Do you want to organise a more sustainable event?

Most people want to do the right thing and organise a more sustainable event. But they might struggle with where to start. In this THREE PART series, we’ll share the practical details of how we went about achieving high standards of sustainability at 1000xBetter. An event for an audience that cares passionately about our planet’s future (1,000 guests from the B Corp community).

We hope this may prompt some ideas for your next event. Learning from one another is the best way we can all improve.

Examine every element and ask – ‘do we really need this to achieve our purpose?’

It goes without saying, you need to understand the purpose of your event and your audience before you start. This is central to all decisions. OK, so let’s walk through 1000xBetter as an example.

The purpose of 1,000xBetter was:

• to celebrate, together, the milestone of reaching 1,000 B Corps in the UK
• to have the opportunity for B Lab to deliver a message to the B Corp community about what’s been achieved by the movement and aspirations for the future
• to re-inspire B Corps and energise the movement to create the change needed in our economy and society
• to have the opportunity to meet like-minded businesses all pushing in the same direction
• to showcase and use as many B Corps as possible

For many reasons, an evening party in central London was the perfect way to celebrate.

Technology is always to hand – but do we need it?

In our first meeting with B Lab, they were keen to have a presenter from B Lab in America. This would be a pre-recorded message, broadcast as part of the speeches on the night. All the other speakers were live. This pre-recorded video was going to be 5 minutes long in a 3-hour event. That’s less than 3% of the total time of the event. Bringing in screens for 1,000 guests has an impact. There’s transportation, energy, time and budget.

When most of us have a screen in our pocket – if a message needs broadcasting, there are other options. For example, send guests a pre or post-event video. It can inspire us on the journey to the event or it can be the uplifting post-event call to action. Having live presenters reacting and interacting with a live audience will help energise the movement; supporting our objectives. So we asked the question: ‘do we really need to transport kit and technicians, set up, use and remove multiple screens for a message that lasts 3% of the time?’ Together we agreed THE ANSWER WAS NO.

Making the most of your event space

We chose the Natural History Museum for a number of reasons:

• all profits support the fantastic work of the museum and its outreach programme
• Hope the Whale, suspended from the ceiling of the main hall, was a reminder of the plight of the planet and the B Corp movement’s hope for the future
• the majority of the invitees were London-based. The museum was central and had great public transport links for those coming from further afield

AND it has a natural ‘stage’ in the room. The stairs and landing were perfect for our choir, band and speakers – thereby avoiding hiring and setting up a stage. By using existing features in the room you include the personality and character of the surroundings in your event. Plus, you’re using or re-purposing something that already exists. Win, win.

If there isn’t an existing solution, or you can imagine something better – make it!

We debate the value of every element of an event. There’s one simple question to ask: ‘will this make a better event?’ If it does, then the process starts; with thinking about how we include it, as sustainably as possible. When there are 1,000 guests from different businesses – name badges will certainly make an event better. They help us meet, network and assist security. But when 1,000 guests arrive at roughly the same time, name badges are not a benefit if you miss 30 minutes of the event because there’s a queue to collect them.

Then we calculated the number of tables needed to lay out 1,000 name badges. There were so many! It isn’t just the transport and linens to consider, we had concerns about the impact on our event space.

We turned to the internet for solutions. Surely we’d find products to save space and speed up collection. Nope. Rather than compromise, we got designing. Together with Mike, a local skilled woodworker, we made prototypes. With some refinements, we cracked it. Introducing the world’s first flat-pack, FSC-certified plywood, reusable, space-saving, name badge holders with interchangeable logoed fronts!

3 x more efficient than setting name badges flat on a table

The result? No queues.

And at the end of the event, our holders reduce to their constituent parts. 1,000 name badge holders fit neatly into one box. That’s better 🙂