From environmental concerns to changing demographics, the International Association of Conference Centers has been taking steps to address the major issues facing the meetings industry today. Here’s a look at what’s new with IACC.
Going Green
Like many industry organizations, IACC is addressing the growing trend of green meetings. Last July, IACC set up an eight-member Green Task Force. Aimed at increasing awareness and to recognize green projects, the committee plans to come out with guidelines on eco-friendly practices for members.
According to Steve Sackman, regional director of sales and marketing for Denver-based Destination Hotels & Resorts, which has six IACC-certified properties, conference customers are becoming more environmentally conscious.
“We’ve seen a tremendous increase in the last six months in people asking ‘are you green?’ It’s been remarkable. Being green has become much more than recycling cans,” he says.
Among programs, for example, the company’s Tarrytown House Estate & Conference Center in Tarrytown, N.Y., works with a local co-op to recycle cooking oil waste into bio-diesel fuel.
Its Skamania Lodge, near Portland, Ore., has funded the planting of several thousand tree seedlings in northwest fire-ravaged areas, and with its Chinook Meetings Package, it donates $100 per meeting in the customer’s name to the National Forest Foundation for Columbia River Gorge salmon habitat recovery.
Recent Initiatives
“IACC has evolved and changed to keep up with the times. This has never been as true as it has now,” says James Mahon, IACC’s global director of marketing.
He notes that last year IACC appointed a non-voting board associate to advise on marketing conference centers to younger planners, which led to the establishing of an emerging trends task force.
“Also, F&B has never been as significant as it is now, and is a major component of a successful conference center. Our Copper Skillet International Chef of the Year competition is a testament to that,” he says.
Addressing technology issues is another concern for IACC these days.
Sackman, who chairs IACC’s marketing committee, says improvements are planned for IACC’s website.
“The biggest thing is to build value in the brand online so that it provides more than meeting specs,” he says.
To involve all members in a town meeting, IACC, he says, will add a webcasting component for the first time at its 2008 Annual Conference, which be held March 27 to 30 at Dolce International’s Zermatt Resort & Spa in Midway, Utah, which opened in June 2006.
The formation of a technology committee will be the next step, according to Sackman.
Audit Time
Four years ago, IACC embarked on a program of independent audits for all properties. Previously, the association had a grandfather clause that allowed long-established members to audit themselves even though new members had to undergo inspection.
Each year, 25 percent of properties are audited. By last December, all properties were scheduled to have been inspected before the four-year cycle begins again this year.
According to IACC executive vice president Tom Bolman, around 80 percent of conference centers were 100 percent compliant; 20 percent were not, mostly because of small things, such as the number of ergonomic chairs or lighting issues.
“When the old grandfather clause went away everybody was happy. What we found was that properties were happy to have things pointed out to them that they hadn’t realized, and that it often helped them get authorization from owners for improvements,” Mahon says.
