DRAFT Vision: Louisville Green Expo and Festival

Sustainable Louisville Networks Organizing


DRAFT (3/07)

Vision: Louisville Green Expo and Festival

(NOTE: This vision statement and summary of the proposed Louisville Green Expo and Festival is a DRAFT for review and development by the Ad Hoc working group.

Your feedback and suggestions are welcome as these projects develop. Please post your comments and suggestions below.

Thank you for your time and consideration.)

Vision and Next Steps

The Event:


The Louisville Green Expo and Festival is envisioned as a week long, major, mainstream Business and Consumer Expo and Community Green Festival.


Anticipated Outcomes:


The Expo and Festival and the ongoing community networking and education processes leading up and following from the events should result in widespread, mainstream adoption of sustainability strategy and action for a green economy in each neighborhood, business and community sector of the region.

In addition, the Green Expo and Festival is designed to be a major Expo which brings together local/global resources and participants to help mainstream sustainable development in heart of the USA. The Expo and Festival is an opportunity to learn about and broker green business development and opportunities, consumer choice, community transitions and best practices.


Proposed Process:


The Louisville Green Expo and Festival will bring together diverse business and community leadership to develop and manage the conference process through existing ad hoc committees to form a consortium of lead local and national business and non-profit organizations, agencies and individuals.


Partnering with local events and networking efforts leading up to and following from the expo is designed to build community awareness, organizational collaboration and events management expertise. Learning from and building on the expertise of the Bluegrass Energy and Green Living Expo, Louisville Green Business mini-conferences and Green events, The National Green Festivals and Green Business Conferences and similar events and partnerships is central to the Expo process.


Location:


Louisville, Kentucky, the 16th largest city in the US and the country's central logistics hub, is easily accessible to all of the major markets of the midwest and mid-south and with first class national and international air travel connections.


The City is home to both the Kentucky international Convention Center and the Kentucky Exposition Center/State Fairgrounds, adjacent to the International airport and close to downtown.

Kentucky International Convention Center has 300,000 square feet of space and can accommodate a wide variety of sizes and types of events with ease.


The KY Exposition Center is now the sixth largest facility of its kind in the United States. The exposition center features over 1.2 million square feet of indoor exhibit, meeting and public space.


Numerous other substantial facilities are available nearby for spill-over events, from the State Center for the Arts to nearby Universities and 5 star hotels.


Schedule:


While no date certain has been set, the current preferred date is Earth Week of Spring, April 2008.


Alternative dates under consideration include concurrent scheduling with the August 2007 or 2008 Kentucky State Fair, the April/May Kentucky Derby Festival, or prior to or following the Fall Bluegrass Energy and Green Living Expo in Lexington.


Events leading towards the Expo and Festival now in motion include participation in existing events such as the Earth week festivals in Louisville, the Louisville Green Business Conference and Speaker series, along with similar series related to other aspects of sustainability, (kicking off April 16), the Green Magic unit in the Derby Festival Parade (May 3) and similar "mainstreaming" community events. Reelated networking includes efforts such as the establishment of BALLE affiliates in Kentucky and continuing partnerships with the Bluegrass Energy and Green Living Expo, Sustainable Communities Network, relocalize.net, Berea trading Post and othersl. Ad Hoc committees have been meeting thsi Spring, and following Derby, the call to establish the more formal consortium organization will be enacted, with contracts to follow.


Budget:


Planning for budget and event management is underway but has not been finalized. It is anticipated that cash requirements of a full blown Expo and festival will be in the range of low six-figure budgets, with equivalent or greater in-kind materials, services and staff donations and volunteers.