This pages is for updates on coming conferences, comments about past ones, and a few tips on greening conferences.

UPCOMING CONFERENCES

November 12, 2009 Environmental Management: Stewardship and Sustainability, Philadelphia, PA
presented by the Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts

This one-day workshop will explore new approaches to controlling environmental conditions in cultural institutions. Speakers James Reilly, Director, Image Permanence Institute; Michael C. Henry, PE, AIA, Principal Engineer/Architect, Watson & Henry Associates; and Richard L. Kerschner, Director of Preservation and Conservation, Shelburne Museum will present strategies that are feasible, physically and financially, to preserve collections materials for the long-term.
Sessions include:

• Review of ideal environmental conditions for collections.
• Relationship between building structure and storage environments.
• Best practices for environmental control, including new approaches.
• Environmental monitoring and data analysis.

This program is intended for cultural heritage staff that monitor and manage environmental conditions for collections, such as registrars, facilities managers, archivists, librarians, curators, collections managers, and stewards of historic house museums. Major funding for this program is generously provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
For more information and to register online, go to http://guest.cvent.com/i.aspx?5S,M3,479cdf23-3a93-4ac9-8b82-6518165f4b74. Still have questions? Visit our Education Program Calendar at www.ccaha.org, call 215-545-0613 or email pso@ccaha.org.


March 2009 - The VAM conference in Virginia Beach has three green programs that look very interesting.

March 26-28, 2009 in New York City - Green East: Sustainable Solutions for Business, Home and Community
Register by February 26, 2009 for FREE visitor admission to Green East and pick up your badge at the show. Your Green East registration includes access to the exhibit hall as well as admission to conference sessions, keynotes, and special events on all show days. Conference seating at Green East is on a first come, first served basis.
Please note: your Green East badge also provides complimentary admission to The Architectural Digest Home Design Show co-located on Pier 94.
http://www.greeneastexpo.com/register.html

Past Conferences
November 2008 - We'll be posting about USGBC's GreenBuild in Boston next week - wish I could be there!

October 2008 - I missed The National Trust Conference in Tulsa but hear it was fantastic and had GREAT green content.

October 2008 - The recent northeast region meeting of the Association of Living History Farms and Agricultural Museums at Strawbery Banke had a great green-meeting concept: boarding on-site. One historic building hosts up to 7 or 8 interns each summer. And it hosts conference guests. If you bring your own linens (or sleeping bag), you have a bed and bath...even a kitchen. For $25 a night, it's perfect...so much better than a hotel if you want to reduce resource use. They also took care to recommend camping sites - another low-resource option. Even better - the opening reception was pot-luck! That trick saves on staff time and food packaging, and it meant for a fabulous variety of special foods that supported the mission of the organization. It was a great creative, community-minded idea.

GREENING YOUR CONFERENCE
Promotional Materials
Be thoughtful about tote bags, leashes, and tag holders:

• If you must provide bags, consider organic cotton totes (uses far less fertilizer and pesticide than traditional cotton), and encourage folks to take them only if they need them, and only if they'll reuse them in place of paper and plastic bags for shopping.
• Don't provide totes at all, just 100% recycled content if you must hand out materials.
• Like VAM, encourage reuse of past totes and give a prize for the oldest bag at the conference.
• Require organic cotton for promotional leashes, and offer recycling for plastic badge holders (if getting them home and to the next conference doesn't demand more of the environment).
• Require all event sponsor promotional goodies to be on 100% recycled or recyclable content. Perhaps instead of totes, the main sponsor can offer reusable travel mugs made from 100% corn plastic.
• Require vendors to use bring only 100% recycled or recyclable give-aways for the exhibit hall.

Handouts Keep handouts electronic - at least as many as possible. Those who are desperate can use a print kiosk onsite as they can do at Virginia Association of Museums (VAM) Conference in 2008. The Mid-Atlantic Association of Museum's (MAAM) Building Museums Conference distributes much of its material on a CD at the conference - no mailing, no printing, and the CD is reyclable. What handouts you do provide should be minimized - pocket-sized information cards for schedules, and well-placed printed maps for directional materials - what you do already.

Food Service Think bulk provision to reduce packaging. This means no water bottles or soda cans at break time. Pitchers will do the trick. Box lunches are packaging nightmares. Platters of sandwiches, bowls of chips, and piles of apples will suffice and may mean that less food is wasted. Use washable utensils and serving ware. Ask attendees to bring reusable mugs for coffee and tea during the breaks. Sponsors are welcome to provide reusable mugs for those who don't bring them. Choose interim break foods that aren't individually-wrapped.

Recycling Require the conference site to arrange for recycling, and insure that well-identified receptacles for paper, and any other materials are well-distributed onsite. Conference paper waste is monumental. Be sure there are receptacles at the registration desk, and note how much your attendees pitch. It will give you the courage to hand out less next time.