How to communicate a green event – 2. What, When, How and to Whom

How to communicate a green event 2

A list of contents and addressee of the Green Event communication.

A focus about the surplus value of the partnerships. The huge repertoire of opportunities.
The second article of the topic of the same author.

1.The announcement
Making Green the own event is an important decision in the Company’s life and entering the green area is a strategic decision which must be credible as much as possible.
The first step of the communication of a green event is, then, its announcement, which must be given by the top management, the president or the CEO, or by the organizing manager of the event (e.g. the marketing director) but with the explicit endorsement of the top management.
The announcement of the green event should reach all the stakeholders.

2.The communication, before, during and after
After the announcement and before the event, several communications, destined to provide interest and curiosity, should be realized. The ideal thing should be creating a web site dedicated to the event with a reserved section to the green part.

A blog should stimulate and collect comments and suggestions from the participants. A campaign on the social networks should spread the news also beyond the circle of the stakeholders, with an evident benefit for the image of the Company.

Icons

During the meeting the communication must bring to an involvement and must focus on two aspects: the instructions of the right behaviors to be assumed and the explanation of the single initiative and aspects of the green meeting.
An app can be created and we can use techniques of increased reality, but also (with moderation) posters and even an explicative leaflet (sustainable paper, please!) or sign billboards.
It’s important that the organizing manager presents from the stage the green aspect of the event. He can also ask for comments from the audience.

Save the planet

After the event, it’s the moment of solidifying the results and make them flow into the brand equity of the Company, of thanking the participants and to make balancing with the results.
The email can be used, or better, the website. Or both. And certainly the social networks. The blog should ask for comments and put on the basis for the next event.
If during the event, short videos and/or photos with funny stories were taken and some comments were made by the participants about the green aspects, this is the right moment to show them. Storytelling is always a success.

Present. past, future

3.What to communicate in a Green event
Communicate everything. Sustainability is transparency. But it’s also easy doing it because the contents are basically infinite and there are plenty of choices. These are some ideas to develop in different phases:
From what and how does the decision to enter in the “green” is born:
in which company program it is inserted
– who is/was the maker and the responsible
– the staff who created it, how did it work and which purposes were given

The suppliers:
– the location and the green characteristics
– the catering and the green solutions
– the service and the green equipment
-the sustainable means of transportation
– the equipment (the materials, the procedures, the equipment, etc.)

The initiatives during the event:
– the waste recycle and the waste disposal
– the recycle of the materials
– solidarity actions
– team building with an ecologic background
– Web connections with long distance speakers

The results:
the saved emissions
– the waste management
– the recycle of the equipment
– the energy consume
– the relationship with the territory
– the greeting of the participants
– the preferences and the comments
– the certificates

Goals

4.Partnerships in the communication of the Green event
A Green event can introduce a lot of partners and this is a very interesting aspect in a marketing perspective, which is usually unexplored.
In this article we just outline which consequences it may have in regards with the communication and which opportunities it may offer.
The “natural” partners will be all of those who are involved in the organization:
– the location
– the services (the catering, the equipment, the logistics, etc.)
– the supplier (the gadget, the pressmen, etc.).

All of these subjects will be very delighted to “ride” the event and to provide statements and comments. You could be the testimonial of the communications to their stakeholders (make accurate agreements). In this way the communication of the event will spread like wildfire.
But the ideal thing is to conquer partners out of the natural circle and this won’t be difficult because nowadays everyone is prone to get into the Green “train”. These are some individuals that can participate sustain and enlarge communication:
– local authorities
– the institutions (the Chamber of Commerce, trade associations, etc.)
– Green associations
– the media of the sector and of the Green
– the world of art and culture
– … and many other subjects

Business Network

5.Traps and some practical advices
Even if the Green subject is a trend of which (almost) everyone agrees, it has a very technical feature that risks to be pedantic and sickening.

Resist to the attempt to enter in the technical details, to use a beginner language, try to simplify the communication with some short stories and curiosities and, in particular, summarizing. The Green communication needs lightness to conquer approvals. Enrich the communication with images (photos, graphics, but also comic strip) and videos, even if they’re amateur. Introduce humorous notes. Make Green a funny thing, don’t let anyone tell “it could be worthy, but it’s boring…”.
Another lethal trap is the greenwashing. Pay attention to the coherence with the company’s history. Don’t say anything that can’t be sustained. Be aware that in this area there is a lot of prepared and very careful people.
Finally the worst enemy of the credibility: the fact of too much. Don’t forget that the event has other purposes and that being green is a way to reach them.

Success

6.Conclusions
In the two articles we have seen how the green event is such a great opportunity to communicate the Company, its values, its brands, to emphasize its employee, to reinforce the equity and the reputation, to candidate (or to confirm) for a position of moral leadership in the market, to confer its asset a modern feature. Moreover we have seen how the communication of a green event can contribute to find new partnerships and to take mutual advantage of it.
Communicating a green event is a vocation that must be invented. It’s not known a lot, but we can grasp one thing: it’s a huge work. It’s the end of the routine, of the press office that realizes the release-summary, and everything finishes there. It’s the end of a lot of securities.
Sorry. But that’s the good thing of the new thing. The one who understands it and learns it before everyone, wins. It’s not even that bad.
A green event isn’t just a marketing instrument for the Company, but also for the PCO that suggests it, for the location that hosts it, for the services that set it up and for the communicator that announces it.
If you are a consultant or a communication agency you should lick your chops towards this kind of commitment and you should do everything to conquer it. By presenting a rich and comprehensible plan, it shouldn’t be difficult.

If these articles will inspire you winning purposes and to obtain interesting tasks, I will be very delighted. All best wishes for your work!