Plan Green 2011: We Planned, We Attended, We Conquered

Thursday February 24, 2011

We planned, we attended, we conquered.

On Wednesday, February 16, 2011 we did it again! What did we do exactly you ask? Well once again local and regional businesses and caterers together took a step toward making our community a greener place. This year's Plan Green Conference and Vendor Showcase proved to be yet another step in a positive direction toward making UC Davis and all of its partners' businesses a greener place.

Sustainability is an issue that the world is tackling, and here in Davis, California that is no exception. Plan Green 2011 is a conference and tradeshow put on by UC Davis Conference and Event Services annually to promote the basic principles of R4 (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Rebuy) and to promote establishing better sustainable practices for our businesses.

At this year's Plan Green Conference and Vendor Showcase we had six speakers: Molly Milner from Small Blue Planet Events and Consultanting, Tom Huetteman, Associate Director in the Waste Division of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Southwest Regional Office, Lin King, the Program Manager for the UC Davis Waste Reduction and Recycling Program under the Office of Environmental Stewardship and Sustainability, Andrew Larsen, art director for UC Davis Repro Graphics, Dean Parker, Executive Facilities Director of the Peppermill Spa Resort Casino, and last but not least, Danielle Lee, Sustainability Manager for UC Davis Dining Services. Each speaker touched on the different areas in the event planning industry that we can become more sustainable in. From facilities, recycling, printing, and more, each speaker was able to provide helpful tools for all of our great attendees to take back to their businesses and implement.

This year's tradeshow was a success once again, bringing organizations from as far as Long Beach and as locally as Downtown Davis. Vendors, caterers and attendees, chatted and snacked on some delicious food on what turned out to be rain free afternoon. The atmosphere of the tradeshow was pleasant again with all of the great vendors coming from as near as Downtown Davis to as far as Southern California. UC Davis CES would like to give a big thank you to all of our vendors and caterers this year and a special thank you to: UC Davis Repro Graphics, Ink Monkey Graphics, and Screaming Squeegee for being the 2011 Plan Green sponsors. *

Now that you all got the scoop on this year's Plan Green Conference and Vendor Showcase, we hope if you weren't able to make it this year, you make it out to the next one! And to all of those that participated this year, a big THANK YOU from CES, we couldn't make the event a success without you!

*Interested in partnering with UC Davis Conference and Event Services? Email Katrina Evans at kdevans@ucdavis.edu for more information!

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!