Conference News hosted its first edition of the CN Sustainability Summit on 19 October at 15Hatfields.
The event took place to raise awareness of the topic among event professionals and drive best practice across the industry.
Event agenda
The day kicked off with two panel discussions: the first around Legacy, with panellists Shaun Hinds, Joel Lavery, Mark Bannister and Anita Howard and the second around Carbon Calculating with Chris Thompson, Chrissie Beck, Saskya Liney and Cassidy Knowles.
Attendees then had the opportunity to network, have 1:1 meetings and partake in roundtables around topics such as sustainable travel and data.
Following lunch, Joe Harris, Duncan Reid, Dale Parmenter, and Felicia Asideu explored Organiser Expectations and Ed Low, Phil Clarke and Ed Tranter explained the value of B Corps. The event closed with an interactive session from The Iceberg.
Jack Newey, portfolio director, Conference News, said: “The inaugural CN Sustainability Summit was a hugely successful and engaging event. The content was absolutely fantastic, with our speakers giving real insight into the current industry situation and what more needs to be done.
“I cannot wait for next year’s event, where, hopefully, all the delegates will be able to show what they have implemented to help create a more sustainable future based on what they learnt.”
Lauren Hudson, sustainability, health and safety advisor, Manchester Central, added: “It was fantastic to sponsor and attend the Conference News Sustainability Summit 2022, and share the room with other likeminded event professionals who are all keen to learn more about what the industry can do to take sustainability to the next level.
“The conversations and panel sessions were thought-leading and inspiring, and it was a great opportunity to discuss our recently launched sustainability whitepaper with organisers and, together, shape a sustainable future for our industry.”
Michael Rodriguez, area director northern and southwestern Europe, said: “With Singapore’s ambition to be an urban destination of choice for environmentally conscious leisure and business travellers, the summit provided an excellent platform for in-depth insights and conversations with a cross-sector of industry stakeholders, all with a common purpose.”
Chris Thompson, chief executive officer, ‘You.Smart.Thing.’, commented: “The CN Sustainability Summit has resulted in multiple event organiser partnerships for ‘You. Smart. Thing.’. The summit underlined the importance of visitor travel demand management for the MICE sector, not only from an engagement, experiential and revenue generation perspective, but critically, from an ESG perspective, in terms of monitoring and reducing the disproportionate carbon footprint created by visitor travel.”
Thanks to our event sponsors Manchester Central, ‘You.Smart.Thing.’ and Singapore Tourism Board and our host venue 15Hatfields.
Our next event is the Event Tech Summit, taking place from 22-23 November at De Vere Horsley Estate. Spaces are still available, if interested, please email cnevents@mashmedia.net.
Photography by Jonathan ‘JT’ Taylor @ Aniseed Photo.
