For more information, please contact Sandy Eitel at 312.423.7271 or seitel@pcma.org.

Greening the 2008 PCMA Annual Meeting
1/12/08

Seattle, Washington, January 12, 2008 - The Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) continues to work hard to reduce its environmental footprint. At the 2008 PCMA Annual Meeting, January 13 - 16 in Seattle, both PCMA and the Washington State Convention and Trade Center (WSCTC), will carry out several initiatives to maintain their positions as industry leaders in the green movement.

"The meetings and convention industry is uniquely positioned to take tangible steps to limit our environmental footprint," said Sexton. "We have a great opportunity to effect positive change and become leaders in this important, global initiative."

To continue to reduce its environmental footprint, PCMA is implementing several tactics to green the 2008 event. Among the many initiatives include:

• To reduce plastic waste, individual bottled water will not be served at the 2008 PCMA Annual Meeting-all attendees will be provided a reusable water bottle to fill at several water stations located throughout the WSCTC. Attendee water bottles were made possible through the support of PCMA's Event Partners.
• The 2008 registration bags, produced by BrandAdvantage, are made from organic jute and recycled nylon. Extra/unwanted bags will be donated to a local charitable organization.
• All trash cans in the PCMA meeting space will be removed and replaced with recycle bins.
• All PCMA Annual Meeting printed material will be printed/copied on post-consumer recycled paper.
• Print on Demand stations for handouts will reduce the paper waste in the concurrent sessions. 
• Plastic name badges and Expocards will be collected and recycled.
• All excess food will be donated to a local food rescue program.
• Food preparation will focus on locally grown produce and feature some organic food items free of environment-harming pesticides.
• PCMA Partners are encouraged to print on recycled paper and will be printing and shipping a reduced quantity of marketing collateral and amenities to reduce waste.
• PCMA will collect and store any unused/excess partner collateral as inventory for future events, thus reducing future print requirements. If partner collateral is not reusable, PCMA will recycle it.

In addition to PCMA's charge towards greener meetings and events, the WSCTC has its own "Recycle, Reduce, Reuse" Initiative. Tactics implemented by WSCTC include:

• An overhaul of the Center's lighting system was conducted to replace outdated equipment with new and more efficient fixtures.
• New touchless faucets and self-flushing toilets were installed to reduce water consumption.
• The WSCTC recycling program recycles paper, wood, metal and plastic products. As a result of the recycling initiative, the WSCTC has recycled:
  • 174 tons of cardboard o 2,460 lbs of aluminum cans or 79,200 individual pop cans
  • 186 tons of mixed paper, plastic and glass recycled o 12 tons of scrap metal were recycled
  • An estimated 8,000 wood pallets were shipped to
  • the WSCTC and sent back with the shipper to be reused
  • All computers and office machines that are updated are recycled
  • All spent fluorescent bulbs and ballasts are recycled
  • All spent AA, AAA and 9V batteries are recycled
  • 3,328 gallons of kitchen grease recycled and reused by a rendering plant · Food donation-23,968 meals were sent to local charity this past year.
  • The WSCTC is partnering with a local company to recycle PCMA meeting banners.
  • FedEx Kinko's, located in the WSCTC, promotes the use of 30% and 100% post consumer recycled paper and has retrofitted its lighting with energy-efficient lamps and ballasts.

To better educate its membership on the importance of environmentally conscious meetings and events, several sessions at the meeting will help attendees discover how (and why) to green their own meetings. The Wednesday Closing General Session, entitled "Our Environmental Destiny," will feature Author and Environmental Activist, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

For more information on PCMA's green initiatives or educational sessions at the 2008 PCMA Annual Meeting, visit the Annual Meeting Web site at www.pcma2008.org.

The Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) is the professional resource and premier educator for the meetings and convention industry. Founded in 1957, PCMA represents the interests of meeting management executives from associations, non-profit organizations, corporations, independent meeting planning companies, and multi-management firms who recognize the importance of meetings to their organization. PCMA empowers members with the tools they need to succeed as meeting professionals and to promote the value of the industry to their organizations and the general public. Headquartered in Chicago, PCMA has 16 chapters throughout the United States and Canada. For additional information, please visit the PCMA Web site at www.pcma.org.

The role of the PCMA Education Foundation is to support the mission of the PCMA through fundraising and grant giving focused on education and research that will benefit the meetings and conventions industry. Established in 1985, the Foundation supports educational programs to improve professionalism in the meetings industry and to provide a university-level meeting management curriculum. The Foundation funds educational programs for meeting managers, hotels, convention and visitors bureaus, and other members of the meetings industry. It also conducts ongoing research of industry issues and concerns. The Foundation continually funds new programs to encourage the highest levels of professionalism in the meetings industry.