Minneapolis Convention Center Achieves Certification
MINNEAPOLIS CONVENTION CENTER ACHIEVES
INTERNATIONAL SUSTAINABILITY STANDARD CERTIFICATION
MINNEAPOLIS (MARCH 21, 2014) The Minneapolis Convention Center (MCC), the largest convention center in the Upper Midwest, has achieved Level One certification to the ASTM Standard pertaining to the Evaluation and Selection of Venues for Environmentally Sustainable Meetings, Events, Trade Shows and Conferences. The new international sustainability venue standard is one of nine standards introduced by the meetings, conventions, exhibitions and events industry in 2012 to provide event planners and suppliers with specifications for producing events in a more sustainable manner.
We are proud and excited to attain the ASTM Venue certification, said Jeff Johnson, executive director, Minneapolis Convention Center. Certification to the industrys global standard is further evidence of the MCCs ongoing commitment to sustainability.
This is great news for the MCC and all of us working to make Minneapolis the sustainable destination choice of convention planners, said Melvin Tennant, president and CEO, Meet Minneapolis, convention and visitors association. Meet Minneapolis is in the process of obtaining Level One certification to the ASTM Destination Standard later this year.
The ASTM Venue Standard delineates the procedural requirements for venue selection -- the practice of researching, evaluating and choosing the facility for an event. The standard specifies specific performance criteria for staff management, communications, waste management, energy, air quality, water, procurement and community partners. The standards were created in partnership with ASTM International, an American National Standards Institute (ANSI)-accredited standards development organization.
Michael Luehrs, president, Green Meeting and Industry Council (GMIC), the nonprofit professional meetings association that led the development of the ASTM Sustainable Meeting Standards, added, Responsible environmental and social practices in the meeting industry is a global concern. We congratulate the Minneapolis Convention Center on this achievement and hope that this will encourage others in the Minneapolis meetings and convention industry to pursue certification.
iCompli, a division of BPA Worldwide, a nonprofit international auditing organization headquartered in Shelton, Conn., developed the certification protocols for the ASTM standards and performed the independent third party certification of MCCs compliance with the venue standard. Glenn Hansen, CEO of BPA Worldwide, said, " Our certification of the event sustainability standards driven by GMIC and now adopted by the Minneapolis Convention Center continues our long-standing partnership with the event industry to promote transparency.
The ASTM Venue Standard delineates the procedural requirements for venue selection -- the practice of researching, evaluating and choosing the facility for an event. The standard specifies specific performance criteria for staff management, communications, waste management, energy, air quality, water, procurement and community partners. The standards were created in partnership with ASTM International, an American National Standards Institute (ANSI)-accredited standards development organization.
Michael Luehrs, president, Green Meeting and Industry Council (GMIC), the nonprofit professional meetings association that led the development of the ASTM Sustainable Meeting Standards, added, Responsible environmental and social practices in the meeting industry is a global concern. We congratulate the Minneapolis Convention Center on this achievement and hope that this will encourage others in the Minneapolis meetings and convention industry to pursue certification.
iCompli, a division of BPA Worldwide, a nonprofit international auditing organization headquartered in Shelton, Conn., developed the certification protocols for the ASTM standards and performed the independent third party certification of MCCs compliance with the venue standard. Glenn Hansen, CEO of BPA Worldwide, said, " Our certification of the event sustainability standards driven by GMIC and now adopted by the Minneapolis Convention Center continues our long-standing partnership with the event industry to promote transparency.
ABOUT THE GREEN MEETING INDUSTRY COUNCIL
The Green Meeting Industry Council is a) non-profit, membership-based professional organization which provides educational resources to planners, suppliers, and venues seeking to meet the ever-rising standards consumers set for sustainable meetings. www.gmicglobal.org [http://www.gmicglobal.org]
ABOUT ICOMPLI
iCompli is a division of BPA Worldwide, a not-for-profit auditing organization established in 1931 to audit circulation for publishers, advertisers and their agencies. Today, BPAs audit services have expanded to include external assurance of government and industry standards and independent verification of companies technology and service claims. iCompli provides GRI reporting services (gap analysis, competitor benchmarking and external assurance) and third-party certification of ASTM and ISO event standards.
www.icomplisustainability.com [http://www.icomplisustainability.com]
ABOUT MINNEAPOLIS CONVENTION CENTER
The Minneapolis Convention Center (MCC) is the largest indoor, contiguous, convention center in the Upper Midwest with over 1.5 million visitors annually, including 250,000 during the summer months. The MCC is more than a meeting place. It's more than a show space. It's a building all about building something elserelationships. A blend of form and function, the MCC provides aesthetically pleasing and innovative solutions for a variety of conferences, trade shows and events. With nearly 480,000 square feet of trade show space, 87 column-free conference meeting rooms, a 28,000-square-foot ballroom, and an auditorium with superb production and flexible technology options, the facility can handle any event from a small meeting to a large convention or trade show.www.minneapolisconventioncenter.com [http://www.minneapolisconventioncenter.com]
ABOUT MEET MINNEAPOLIS
Meet Minneapolis is a private, not-for-profit, member-based association. It actively promotes and sells the Minneapolis area as a destination for conventions and meetings, works to maximize the visitor experience and markets the city as a desirable tourist destination to maximize the economic benefit of the greater Minneapolis area.
Meet Minneapolis is accredited by the Destination Marketing Accreditation Program (DMAP) of the Destination Marketing Association International.
FIND OUT MORE
Online: www.minneapolis.org [http://www.minneapolis.org] and http://go.minneapolis.org [http://go.minneapolis.org]
On Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/meetminneapolis?ref=ts [http://www.facebook.com/meetminneapolis?ref=ts]
On Twitter: http://twitter.com/meetminneapolis [http://twitter.com/meetminneapolis]
On Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/meetminneapolis/ [http://pinterest.com/meetminneapolis/]
MEDIA CONTACT
Kristen Montag, media communication manager, 612.767.8038, kristenm@minneapolis.org [kristenm@minneapolis.org], Minneapolis_PR [http://goo.gl/M48J8] on Twitter.
