Meeting green is nothing new for Oracle OpenWorld. The 37,500-attendee technology event for Oracle customers and staff, held at San Francisco’s Moscone Center each October, was recognized with the IMEX Silver Green Meetings Award in 2008. But in 2009, with goals to ramp up the scope and influence of their sustainability program, event organizers knew they’d need help. While Oracle staff members were committed to the cause, organizers also needed buy-in from every stakeholder group.

The top sustainability priority for OpenWorld 2009 was to divert at least 100 tons of materials from landfills through purchasing, reduction, reuse and recycling, in response to the Green Meeting Industry Council’s Million Tons of Trash Challenge. Organizers also wanted to reduce the use of energy and water, measure the economic costs and savings of sustainable efforts and improve stakeholder engagement in sustainability, says Paul Salinger, Vice President of Corporate Marketing for Oracle.

Vendors were the first stakeholder group on Oracle’s list. After the 2008 event, organizers realized that vendor commitment to sustainability was a challenge. So in January 2009, Oracle established an OpenWorld Virtual Green Team, which includes staff and vendors. Early in the year, the team met to discuss sustainability issues, develop ideas to improveperformance and prioritize action items. With key vendors working on sustainability issues from the beginning of the planning stages, this group was more invested and became more committed to meeting sustainability goals, Salinger says. Even for those vendors who weren’t on the committee, contract guidelines included specific sustainability actions and measurements for most of them, including accommodations, catering, general services contracting, transportation, AV, marketing and signage. For instance, signage contractors were required to use recyclable or renewable materials in at least 50 percent of show signage and to design signs so at least 30 percent of them could be reused for future events. Hotels were required to have aggressive water and energy conservation plans in place, and catering contractors agreed to source as much food as possible from within a 100-mile radius of San Francisco. Every hotel and facility was also required to provide detailed reporting on sustainability initiatives to help organizers set a benchmark. Oracle provided an online mechanism for reporting on sustainable hotel practices, which improved disclosure of such practices.

For exhibitors, Oracle integrated voluntary sustainability guidelines into the exhibitor kit such as including recycling receptacles in their booths and using sustainable materials in booth construction. Prior to the conference, Oracle provided education about sustainable practices to exhibitors via the OpenWorld blog. Organizers also invited exhibitors to share and promote their sustainability practices through the show daily, and introduced comprehensive materials tracking for the general services contractor.

Additionally, by requiring contracted practices and measurement on a citywide scale, OpenWorld organizers helped San Francisco become better equipped to host more sustainable citywide meetings. For instance, every hotel and meeting facility was required to report on numerous sustainability data such as how much they’re composting, whether they have recycling in the guest rooms and in common public spaces and whether they have energy policies in place. Thanks to Oracle’s rigorous reporting guidelines, the San Francisco Convention & Visitors Bureau now has detailed information about the sustainability practices of 76 local hotels and seven meeting venues. Because many of these properties expanded their environmental initiatives in response to Oracle’s request for reporting, the city now has a greater number of environmentally focused meeting venues.

In addition to requiring hotels and meeting venues to report on their practices, in 2008, Oracle began asking food vendors to track food miles. With the help of MeetGreen, the company’s green meetings partner, Oracle used the data provided by its vendors to determine that 60 percent of food served at Open World was sourced within a 100-mile radius of the event. Even with vendors, exhibitors and the city of San Francisco on board, Oracle still needed participation from attendees to meet its goals. In 2008, Oracle had introduced sustainability to attendees with highly visible water and recycling stations; pedal charger stations, where attendees could hop on a bike to help recharge computer and phone batteries or battery-powered lighting; and the Green Marketplace, an interactive exhibit that highlights how Oracle and its partners are incorporating sustainability into their business and IT plans. In 2009, outreach to attendees expanded: Oracle expanded its Web site coverage of recommended green practices for attendees at the event and offered interactive discussions on effective strategies for using Oracle technology to create sustainable programs.

Oracle also introduced its first Enable the Eco-Enterprise Awards, which recognized 15 companies that apply Oracle’s technology for effective environmental practices while reducing costs and improving efficiencies. In addition, organizers communicated Oracle’s sustainability efforts through Twitter and on Oracle OpenWorld Live, online video recorded live at the show.

With the help of its event partners, attendees and exhibitors, Oracle changed and measured practices at 76 hotel properties and seven meeting venues, diverted more than 100 tons of materials from landfills and sourced 60 percent of food items from within a 100-mile radius. Thirty-seven percent of the signs used in 2009 will be reusable for future events, 45 percent of sign inventory was donated or recycled and 62 percent of signage used recyclable or renewable substrates, such as cardboard.

And Oracle’s sustainability efforts didn’t just help the environment: Post-event, organizers confirmed a net cost savings of more than $800,000 from reduction and reuse. Organizers tracked the savings by developing an online reporting tool where internal staff and vendors entered requested data, then MeetGreen ran the data through its proprietary calculator to determine the cost savings based on benchmarks set across industries.

Oracle’s Strategy

GOAL: Meet aggressive sustainability goals such as reducing waste by at least 100 tons.

STRATEGY: Engage attendees, vendors, facilities and the destination in sharing the responsibility for an environmentally conscious event and work together to meet goals.

RESULTS: With buy-in from all stakeholders, Oracle OpenWorld diverted more than 100 tons of materials for landfills, sourced 60 percent of food items from within a 100-mile radius, reduced ground shuttle usage by 30 percent and saved more than $800,000 through reduction and reuse.