Replenishing The World Through Better Brands

The Sustainable Brands conference kicked off today by bringing together an international community of eco-thought leaders devoted to learning and action focused on understanding and leveraging the role of brands in shaping a flourishing future. This event is ground zero for sustainability, brand and innovation professionals who come together from around the world to be inspired, engaged and equipped to succeed by creating the better brands of tomorrow, while building a network of like-minded colleagues who can help.

The brand leaders of the future will be sustainable brands that successfully deliver net positive value to society.

As media partners, our goal is to present a play-by-play of the key ideas and insights learned here which can be translated into actionable advice for developing brands that are good for people, profit and planet. The conference offers several knowledge tracks to participate in such as Leadership & Strategy, Stakeholder Insights, Supply Chain Management and Organizational Development.

We’ll be taking part in the Brand Positioning & Communications track which focuses on how to employ customers’ deepest motivations to unlock change in consumption through health, status and lifestyle change. We will be exploring the myriad of benefits that await brands which can produce – or earn their way into – designing a journey of original digital content so that shared value, scalable impact and brand reputation all move in the right direction at the same time.

Stay tuned to Conscious Connection all week as we report live from the event and bring you breaking news announcements from many of the global brands participating in the conference. You can also click here to watch the live stream of the event.

Creating A Totally Sustainable Event

The Sustainable Brands conference does more than just talk about environmental preservation – they live it. Their event planning team works closely with all the vendors and stakeholders involved to follow a sustainable event framework that was developed in accordance with the leading international event industry standards – ISO 20121 Event Sustainability Management Systems and APEX/ASTM Environmentally Sustainable Meeting Standards. The SB’14 event focuses on these key areas of sustainability:

Zero Waste – Sustainable Brands has made it their goal to have zero-waste (90% diversion from land-fill) across the entire island, including all restaurants and hotel rooms. In the past, they have only included the conference center & related activities. Waste Management is sponsoring the zero-waste efforts this year, and 1:1 Movement supplies their Sustainability Team volunteers. 

Carbon Neutral – 100% of the carbon emissions from the event are offset by Offsetters, including attendee and staff travel and accommodation.

Water Neutral – The water impact of the event, including attendee accommodation, is neutralized by support of Colorado River water restoration projects through Bonneville Environmental Foundation.

ISO 20121 Compliance – SB’13 reached a SEMS score of 81%, meaning the event was in compliance with the ISO 20121 standard.

100% Local Food Sourcing – Building upon the success they had last year, with about 80% of the food sourced locally, they’re aiming to have close to 100% of food from local or sustainable sources. Paradise Point’s chef has established lasting partnerships with local farms, and they are now offering local food as an option on their permanent food and beverage menus.

Leaving A Legacy – Paradise Point has kept the composting program on a permanent basis, has established a Sustainability Team of their own with a full-time dedicated staff member, implemented resource conservation efforts across the property and established partnerships with more local farms for food sourcing.

Paperless Event – Having used CrowdCompass to develop all of the 2014 Sustainable Brands event mobile apps allows them to move towards becoming a paperless event. Their super handy app feature venue/exhibition maps, programming updates, attendee feedback surveys, and sponsor advertising and content. 

Learn more at www.sustainablebrands.com/events/sb14/sustainability