AS THE ‘GO GREEN’ MESSAGE moves to the mainstream, companies must adhere to a basic level of compliance, and events are under particular scrutiny, with legal guidelines changing every year. “Staying on top of these guidelines is the best way to avoid pitfalls in this area,” says Nicola Handley, head of events, UK retail and business banking corporate affairs, at Barclays Bank. She says the corporate social responsibility (CSR) theme is still important for events, despite some claims that it “fell out of fashion”. Handley says that when event companies are pitching for business, “make sure you ask how they are different and what they can offer that others can’t, in terms of sustainability”. Meanwhile, for corporates that are keen to put a solid plan in place for sustainability,
DRP’s Dale Parmenter advises going down the route of independently accredited certification against environmental management standards, such as ISO 14001. “This provides you with a
solid and legislation-compliant strategy and system,” he says. “The PR benefits are obvious, but much more importantly than that, you are acting as a morally responsible business with a real commitment to the reduction of your impact on the environment.” A new global sustainability standard for events, ISO 20121, used by the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) during its planning for the 2012 Olympics, launched in June this year. The standard, developed following the success of event sustainability management
system British Standard BS 8901, comprises a framework for events that helps planners reduce costs, carbon emissions and waste. EDF Energy’s marketing communications manager, Shayne Rees, says the Olympics has been a big factor for EDF and the events industry in general, increasing the profile of sustainability. He says that simple measures can make a big difference, advising MICE planners to re-use signage, source
local staff, cut transportation and use emails instead of paper. “For EDF it has been a company-wide focus, with cycling schemes and a commitment to reducing waste,” he says. Parmenter adds that using smart energy-meters on equipment can save MICE planners significant sums. “We utilise all these programmes while also donating any leftover food at events to the charity Fare Share,” he says.
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BUDGETING
FOR CORPORATE PLANNERS, the prevalent budgeting trend is to cut – despite popular myth. “The claims of big budget events in the financial industry are exaggerated,” says Lloyds Banking Group head of group events, Karen Sawyer. “We’re constantly looking at new ways to cut costs.” She advises corporate event planners to look closely at the event agencies they are using and decide if the work could be done in-house instead. BCD’s Matthew Wall, however, says that agency experience
can be critical. He says planners need to ensure not only are they covering all the nuts and bolts of event expenditure but that they are on top of all the other factors that can affect the final budget. “Do your venue costs include VAT? Are you able to reclaim any VAT post-event for programmes held overseas? Can your agency reclaim any commission from the venue? It’s important to scrutinise contracts to ensure that there are no missing elements,” he says. He adds that outdoor venues often do not include power
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and sanitation in the price, and paying extra for car parking or cloakrooms is commonplace. PJ Mitchell, director of business development at ATP Event Experts, meanwhile, says the average two-week turnaround demanded by corporates often doesn’t give enough time for the “mould-breaking” idea or the proper budgetary planning required. “Please let us have the budget early, or at least a guideline, otherwise you can’t tell us we haven’t won a pitch because we are ‘over budget’,” he says. DRP Group’s Dale Parmenter agrees that allowing enough time for a project when budgeting is vital. “Events are a fluid working project so time can sometimes be an issue. It could take longer for certain elements of the event to be completed – for example, pre- event registration taking longer than expected. We find that a contingency pot attached to the budget helps – it’s a small percentage that can be used for any last-minute changes or
additions to help deliver without going over budget.” For Cievents, the biggest
budgetary pitfalls are the ancillary costs, such as service charges and variations in VAT throughout different parts of Europe. “There is sometimes a breakdown of venue costs provided, but it can be unclear which have VAT added and which don’t,” says Cievents’ Nikki Alexander. “It’s always a good idea to get a breakdown of costs and specify what it needs to include. A number of other hidden costs can occur on a venue-by-venue basis as there is no standardised format.” Parmenter recommends using a venue-sourcing specialist, such as Thevenuepot. “They help to uncover these issues as they have great knowledge of what we need to deliver at an event. For example, power can sometimes be an additional charge in a venue, and this may not initially be made clear. By using Thevenuepot, we get a more detailed breakdown of costs for each venue with no nasty surprises.” ■