The ARA conference ‘Climate and Crisis: Tackling It Together’ wrapped up more than a week ago and our sights are now set on connecting with people in Belgium at the 2024 iPres conference where the event includes sessions on how we think about and accomplish digital preservation work within the boundaries of climate change.
Travelling and meeting in person is a privilege and one that we do not take for granted but there is no question that it leaves a carbon footprint. When we make the decision to attend in person we try to think about the following:
When is remote as effective as in person?
How many people should travel and why?
Are there other ways to support the event without travel, such as a sponsorship?
When choosing swag or booth materials where do we buy them, what are they made of, and how do they arrive at the destination?
How much printed or other material should we create at all?
Artefactual is an entirely remote company. We don’t have a bricks and mortar office and so we don’t work together in real life very often. We try to fly only when necessary and stay longer when we do. We make efforts to group meetings together and to visit customers in conference regions. We try to print a limited number of flyers and to put information on them that is applicable to a variety of events. Our banner is made of material that will degrade more easily than one made of plastics. Our stickers are printed by a company in the same region as a staff person travelling.
Let us know what you think and what you do when considering in-person attendance at a conference.
If you are in Ghent and want to discuss digital preservation and your carbon footprint or anything else with us, please come and see us at our table in the foyer of the Bijloke. You can sign up for 1:1 time if you’d like or just pop by and say hi. We have new stickers!
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