Crowne Plaza Cabana Hotel, Palo Alto, A Certified Green Hotel

A client had booked their conference at the Crown Plaza Cabana Hotel in Palo Alto, CA finally giving us the opportunity to work with this Certified Green property.

The hotel recently went through major eco-friendly upgrades including light sensors in every room to ensure no energy is wasted when a room is empty. Classically beautiful things like the black and white, Art-Deco-esq pool decks were kept in tact.

Aside from the building itself, the hotel’s staff offered impeccable service under Sr. Catering Events Manager Renee Reagan. Ms. Reagan was available for any request of our high profile client, providing outstanding customer service. Her staff was professional and attentive.

The Cabana Hotel has combined upscale hotel service with environmentally friendly options. If you plan a meeting here, the majority of your green event planning has been done for your with location, accommodations, food and beverage and waste management all being coordinated with sustainability in mind under one roof.

Startbucks Not Recyclable?!?!

This note came to me from my colleague Cat Lincoln, blogger-extrodinaire (I say that with complete bias as she writes about Twirl and my events from time to time). This news was actually surprising to me and I assumed Starbucks would be a bit more responsible as a to-go based business. I mean, even McDonalds has cut out it’s egregious Styrofoam packaging (I will not admit how I know this but it’s not from something I’ve read).

“I'm pinging you to send you two links about this campaign that I started to get Starbucks to switch to recyclable and/or compostable cups. You probably know this, but right now their to-go cups are not recyclable! I was shocked, and almost everyone I tell is surprised, too.

With all of your knowledge about recycling and helping large groups of people eat and drink, (plus your networking skills!) I'm interested in your thoughts about solutions, and ways to spread the word.

Here is the TONIC post I wrote: http://news.tonic.com/featured/step-up-starbucks-disposable-cups-are-not-recyclableyet/

And here is the campaign I started on The Point: http://www.thepoint.com/campaigns/starbucks-eco-cup-switch-in-2009”

Now, I am in no way on the “I HATE STARBUCKS” bandwagon. They go above and beyond certified Fair-Trade practices with their growers and give millions of dollars to education projects. Their hiring practices are to be applauded: Many friends worked there through college or bad economies WITH HEALTH INSURANCE and other full-time benefits with opportunities to move up. Additionally if you compare the diversity behind the counter of a Starbucks and your average hipster coffee shop you might get a very NIMBY feeling about the whole debate.

Nonetheless, by their product offering Starbucks is a huge procurer and creator of landfill waste. Them switching to compostable corn cups and the like isn’t my recommendation as very few communities offer the proper composting programs. But not having the option to recycle their containers hurts my head as much as brain freeze from a Grande Mocha Frappacino.

Holiday Season 2008

Phew, That was a doozy! We worked on over 13 fabulous holiday events in the month of December through New Years Eve. For a small, growing company this kept us on our toes but I was proud that the work flow is in such a good place that we balanced the intense work load with perfection for our clients.

There is a sense of dread in the market place, despite the festive season. Many parties slashed their budgets over 50%, some pushed back until after the New Year to save on Holiday-Season rates and a few canceled. The oddest request we got was, “We will pay you the same contracted amount, can you just make it look like we paid less?” Spending right now is considered gauche and frivolous. It will be interesting to see how this spreads throughout the industry as the recession evolves.

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The MacCallum House & Green Weddings in Mendocino

I attended a dear friend’s destination wedding in the lovely town of Mendocino. The majority of the events took place at the amazing MacCallum House. The town of Mendocino paired with the venue of the MacCallum House is a lovely option for a green destination wedding in Northern California. The hotel restaurant and bar specializes (and damn near perfects) organic and local cuisine and culinary cocktails. The dill and other spices in my Bloody Mary the morning after nearly sent me over the edge.

A large, Raj-style tent was erected in their front lawn and the décor the hotel spearheaded was elegant and simple with draped paneling, hanging chandeliers offering both incandescent and candlelit dinning. The hotel let us dance and celebrate into the night only shutting us down at the same time as their bar, at 2am – a rarity for most hotel destinations that usually close events down by midnight.

For guests who did not stay at the MacCallum House, there were many options within walking distance at all price points from 2 to 4 star accommodations. Camping was also available for the more adventurous guest.

The location offered carpooling and wine tasting options to and from Mendocino through one of my favorite regions – The Anderson Valley. Shuttle/Wine train service was also available from San Francisco (or other metropolitan areas) to Mendocino with stops at wineries, cheese shops and farms along the way.

Raffle-4-Riders

Raffle-4-Riders is a Twirl Management created program that acts as a rewards system for event attendees who ride their bikes or public transportation to your festival, conference, trade show, etc. Showing the ticket stub or the bike claim ticket from Bike Valet and an honor code for walkers at the Raffle-4-Riders, attendees are eligible for a raffle with prizes from various local businesses and restaurants.

We rolled out the concept at Spirit of Japantown 2008 in San Jose California with great results. Despite the heavy downpour that day, our marketing to take alternative transportation was rewarded by over 200 visitors to the booth for the duration of the one day festival. Our prizes included gift certificates from Jamba Juice, Sports Basement, Bicycle Express, Naglee Park Garage, and Farm Fresh to You.

For this roll out or goal was to partner with the Silicon Valley Bike Coalition but due to late procurement of sponsorship this did not happen but is slated for this years festival on September 26th, 2009. It is a great program to work in conjunction with a bike valet partner and a transportation sponsorship. This rewards alternative transportation to your event and an opportunity to incorporate a different variety of sponsorship and donations.

Bi-Rite Street Fair

Example of a green street fair...

This last weekend I was pulled out of the office by a friend to enjoy the day and check out the Bi-Rite Market Street Fair. It was one of those 80 degree, no fog Early-September San Francisco days that was torturous to be inside at the computer.

Sweet organic corn, Niman Ranch Pork and bean salads, Bi-Rite ice cream with chocolate syrup, watermelon drinks, and hot dogs were a few of the treats being sold at this foodie schmorgusborg. For show they were roasting a pig in the middle of the street, which was apparently going to be turned into sandwiches and sold the next day.



Bi-Rite is the epicenter of fine, local and organic foods in San Francisco. They have their Bi-Rite Creamery just down the street with flavors such as Salted Caramel and Balsamic Strawberry. The Bi-Rite Market is packed to the gills with organic delicacies perfect to spice up your own dinner party, bring as a gift or pack as a picnic in Delores Park. Did you know they have a catering service?

So it was only natural that their waste management sorting system was worthy of any green event. They offered trash, recycling and compost with clear and direct signage of what goes in which bin. For example the cups were all recyclable while the rest of the serving ware was compostable. The waste bins noted specifically that. I can only guess that the choice to do recyclable cups was a cost and recyclability issue that is important to examine when procuring disposables for your event – What goes in must go out so be sure to look at where it will end up…

After devouring a large lunch meal and many small sides I rolled myself back into my office – fat and happy to be filled with well prepared and grown food.