bywayentertainment — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 18:10:43 +0000

MONDAY, MARCH 2, 2009

URGENT CALL: Senator Kerry’s direct attack on the Meetings & Events Industry

Make your voice heard! This is a direct attack on our industry.

Our industry continues to be under fire, and we each need to take a more active role in ensuring that our local communities and elected officials are more educated on the true role and impact of our industry on the economy. This is a time of partnership and alliances!

Meeting Professionals International and the National Business Travel Association and their respective leaderships have been working behind the scenes with fellow industry associations to thoughtfully respond to many inaccurate assertions unfairly attached to our industry. Now, we need your help to reinforce these responses in your local communities and to reach out to your elected officials. Here’s a list of links that you should sign up on and investigate further!!!

1) Write to government representatives TODAY! Please view the many tools and updates available on the MPI International Website @www.meetingindustrycrisiscenter.org. Here you will find your government representatives and sample letters that can be written. I urge you to write today!

2) Sign the Keep America Meeting petitionwww.keepamericameeting.org

I invite your input on Green Events

bywayentertainment — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 05:07:29 +0000

NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: O’Bayley Communications – Tim O’Bayley 760/778-3525 • tim@obayley.net or

AIDS Assistance Program – Walter Reed, Executive Director 760/325-8481 wreed@aidsassistance.org

EVENING UNDER THE STARS GOES GREEN

Byway Entertainment Brings Eco-Friendly Components to Annual Gala Event

PALM SPRINGS – February 19, 2009: AIDS Assistance Program’s annual Evening Under the Stars benefit gala will count itself among one of the top green events in the Coachella Valley due to a major effort to make the event more eco-friendly. The emphasis on reducing waste and using recycled materials is being spearheaded by Richard Byford of Byway Events & Entertainment Inc., who has produced the event for the past nine years. Evening Under the Stars, now in its sixteenth year, is A.A.P.’s major benefit fundraiser, and will take place on Saturday, April 25, on the green of the O’Donnell Golf Club in Palm Springs.

“We’re very supportive of Richard’s efforts to make Evening Under the Stars more green,” said Steve Pougnet, Mayor of Palm Springs. “If you think about it, with a thousand people having dinner and enjoying the wonderful entertainment outside, it makes a big impact on the local environment. I’m really pleased with how Richard has incorporated so many sustainable aspects into the events he produces, and I think that his efforts with so many local vendors and event companies will encourage them to make all of their events more sustainable.”

For the past two years, Byford has been working to ‘green up’ the events he produces after reading that the special events industry was ranked as the second most wasteful industry in the country. In his contracts with local event supplier and vendors, he consistently chooses options that reduce the environmental impact of his events and the overall carbon footprint.

“There are so many green things that we can do in our every day lives that just make common sense,” said Richard Byford. “Simple things that really do not cost any more or take more time. Recycle, reuse & reduce – we all know the mantra, but I produce large events with lots of potential impact, so I’m working to take this to the next level and convince my vendors that going green is not only the way of the future, but crucial to our survival on the planet.”

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For Evening Under the Stars, Byford has included the following green components:

Culligan Water is sponsoring a portable water filtration system to supply all of the drinking water for the tables, eliminating the need for the more than 4,000 water bottles that were used at last year’s event.

Palm Springs Disposal Services, one of the City of Palm Springs’ major partners on the Mayor’s Path to Sustainability, will be supplying dumpsters and receptacles to recycle all plastic, glass, paper, cardboard and food waste.

Classic Party Rentals, a longtime sponsor of Evening Under the Stars and friend of A.A.P., will be providing all of the equipment for the event. Classic is committed to developing and implementing comprehensive recycling, energy and water efficiency, sustainable purchasing, and waste disposal programs. Wherever possible, Byford will be using sustainable rental items from Classic.

Burrtec Waste and Recycling Services is supplying solar-powered executive-style bathrooms for guests at the event.

Invitation and programs will not only be printed on recycled paper with soy-based inks, but also only 500 programs will be printed – approximately 1 per couple.

Just like at last year’s event, centerpieces for the tables will be a decorative table number printed on recycled card stock, rather than flowers and holders that can only be used once.

Power needs for the event will be provided by bio-diesel generators that will help reduce the event’s carbon footprint.

The linens and cloth napkins to be used are made of durable fabric with a longer life, and they will be laundered with eco-friendly chemicals.

All food waste will be collected and shipped to Bio-Mass in Thermal for composting.

Wherever possible, Energy Star light bulbs and LED units will be used for décor, as well as production lighting to reduce the amount of power consumed.

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This year’s Evening Under the Stars features a Motown theme with emcee Della Reese, famed actress and Motown vocalist, and headliner Mary Wilson of The Supremes. This year’s honorees include Craig Simrell and Mark Greganti, Tami Low, The Bottom Line Magazine, and Jay Horwitz.

Tickets for Evening Under the Stars are $395 per person and can be purchased by contacting the AIDS Assistance Program at 760/325-8481. Program ads may be reserved/purchased by calling Raymond Smith at 760-778-4536. For more information about Byway Events & Entertainment Inc., please contact Richard Byford at 760-320-9054 or richard@bywayentertainment.com.

Since its founding in 1991, the AIDS Assistance Program of Palm Springs remains dedicated to providing comfort and support to improve the quality of the lives of those surviving HIV/AIDS. Initiated by a small group of concerned citizens, led by the late Gloria Greene and Jeannette Rockefeller, AAP provided meals to members of the community with low incomes and suffering with HIV/AIDS. Since then, the AIDS Assistance Program’s client roster has grown from approximately 20 to 530 people. For more information please contact the AIDS Assistance Program at 760/325-8481.

The Byway Blog

MONDAY, MARCH 2, 2009

URGENT CALL: Senator Kerry’s direct attack on the Meetings & Events Industry

I invite your input on Green Events