2011 GMIC Sustainable Meetings Conference

February 24, 2011

Earlier this week Conference and Event Services team members Ana Kitchen and Lina Layiktez traveled to Portland, Oregon to attend the 2011 GMIC Sustainable Meetings Conference. This event provided Ana and Lina with the knowledge to come back and put some insightful idea to work at UC Davis.

This year's GMIC Sustainable Meetings Conference featured a group of great speakers! The presentations by Richard Aaron from BizBash Media, Scott Hamlin from Looptworks, and Steven Ward from Doubletree Hotel Portland. These three speakers were able to hit three topics that were a must share for all our event planner out there!

Richard Aaron was able to talk about BizBash and about the trends and ideas that progressive event planners and designers are adopting in the planning of their projects. This segment was able to incorporate how decor, lighting, displays, floral and food have been renewed to fit into the green landscape. Here at UC Davis, we're always trying to make sure we're protecting the environment at our events, and after hearing Mr. Aaron's discussion on these ideas, we will be looking to implement some of the plans for decor, lighting, floral, and all the other event planning trends out there.

Scott Hamlin from Looptworks talked about how they up cycle pre-consumer excess materials into clothing and accessories for the urban/outdoor enthusiast. Mr. Hamlin focused on how being sustainable isn't just about recycling, but about reusing as well. It is important to remember that although we may not enjoy a certain product anymore, this doesn't mean that it isn't reusable. By reusing, we are able to reduce our waste significantly and spread the joy of our old materials that we no longer find useful for ourselves.

Last but not least, Ana and Lina attended the talk by Double Tree Portland Executive Chef Steven Ward. With a philosophy like F.L.O.S.S. (fresh, local, organic, seasonal, and sustainable), it was clear to see that even in the kitchen, professionals are looking for ways to help out the environment. By building relationships with local farmers, ranchers, and organic producers, Mr. Ward is able to build long last relationships in the community, and reduce waste by buying local; ultimately cutting down on carbon emissions, pesticides, and other hazardous materials found in our food.

After this great trip to Portland, OR, Ana and Lina have come back to the department with new and fresh ideas to spread to all of you great event planners out there! Being green is important to us, and we know it is important to all you readers out there as well. Keep an eye on our Blog and Facebook for more posts on great conferences we've attended and the latest tips and practices in the sustainability community. Plan Green!

Marketing, marketing, marketing

Everyone's hopping on that up and coming social media marketing bandwagon. It's an online marketing phase that figures to only expand in the coming years.

This leads us to a logical question: at what point do we stop? With "free" marketing at our finger tips through laptops, tablets and a variety of cellular devices, there surely needs to be an answer. Whether it's an event you are planning, or simply for your business, one definitely needs to ask that question. At UC Davis Conference and Events, we strive to share with you what we have to offer through various statuses, pictures and videos. We are extremely excited about the services we have to offer, and invite you to check out our promotional items as a way to get to know everything we have to offer. What have you heard about Mini G Dan?

Just a simple Friday reflection helps puts things in perspective sometimes, and what better way than a blog? As always, check out our website at http://events.ucdavis.edu/. Make sure to follow us on Facebook so you can be the first to hear about everything we do: http://www.facebook.com/ucdavisconferenceandeventservices

Plan Green: The Stretch Run

Happy Friday! Friday really should just be a holiday; talk about pleasing the masses. How nice does sleeping in, making a nice breakfast with some quality TV sound for three days a week instead of two? No point in dreaming, I suppose.

We here at Conference and Event Services do not fit the bill of these 3-day weekend desires. We are really excited to be planning what's shaping up to be a great event. On Wednesday, February 16th, join us for the annual Plan Green Showcase. With over 300 caterers and vendors planning to attend, collaborate with peers from all over and learn how to plan environmentally sustainable events. Think about if this was a New Year's resolution for 2011. How happy would Mother Nature be? More importantly, how happy would Al Gore be? Yeah, that's what we thought.

