Here’s the press release from Green Festival, Inc:
Messe Stuttgart joins forces with Asheville-based Green Festival
Europe’s leading organizer of trade shows for the Sustainable Economy comes to Western North Carolina
August 2, 2013 – European sustainable event leader Messe Stuttgart announces a partnership with Asheville-based Green Festival, Inc. The partnership is expected to strengthen and expand sustainability oriented events throughout North America and bring more jobs to Asheville, North Carolina. On August 2, 2013 at 191 Lyman Street, Suite 101 (South side of River Terrace Building) members of the press and dignitaries are invited to a breakfast gathering and press conference announcing this historic German – Western North Carolinian partnership. Green Festivals™ is the nation’s premier green event series including San Francisco, Chicago, DC, New York and Los Angeles. Green Festivals™ is produced from Asheville, NC supporting 15-18 green event production and eco sales specialists for the last 13 years. Messe Stuttgart’s partnership with Green Festival signals a new era for this landmark green consumer exposition and herald’s new opportunities for the sustainable event industry.
About Messe Stuttgart
In 2012 Messe Stuttgart attained a total income of around 129 million Euro and a double digit profit before tax of around 14 million Euro. These figures are the highest ever in the history of the company. Europe’s most modern trade fair and congress center also attracted a total of 1.27 million visitors in 2012, i.e. a substantial increase with the previous year (1.12 million visitors). The number of exhibitors (20,601) reached the highest level since the establishment of the Messe Stuttgart (2011:18,492)
67 trade fairs and exhibitions were held in Stuttgart in 2012. This figure represents a marked increase compared with the previous year (55) and was made up of 45 own events and 22 guest events – of which 43 were trade fairs and 24 public exhibitions. Messe Stuttgart manages two subsidiaries in the growth markets China and Turkey. It also maintains a network of foreign representatives in 54 countries.
Messe Stuttgart is the organizer of various trade shows in the Sustainable Economy. Shows like “The Market for good taste – the Slow Food Trade Fair”, “FAIR HANDELN – International exhibition focusing on Fairtrade and globally responsible trade and activities”, “Garden outdoor environment – exhibition for garden and lifestyle”, “i-Mobility – exhibition for intelligent mobility, environment and technology”, “YogaExpo – the trade fair for yoga, ayurveda & co.”, “Minerals Fossils Jewelry”, “Haus Holz Energie – the large sustainable building and energy trade fair” gather every year more than 80,000 attendees and 1150 exhibitors to the Stuttgart Exhibition Centre.
Stuttgart assumes a pioneering role in Germany when it comes to the conservative use of resources and environment-friendly behavior in connection with events. The dedication and commitment of Messe Stuttgart is forward-looking: 34,000 square meters of solar panels produce 4.32 million kWh of electricity per year, precipitation is fed back to the natural water cycle via a retention basin and for the climate system ice is produced at night-time using electricity at a cheaper rate, which is then used to cool the rooms during the day. http://www.messe-stuttgart.de/en/
About Green Festival
Green Festival®, a project of Green America and Global Exchange, celebrates what’s working in our communities and around the world – for people, business and the environment. Green Festival® is the largest sustainability event in the country and continues to grow year after year featuring more than 125 renowned authors, leaders and educators; great how-to workshops; cutting-edge films; fun activities for kids; organic beer and wine; delicious vegetarian cuisine and diverse live music; and a unique marketplace of more than 350 eco-friendly businesses – everything from all-natural body care products and organic cotton clothing to Fair Trade gifts and beautiful kitchen tiles made from renewable resources. Green Festival is the only green event that screens exhibitors for their commitment to sustainability, ecological balance and social justice using Green America’s green business standards. Green Festival® walks its talk: each year it gets closer to being a zero-waste event. http://www.greenfestivals.org
About Seven-Star Events
Since 1999, Seven-Star has provided turn-key green event services out of Asheville, NC for environmentally Responsible and socially Respectful (eR/sR) festivals, trade and consumer expositions, conferences, concerts, and mobile tours. Portfolio includes producing Green Festival, greening of the 2008 Democratic National Convention, and producing the nation’s largest higher education conference, AASHE. Among its many events, Seven-Star provided greening services for Live Earth in Rio de Janeiro, Shanghai, Tokyo and Johannesburg producing 85%-97% waste diversion for those concerts. Seven-Star is the only event company in the history of the Environmental Protection Agency to earn its prestigious Waste Wise Award for solid waste recycling in the category “public venue recycling.” http://sevenstarevents.com
About Green America
Green America® is a not-for-profit membership organization, founded in 1982, working to harness economic power—the strength of consumers, investors, businesses and the marketplace—to create a socially just and environmentally sustainable society. Green America works for a world where all people have enough, where all communities are healthy and safe, and where the bounty of the Earth is preserved for all the generations to come. It runs the largest green business and green consumer networks. Its green economy programs tackle climate change, building fair trading systems, foster sustainable local communities and help families and businesses go green.
http://www.greenamerica.orgAbout Global Exchange
Global Exchange is a 22-year-old international human rights organization dedicated to promoting social, economic and environmental justice around the world. We envision a people-centered globalization that values the rights of workers and the health of the planet; that prioritizes international collaboration as central to ensuring peace; and that aims to create a local, green economy designed to embrace the diversity of our communities. Global Exchange’s influential Reality Tours program buildings international understanding by people-to-people exchanges in countries such as Iran and North Korea. http://globalexchange.org
PRESENTER BIOGRAPHIES FOR PRESS CONFERENCE
Roland Bleinroth, Messe Stuttgart:
Roland Bleinroth has been Managing Director of Messe Stuttgart since 2006. In addition to his responsibility for the entire company, the economics graduate is also responsible for business units Consumer Shows, Messe Services, Corporate Development, Finance & Administration, Personnel & Organization, IT, Purchasing and International Business. He is also Managing Director of the foreign subsidiaries of Messe Stuttgart in Turkey and China. He was previously the Managing Director of Messe Frankfurt, Inc., in Atlanta, USA, where he was responsible over a period of ten years for expanding business of a leading international trade fair company in North America (USA, Canada, Mexico). At AEG Daimler-Benz Industrie Roland Bleinroth held management roles for seven years in strategic planning and international business.
Alisa Gravitz, Green America:
Alisa Gravitz, MBA, the CEO of Green America (formerly Co-op America), has led this high profile green economy organization, the nation’s largest green living and green business network, for over 25 years. Green America’s programs focus on growing the green economy, stopping corporate abuse, advancing fair trade, tackling climate change, and community investing with major events and publications, including Green Festival, the Green Business Conference, the National Green Pages, and the Green American. She is also a nationally recognized leader in the social investment industry who authored Green America’s Guide to Social Investing (over a million copies in print) and served as Vice President of the Social Investment Forum, playing a key role in the dramatic growth of the socially responsible investing industry. She has served on many boards, including for the Positive Futures Network, the Ceres Network for Good, and the Underdog Foundation.
Georgia Malki, Seven-Star Events:
Georgia Malki is the President of Seven-Star. Born in Madrid, Spain Ms. Malki was educated at California State University in Sacramento, California. She began her event career with Whole Life Exposition and Conferences in San Rafael, CA where she rose to be the Chief Operations Officer. There she planned and organized the restructuring of company operations and budgets of over $3 million. She standardized marketing and green operations to facilitate ten annual consumer shows hosting an average of 350 exhibitors, 125 speakers, 30 entertainers, 350 volunteers, 75 staff, and 25,000 attendees per show. Her implementation of the first recycling policy in 1996 helped lay the foundation for Seven-Star and its commitment to operating as a green company with a deep commitment to green all its events.
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