The Events Industry Council (EIC) recently announced a new strategic partnership with Oak View Group, a global provider of sustainable venue operations, live experience venue development, management, hospitality services, and 360-degree solutions for a collection of venues and a client roster of arenas, stadiums, convention centers, music festivals, performing arts centers and cultural institutions.

According to the organizations, 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. Oak View Group plans to certify its entire convention portfolio of more than 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 Green Operations & Advanced Leadership (GOAL) platform, the partnership will spur more EIC initiatives throughout Oak View Group 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,” says EIC CEO Amy Calvert. “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.”

The partnership provides Oak View Group with high-profile strategic recognition and thought leadership opportunities to collaborate with the EIC on its CMP, CMP Fellows and sustainability programs.

“Congratulations to the Events Industry Council and the Oak View Group,” says Richard Murphy, president of the Alliance for Audited Media. “This partnership will accelerate innovation and growth for the entire industry. We applaud the Oak View Group management team for taking a leadership role on sustainable venues, embracing transparency and accountability supported by third-party validation.”

The EIC’s more than 30 member organizations represent more than 103,500 individuals and 19,500 firms and properties involved in the events industry. Its vision is to be the global champion for event professionals and event industry excellence. It promotes high standards and professionalism in the events industry with the CMP program and signature program activities. The CMP credential is recognized globally as the badge of excellence in the events industry. The qualifications for certification are based on professional experience, education and a rigorous exam. The four signature programs — Sustainability and Social Impact, Accepted Practices Exchange, Knowledge and Leadership — represent the key initiatives, assets, services and products for the EIC.