Transitioning to an online event registration and management system can cut down on paper and other resource consumption by more than half.

The sheer difference in paper consumption seen when switching from bulk mail invitations and registration forms to an online version can save thousands of dollars and lighten your ecological footprint significantly. Even if your company still wants to send out bulk mailings, you can reduce paper purchases and consumption by 70% by sending out a simple Save the Date postcard instead of a full program and registration packet for your event.

Conventional event management and promotion relies heavily on fax and bulk mailing to get the word out, while online registration, automated email invitations, reminders, and confirmations only require a working Internet connection.

Here are some tips for reducing your resource waste and improving your green footprint at your next event:

• Put most or all of your event registration and promotional material online. This way you won't have to rely on paper and ink to inform people about your event.
• Make use of bulk, automated emails and social networking instead of bulk mailings. This will cut down on postage, the human and gas oil energy required to deliver invitations to people's doorsteps, and the time and energy required to organize, stamp and mail all those invitations.
• Encourage online registration instead of mail or faxed registration forms. The information will go directly to your company database without having to pass through the hands of a staff person, saving valuable human resource hours.
• Enable email-to-friend and other networking invitation options as a way to multiply your invitations without requiring extra work or materials.
• Sync your programming and exhibitors to an online event management system so that the time and energy used in transferring information from one format/application/paper to another can be eliminated and you can house all the relevant information for your event in one virtual database.
• Make use of a meal purchase confirmation option in your online registration form to better calculate how many heads to purchase catering for.

Create Discussion