Symantec received the ICARUSOutstanding Achievement Award from the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), the world’s premier business travel and corporate meetings organization. The Professional Team Award was presented to Symantec and MCI for the collaborative sustainability work on the Symantec Vision EMEA 2014 user conference. ICARUS aims to recognize companies and industry professionals who can demonstrate leadership, innovation, creativity and a serious commitment to developing sustainable programs, products or services. The ICARUS project has grown to be one of the most widely known Corporate Sustainability program within the global business travel and meeting industry.
The submission was supported by:
- Industry leading metrics and targets which measure the impact of the programs and the return on investment
- Best in class communications programs
- Evidence of activities to further the Project ICARUS goals for sustainability across the 3 key areas of environment, social and economic aspects of programs
Symantec demonstrated how to align its global Corporate Responsibility commitment with its events strategy and operations. For Symantec Vision EMEA 2014 conference, a series of two consecutive events (Vision Symposium EMEA and Partner Insight Day) that were held in four different cities - Dubai, Munich, Paris and London, we achieved a number of impressive results, including:
- €25,000 saved through sustainability initiatives alone.
- 100% of key supplier contracts included sustainability.
- 88% reduction in waste, 89% waste diversion rate and 67% reduction in CO2 emissions
- 19,228 trees pledged to be planted and 43 children trained as Climate Justice Ambassadors.
- Increased participant awareness of Symantec’s Corporate Responsibility programme by 49%.
The award was presented on November 10th at the GBTA Annual European Conference Gala Awards Ceremony in Wiesbaden, Germany.
This award is the second on this year after winning the IMEX GMIC Green Meeting Award, and a clear endorsement of our work by integrating sustainability concepts strategically into Symantec corporate event experiences. Other brands who have successfully integrated event sustainability programs are Oracle, Microsoft and Intel among others. “Sustainability is about commitment, collaboration, sharing of best practices, catalyzing action and creating long-term impact. Looking through the sustainability ‘lens’ when designing an event leads to new ideas that drive innovation, enhances customer experience and generates operational efficiencies,” said Claudia van’t Hullenaar, Global Corporate Events, EMEA and sustainability champion.
Van’t Hullenaar adds: “In a changing world where transparency is the drive to connect the dots between brands and their positive or negative environmental and social impacts, I strongly believe that brands also drive change and demonstrate thought leadership through responsible business models.”
If you are interested in learning more about how event marketing experiences and sustainability work together, you can find out here: – The Sustainability Spotlight: Integrating Corporate Responsibility into Marketing |
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Bernard Harrop, Head of Sustainability, Project ICARUS, GBTA Foundation, Guy Bigwood, MCI Group Sustainability Director, Nikki Rogan, Global Travel Manager, Symantec
Guy Bigwood, MCI Group Sustainability Director, Nikki Foster, Travel, Meetings & Events Category Partner