The Events Industry Council (EIC) has formed a strategic partnership with Oak View Group (OVG), the global leader in sustainable venue operations.

The partnership – the largest of its kind in scale – will allow the Oak View Group convention center portfolio to deepen its commitment to sustainability and better support the green meeting and exhibition aspirations of its clients and partners.

OVG plans to certify its entire convention portfolio of 60+ venues in a phased approach, including Chicago’s McCormick Place, the Miami Beach Convention Center, the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas, and the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Florida.

The EIC Sustainable Event Standards are a collection of eight specific standards that assess events and industry suppliers on a wide range of sustainability criteria in support of environmental and social responsibility.

Working in concert with the GOAL platform (Green Operations & Advanced Leadership), the partnership will spur more EIC initiatives throughout OVG event venues, including Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) training, Sustainable Event Professional Certification (SEPC) training, and other learning and development programs.

GOAL will continue to support continuous data collection and analysis across the convention center portfolio and will play a key role in helping properties reach their sustainability objectives, through best practice sharing, measurement tools, and on-site consulting.

“The partnership is grounded in our shared goals of promoting event industry excellence, advancing uniform standards of practice, and setting the highest standards for professional and personal growth for those in our industry,” said Amy Calvert, CEO, EIC. “We are thrilled to work with Oak View Group to certify their convention centers to EIC’s Sustainable Events Standards. This work will benefit our industry and the countless event professionals we serve.”

“Oak View Group is excited about this partnership because it provides real resources and support to our convention centers,” said Greg O’Dell, president, Venue Management, Oak View Group. “These include opportunities to be recognized for their individual sustainability efforts, and professional education to equip convention centers with sustainability support.”