sustainability in the event planning process from the start.
The name for New Orleans’ destination brand, “Built to Host,” signals much more than showing the world a good time. As the definition of hospitality widens to mean not only throwing a party, but also offering visitors ways to connect with what’s most important to them, destination marketing organizations (DMOs) are stepping up as partners in the planning and execution of the sustainability goals of meeting and event planners.
In this video from the Skift Meetings Forum 2023, we hear from senior vice president of convention sales and strategies at New Orleans & Company, Stephanie Turner, and chief commercial officer of New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, Tim Hemphill, in conversation with Skift Meetings branded content editor, Angela Tupper. They share how working with DMOs can allow you to create an event that resonates with a new generation of attendees who want to feel connected to the destination and its sustainability efforts.
This content was created collaboratively by New Orleans & Company and Skift’s branded content studio, SkiftX.
October 5th, 2023 at 10:30 AM EDT
