Impact on the environment, quality of life and ways of working, all figure high in today's list of topical issues. It's therefore appropriate that we mention the changes afoot at Ambient that have gone some considerable way to make improvements on all of these fronts.
Technology can be a great facilitator when part of an overall strategy, and that's certainly true in respect of its application throughout the Ambient organisation. How so? First of all, let's consider many of the core functions a marketing and events management company engages in, that are traditionally carried out in a centralised office environment. Nearly all of those functions can now be carried out remotely from almost any computer, thanks to marvellous inventions such as online CRM systems, content management systems, and lots of other bits of technical cleverness.
What does it mean? Well, for one thing it mean less time on the road commuting to the office, (as the office can now be anywhere), it means less fuel consumed, less energy consuming office infrastructure, more time being productive, and last but not least, less time being stuck in a queue of a dozen cars behind a tractor and/or a caravan.
We believe that a responsible and balanced approach to environmental issues is not that to operate under a premise that you can have no environmental impact, but rather to make the best and most appropriate choices for our business context. Many of our transport suppliers have introduced their own schemes and travel industry has a whole is taking a more responsible attitude that we applaud and support.
In keeping with that philosophy we're working hard to develop packages in locations reachable via train. The train provides a less stressful, more environmentally friendly travel option for travel to venues in the UK and Eurostar and its fast train links across Europe provide a quick and greener option for organisations running events in Europe. Ambient is currently developing a number of Green Conference options with associates in Belgium.
So just how green is our company? A truthful answer is probably not enough but we feel that the steps we have already taken have had a marked effect on our own green credentials. Not only are we now more retrospect in the decisions and recommendations we make but we are also able to offer an even more efficient and cost effective service to our customers as a result.