While business events have always been drivers of positive change in participants, across industries, and among broader global communities, the world is shifting in ways that make it both more important and more difficult to execute this level of impact. As the world recovers from the pandemic, geopolitical pressures are complicating everything from sourcing and staffing logistics to practical safety. In this context, event organizers must increasingly balance the need to deliver business value with the imperative to be conscientious — contributing to the global good in a greater, more altruistic sense.

Leveraging a destination’s assets, intellectual capital, networks, and infrastructure can go a long way to making sure an event creates a strong return on investment while maximizing its wider impact by:

• Fostering innovation
• Delivering meaningful experiences
• Furthering diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI)
• Meeting sustainability goals
• Creating lasting change

This guide draws on insights from Business Events Sydney (BESydney) to deliver learnings with practical examples that prove this level of change is not only possible, but also necessary and fruitful. It will share with event changemakers different ways to cultivate local partnerships and lean into destination resources to support these initiatives.

1. A Message From BESydney
2. Introduction
3. Positive Outcomes That Inspire
4. Events as Economic Drivers
5. Event Partners as Channels for Community Support
6. Leaving the Right Kind of Footprint by Making Sustainability a Priority
7. Putting DEI Principles into Practice
8. Create the Change