Jokes aside, the load-in times begin bright and early at 8am and the event will run until 1:30pm and take place in Freeborn Hall. If interested, make sure to check out our website and sign up before January 17th to pay our early bird fee of just $195! Be assured that there will be an extremely diverse crowd and much can be taken out of a wide scale event like this. We are ecstatic with the planning progress this far and simply tying up all the loose ends to make this showcase truly a great one.

Have a great weekend and try and stay warm through this (sad) winter weather!

HSMAI Affordable Meetings: Long Beach

Friday June 4, 2010

In the next couple weeks three members from our marketing staff: Katrina Evans, Ana Kitchen, and Lina Layiktez, will be headed down to Long Beach to participate in HSMAI's (Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International) Affordable Meetings tradeshow. In Long Beach, they will be able to participate in over 7 hours of educational sessions in which they'll be able to take part in over 20 relevant topics, access to marketing tools we'll be able to use in our department for the next year, and not to mention showcase UC Davis as one of California's premier event locations. The tradeshow will be held on the June 16-17, and if you're interested in participating as a vendor or event planner, click here for more information. If you're already planning on attending, we look forward to seeing you there! Make sure to stop by our booth and say hello!

Office Word of the Day: Consolidation

Friday November 13, 2009

With all of the consolidation going on through many departments within the University and with many organizations throughout Northern California, we encourage you to count on us to pick up the slack when it comes to your event planning needs. With 15 years of experience, we are here to lighten the load on an event that may cause you and your organization trouble. With our friendly event coordinators that have seen events of all shapes and sizes, we ask you to take a deep breathe and let us handle what we love to do. So the next time you think about how you are going to compensate for the shortage of people power in your office when you are planning an event, look no further than UC Davis Conference and Event Services. You can trust us, we're event coordinators.

We Tweet, Do You??

Friday November 6, 2009

With web 2.0 racing toward the finish line and passing the torch onto web 3.0, our department is wondering who out there is in the web 2.0 business like we are, and more specifically we want to know who has a Twitter account? We've been tweeting away for quite sometime and we have found great folks and have heard great facts about what is going on in our community, green practices, national news, and much more. So are any of you out there tweeting? We'd like to follow you if you're reading our blog because most likely we share the same interest. If you're a tweet, follow us! We look forward to reading your tweets!

The Scoop on Being Greener: Compost, Compost, Compost

Monday November 2, 2009

Hopefully after a safe and fun Halloween for everyone out there, it is still important to remember that we all have a social responsibility to make sure we also think about the environment as well. Remember all of those pumpkins you bought for decorations? Or your neighbors house that is littered with numerous amounts of pumpkins? You do? Great, because you can compost those! Pumpkins are 100% compostable and everyone out there should look into composting all those lanterns that are still lingering around the house. Simple directions to compost your pumpkins can be found here. And remember, a greener post-Halloween can help the environment just that much more!

The Scoop on Being Greener: Walking

Friday October 30, 2009

It's pretty simple and easy, and it should be a no brainer for most folks, but due to it's simplicity, it can be overlooked. Walking! The activity that took you months to learn as an infant is still extremely healthy for you, as well as the environment. With all of the pollutants that can come from automobiles, it is important to remember instead of driving down the street to visit your neighbor, you can always walk down the street to visit your neighbor. Walking provides you with great exercise, as well as, providing you with a beautiful scenary of your neighboorhood. While driving in a car, you may have overlooked certain places in your neighboorhood that you've never seen before, neighboors you've never met before! Take the time today to walk around your neighboorhood: great exercise and great environment.

A Sunny and Sustainable Day at UC Davis

Today is the 4th annual Campus Sustainability Vendor Fair held in our very own Quad! UC Davis is joining other colleges and universities from across the nation in exchanging knowledge on sustainability, and introducing students, staff, and faculty to environmentally friendly businesses. UC Davis, along with all our UC sister schools, are committed to Environmental Preferable Purchasing (also known as EPP). Our fair features vendors from HP, Xerox, and Davis-area favorite Dos Coyotes Border Cafe. To learn more about how you can practice EPP check out http://purchasing.ucdavis.edu/sustainability/index.cfm

Here at Conference and Event Services we support green events and sustainable living. If you're looking to hold a green event, look no further than Conference and Event Services!