To record this week’s podcast, the Event Industry News team was invited down to the home of Origin, by Crucial FX, in London to talk to the founder of EIGHT PR, Alistair Turner, and the commercial director at GL events UK, David Tunnicliffe. Here, they chatted to us about their brainchild – The Good Event Guide. Giving us a little overview of what this guide is, David described it as a document put together to offer advice and knowledge to others in the events industry on making sustainable decisions. He advised us that being sustainable goes further than making green choices in terms of waste and power, but also means creating a safe and healthy environment for employers. The word ‘sustainable’ is an ever-growing umbrella to cover lots of topics from carbon footprints to mental health. David and Alistair created the guide to inform organisers and suppliers on how to become more sustainable and mentally healthier. Using examples such as festivals becoming vegan and events scrapping plastic cups, David claimed that the events industry is a leader in ‘being green’, therefore giving us the opportunity to lead consumers down similar routes. Talking more about the guide itself, Alistair explained that it is the product of a lot of time, energy and research. Realising the publicity advantages of ‘being green’, our host, James, enquired whether audiences may just perceive these changes as a PR stunt. To answer this, Alistair said: “Don’t tell them you’re funny, tell them a joke!” He advised us that sustainability needs to be in the culture and DNA of an event. Due to the freedom of information and journalists, audiences will be able to know who is taking it seriously and who is not.

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.