Hotel Point Donation

True charity is the desire to be useful to others without thought of recompense.

  - Emmanuel Swedenborg
 
I am super excited to announce on behalf of my team the Dell Events Hotel Point Donation Program.

We realized last year that we had no official program or governance for Hotel Planner Points, so our official rule was to decline them. Then we had the idea to actually accept them, but develop guidelines around who we should donate them to!

So the official rule now is this:

Option 1: If we can get any discount to the master with the points.
Option 2: If the hotel has a charity of choice (For example: Marriott has Children's Miracle Network), then points should go there.
Option 3: If the hotel does not, the point should go to Dell's selected charity of choice, like Boys & Girls Club of America or Wounded Warriors.

We're so excited to launch this program and hope that others will follow suit!

Revisiting Green

Don't blow it - good planets are hard to find.
 - Quoted in Time

We're revisiting the whole "Green Meetings" initiative at work right now. The conversation tends to center around the "what can we do," rather than the "why are we doing it." I want to revisit the Why part before jumping into the What.


So... Why? Because it's good for the enviroment. Because I work for one of the Greenest companies in the world and we're just bringing that brand philosophy to life in our events. Because I care about the planet. Yeah, yeah, yeah - great story to tell to the press, but being Green is not a determinate need when buying computer products (except in some government sectors).


How about this? Because it saves us money - both on printing costs, and on shipping all that paper to our events. Because our customers want it - they don't actually like to carry back paper with them after an event. They would much rather have a link or a file they can refer to later. Because it's easier to capture real leads - when someone actively wants your brochure, you have them email it to themselves from your system, thus capturing their email address. Harder to do when handing out paper!


NOW! On to the What: When you do print, use recycled and recyclable materials. If printing postcard-sized teasers, use that cool wildflower seed paper so your trash grows flowers in the landfill. Work with hotels to ensure leftover food goes to the appropriate charity of choice. The What is really easy!

What's in a name?

"Responsibility is the thing people dread most of all. Yet it is the one thing in the world that develops us."
- Frank Crane

I would probably not name my business "Blow Me," however in this case, it seems to fit - they're breathalizers! From the latest issue of Springwise:

In the US, alcohol-related car crashes kill someone every 31 minutes, according to the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and the problem extends around the world. Blow Me is a UK-based company that hopes to reduce such statistics by bringing its mobile alcohol breath-testing service to private and corporate events.

Event organizers can hire Blow Me to attend any party or other happening where alcohol will be served. With the same equipment used by police forces throughout the UK, Blow Me's trained team conducts unlimited alcohol breath tests for event guests in a non-threatening and professional manner. Both branded and unbranded packages are available, and Blow Me's staff will follow any dress code to suit the occasion—tux and ties if needed. They can offer custom promotional materials, if requested, as well as information for guests about local transport options. The result, Blow Me hopes, is that more people will think twice before getting behind the wheel.

Launched in 2006, London-based Blow Me serves clients all over Europe; by January of this year it had stopped more than 1,000 people from unknowingly driving drunk, founder Sam Rose says. Undoubtedly it has also enhanced many a company's corporate image.