How green is your conference, how ethically sound is your corporate event? In a recent survey carried out for the Meetings Industry Association (MIA) in the UK, event organisers were asked about the growing influence of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on their event planning. Here is what they said:

64 per cent of associations and 77 per cent of corporates think CSR will be extremely or somewhat influential in their event organisation over the next ten years. All corporate respondents said that it is already influencing some aspects of event organisation and only 34 per cent of associations said it was not influencing event organisation.

That is really significant. As you know, Activate Events is committed to promoting environmentally friendly corporate events in Scotland but the idea of doing good in a wider sense, where an event can fit in with an organisation’s CSR programme is very appealing.

Last month we reported on an event we are organising with a company based in Edinburgh helping a local charity as part of a team building event in Scotland. This surely offers many others a template for future corporate events.

The Digital Blue Global blog spotted the MIA survey and delivered their US take on these trends:

CSR is gaining a lot of momentum within US corporations - who set measurable and manageable goals that every part of the organization must work toward achieving. And concludes: Even if you have no demands for “green meetings”, it’s my feeling that it will become important on some level to be aware of and able to measure the impact of your events in terms of sustainability.

We could not agree more.

How often do you tell your team they can do anything if they just set their minds to it? Now is the chance to prove it with our new fire walking event.

We think it makes sense to hold a corporate event in Scotland in winter designed to keep you warm. But don’t worry, nobody who tries out an Activate Events firewalking event ever ends up toast. This is a fantastic exercise for corporate conferences and team building days. After all, few things will knock the confidence of a team which has just strolled across a bed of burning coals together.

People who have tried it report a great sense of well-being, increased confidence and a more positive approach to the challenges they face back at corporate HQ. And just to feel really good, some brave souls have secured sponsorship for their fire walk with all money raised going to charity. So come on, this isn’t the time for cold feet.

Running a conference in Scotland? Then it’s time to consider a conference buster. This is one of our specialities here at Activate Events and Pamela is currently putting together some conference buster ideas for a major oil company in Aberdeen.

The idea is to take the attendees away from the passive conference situation for one hour of positive, active team building so they can return at the end of the session, mentally and physically more alert and able to derive the maximum benefit from your event.

We have several favourite conference busters, including miniature bridge building, rocket building (they get fired outdoors) and Jurassic japes. They all work well for any size of corporate event here in Scotland and they are particularly effective just after lunch - you know, that dreaded time when eyes droop and heads begin to nod in the warmth of the conference centre.