In Brief: GreenBiz has become the top annual gathering for corporate sustainability executives and their allies. The powerful event is framed by the State of Green Business report, GreenBiz Group’s award-winning annual accounting of key sustainability metrics and trends, combined with the high-wattage stage presentations, workshops and networking opportunities that have become hallmarks of GreenBiz events.
Where and When: February 6-8, 2018 at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort & Spa, Phoenix, Arizona.
Audience: Approximately 1,000 participants, including corporate sustainability executives, nonprofit leaders, policy makers, academics, entrepreneurs, and business organizations.
Format: Because of the high caliber of both speakers and attendees — sustainability professionals at the forefront of their fields — we emphasize peer-to-peer learning experiences, through workshops, tutorials and facilitated networking.
The conference program features five session formats:
One Great Idea — a 10-minute solo presentation from the main stage, given by an innovator sharing a breakthrough, achievement, insight or other “great idea” that is inspiring, informative, and entertaining. We look for truly innovative ideas and engaging presenters (especially those not already on the “sustainability circuit”), and shun standard dog-and-pony slide presentations.
Keynote Interview — a 15-20 minute mainstage one-on-one interview with a thought leader or C-level executive, moderated by a seasoned journalist.
Keynote Panel — a 15-20 minute mainstage discussion among a group of experts offering diverse viewpoints around a particular topic, led by a skilled moderator. No slides or presentations — a “talk show” format.
Workshop — an hour-long breakout session that focuses on tangible knowledge and skills for sustainability executives. Workshop faculty come from a range of disciplines, but all are experts in their field.The best workshops are those that are highly interactive and facilitate peer-to-peer learning, where participants can discuss in small groups for part of the session.
Tutorial — a four-hour breakout session that, like a workshop, focuses on tangible knowledge and skills. The expanded time frame allows participants the opportunity to dive deeper into a particular topic. Tutorials must include an interactive component and facilitate peer-to-peer interaction for at least part of the four-hour block. Tutorials will be held for all-access passholders on Tuesday morning prior to the start of the opening general session.
Topics: Overall, we are interested in topics that are relevant to environmental and social sustainability within the context of business, primarily aimed at large, mainstream companies. We also love to be surprised by fresh ideas that may not map exactly to our conference tracks. Tracks will be announced soon,
Who we want: We are open to speakers from all disciplines, backgrounds, and perspectives. However, we give priority to senior executives from large companies — that is, to people who mirror our primary audience. We are also interested in hearing from C-level executives outside of the sustainability department, including CEOs, CFOs, COOs, and executives in risk management, marketing, IT, supply chain, human resources, legal and more. We understand how important it is for sustainability professionals to partner with other functional leaders in their companies to execute sustainability strategies effectively.
We are less interested in presentations from consultants and other service providers. We also give preference to speakers who can attend most or all of the event, as opposed to those who will parachute in and out.
What we want:
Creativity and interactivity: We want to expand our attendees’ minds and help them think differently. We also want to help them learn from their fellow attendees, particularly in our workshops and tutorials. We’ll give strong preference to proposals that pay special attention to these goals.
New and timely content: We are not interested in sessions that have been done at other conferences many times before. This event focuses on the latest trends and tools sustainability executives need to do their jobs.
Diversity: We strive to foster dialogue and idea-sharing among participants with diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences. Proposals that take this into account are much stronger than those that do not.
The how and the why: The “what” is interesting, but the “how” and the “why” parts of sustainable business is where the value lies for our audience. We look for learnings and takeaways that will give our audience insights and information they can apply to on “Monday morning.”
Submissions: Please fill out the form on this page. We will contact you if we are interested in more information.
Submission deadline: July 15, 2017
Visit here to see editorial and video coverage of past GreenBiz events, and here to see the GreeBiz17 speakers and program.