Greenbuild 2022 & Halloween

I am with you, Sarah. I will not miss Halloween. It is a major deal in my neighborhood and we have a 25 year history of decorating the house. I’ll be flying the next day. jim Jim Newman | Principal Linnean Solutions Cambridge, MA | Portland, ME www.linneansolutions.com (617) 699-7323

I would support and sign onto a strongly-worded letter urging them to push it back a day. I know these are scheduled by Informa or whoever, but you would think out of the hundreds of employees at the USGBC someone might have noticed this was happening and intervened on behalf of those with families. And, let's not forget about the younger folks (and costume party enthusiasts of all ages) for whom this is one of the biggest party days of the year. Who are we to deprive them of getting their party on? This also makes any attempt at a gathering for groups like this (SCL, SDL, etc.) the day before even less feasible. Steven Burke. LEED & WELL Faculty Director Of Sustainability m: 774.462.2044 consigli.com

At this point I don't feel great about the safety of such a big in-person event - at least trick-or-treating is outdoors & mask-friendly! But we are thinking of holding an internal company event in SF to coincide with the conference for those who do go. So i'm curious to hear how some of the Greenbuild-adjacent events that normally come before the conference are shaping up, knowing that there will likely be a lot of folks planning their travel like Jim. 

Thank you for bringing this up! I would also totally support pushing the date so that we can have Halloween with our families and then travel after. I haven't told my kids yet either; Halloween is a very big deal in our house! And agree that it would also be great to have time for any pre-conference events, also not on Halloween. *Michelle Lambert* Assoc. AIA, LEED AP BD+C / CPHC / Envision SP michelle@lambertsustainability.com www.lambertsustainability.com/ 781-801-0233

Not to pile on - but for the construction/design industry, it is also the same dates for DBIA that is scheduled in Vegas.

I'll pile on. It's Halloween, Dia de los Muertos, and my son's bday that week. Womp womp.

I completely agree it was poor planning to schedule it with Halloween. That was the first thing that came to my mind when they announced it last year. It put the conference, at least the 31/1 days, as a definite "no" for me. I'm skeptical, though, that they would change the dates so significantly at this stage since many people have likely already made travel plans. Perhaps if we had proposed it last year. I think possibly shifting a day would be more feasible. That said, I know they typically have these things scheduled years in advance and it would mean rescheduleing keynote speakers, etc. who may not be available if moved. Just my two cents. I LOVE that you reached out to this group and got something moving so quickly. So great to see! Like Steven. I'd also like to know whether/when the associated meetings for SCL, CLF, etc. are being planned.

I have to agree with Angi--I think that the chance of getting this thing moved, even by a day, are somewhere south of nil. But hey, I'll sign, just in case I'm wrong. We have been starting to talk about an SCL Summit the day before Greenbuild, and our traditional show-and-tell the night before, but apparently we hadn't checked the date yet. (Without exhibitors and keynotes we don't have the same lead times ;-)  Now that will all need some rethinking.

Peer Network Show and Tell with costumes? Just reminded me of college…..At the University of Nebraska College of Architecture

Greenbuild somehow seems to alternate most years between my anniversary or my wife's birthday. So for me personally, this is probably one of the better years. But yeah, I noticed the dates as soon as I went to book it and figured it would create an issue for a lot of people.

Agree with Nadav that the chances of changing it are nil at this point, but hopefully they'll be mindful of stuff like that in the future. Of course, anybody that's been involved with conference planning knows how challenging picking dates are. You can't do it in the summer or winter holidays because people are on vacation. Then you start working around other holidays, other known major conferences, and then boom - you've got like three weeks to choose from all year. 

When this issue came up in early 2020, Greenbuild scheduled during elections week, I happened to meet Kim Heavner in person (VP for USGBC in charge of conferences) and politely challenged her on the scheduling of the conference dates and how the elections could have been overlooked.  She said that they had contracted out the conference organizing rights to Informa and Informa had alread booked out the conference dates and locations several years in advance.  I recall her saying that they had tentatively scheduled the conferences out 10 years in advance.  At the time when the conference dates were approved, she said they could not have anticipated the tension around the election in 2020, but would consider our concerns (and the conference dates were actually moved by 1 day!). A take away from that conversation: theoretically the future dates and locations of the Greenbuild conferences are already known several years in advance.  Might be useful to see if someone is willing to share that advance calendar to see if there are any future conflicts like this.  Somehow we were successful in getting them to agree to move the dates of the 2020 conference by one day, so it is possible if we give them enough time. Brian

Sarah and all. I think the letter still makes sense, knowing that it is really about getting our lives on their radar. And yes, we can ask for future dates to help scan these dates for other personal/family issues. jim Jim Newman | Principal Linnean Solutions Cambridge, MA | Portland, ME www.linneansolutions.com (617) 699-7323

Ditto What Jim and Nadav said. Happy to sign too Pauline Souza, FAIA, LEED Fellow, WELL AP, LFA Partner, Director of Sustainability WRNS STUDIO San Francisco | Honolulu | New York I Seattle 415.489.2224 P | 415-489-2235 D | 415.203.3260 C | 501 2ND ST. #402 | San Francisco, CA 94107 l 2003 Western Ave. #500 | Seattle, WA 98121 www.wrnsstudio.com Microsoft Silicon Valley - Read about our AIA COTE Top Ten Winner Microsoft Silicon Valley Campus The Janet Durgin Guild and Commons is the first project in the country to receive BOTH Zero Carbon and Petal Certification; read more here: https://living-future.org/lbc/case-studies/sonoma-academy-guild-commons/ Please read about WHO recommendations and the AEC’s role https://www.architectmagazine.com/design/who-issues-new-covid-19-recommendations-following-petitions-from-aec-professionals_o?utm_source=newsletter&utm_content=Article&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=AN_032421 My working hours may not be your working hours. Please do not feel obligated to reply outside of your normal work schedule. F

Sarah, I'm happy to sign on as well if you're still looking to add folks to the list. STO Building Group sponsors Greenbuild annually and I'm in the midst of negotiating our sponsorship now. I'll bring it up in our next discussion of our sponsorship package, though the sales people are really disconnected from the event planners I can only hope that the feedback from a recurring sponsor is elevated. Happy to use my leverage here and report back if anything comes of it. I too feel the pinch of spending Halloween with my family, compounded with an ill timed family (for me) wedding the weekend after. Sigh. Jenn Taranto
Vice President of Sustainability, STOBG Global Services STO Building Group 711 Atlantic Ave | Boston, MA | 02111
jennifer.taranto@stobuildinggroup.com 
(d) +1 617-956-3721 (m) +1 617-593-8750  
www.STOBuildingGroup.com

Thanks, Sarah, for pulling this together. Agree with Jim, Nadav and Pauline. I'm not sure why they stopped publishing the dates in advance. They used to publish the next five conferences out so people could plan, which was really nice. Jenn, if you could also recommend they at least publish dates/locations more years in advance would also be helpful.

There have been discussions with the different Greenbuild Volunteers about this conflict.  Unfutuly there seam s to be little that can be done because of the venue.  I plan to fly out the day after Holloween and miss half a day of Greenbuild.

I also chose to miss some sessions and tours rather than miss Halloween with my family. I’m flying in from Seattle, a west coast city relatively close to SF, and I couldn’t a get a flight earlier than 7:15am. I arrive at 9:10am, which means I’m unlikely to make it to a session before noon. Maybe the Los Angeles folks can make it there with an early flight, but I don’t know who else will. From: S