CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY REPORT 2015
Massachusetts Convention Center Authority 415 Summer Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02210 t 617.954.2000 f 617.954.2299 massconvention.com
/MassConvention @MassConvention massachusetts-convention-center-authority
The Massachusetts Convention Center Authority is known for the remarkable experiences we deliver for our clients and attendees, as well as for the significant economic impact that we generate, year after year, for our Commonwealth. This record of success, however, does not tell our whole story.
To fully define ourselves, we need to consider the way we interact with the community in Boston, Springfield, and across Massachusetts. Our commitment to our neighbors is not just something that we do: it’s at the core of who we are as an organization. As you will see in this, our third Corporate Social Responsibility report, the partnerships and programs that we have established over the years have had a transformative effect – through them we have become supporters of the arts, green crusaders, civic conveners, a volunteer corps, and more. We are proud to take on these and many other important roles in our neighborhoods, just as we are proud of the work we do to support business development and entrepreneurship in the region. To us, social responsibility is integral to the way we measure the value we bring to the Commonwealth and its people. As the new Interim Executive Director of the MCCA, I am indebted to the legacy established by former Executive Director James E. Rooney, whose commitment to positively impacting our communities permeates every level of our organization, across all of our venues. This effort is an expression of our deeply held values, and with our Board of Directors, employees, and partners, it will continue unabated into the future. I invite you to share your thoughts and ideas with us. We are always looking for new partnerships – and new roles to play – in our community. Yours truly,
Fred Peterson INTERIM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
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CENTERS FOR ART
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BEING GREEN
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COMMUNITY SPACE
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PEOPLE WHO CARE
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WHERE WE WERE
CENTERS FOR
CENTERS FOR ART Convention centers
have walls, lots of them, usually empty and painted in neutral, unobtrusive colors. We saw all that space in the BCEC, Hynes, and MassMutual Center as a resource and an opportunity. If there is something artists need, it’s an audience. And our audience spans the globe. By partnering with Massachusetts arts organizations and becoming curators, we have enriched our venues with beautiful work from local painters, photographers, weavers, sculptors, digital artists, and more, creating vibrant, inspiring experiences for our visitors – all while strengthening our ties with the community. LAURA RADWELL UNTITLED (DETAIL) featured in the MassMutual Center’s “5 Narratives” exhibit. The MassMutual Center’s Community Arts Program was established in January 2014. You can view this and other Radwell paintings at radwelldesign.net/lauraradwell/massmutual-exhibit/
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Student Art on the Marquee We designed our 80-foot-tall digital Marquee, standing tall outside the BCEC, to be a focal point and a source of information for all that pass by. But we also saw its potential as a digital canvas, pushing the limits of what people expect from public signage. Partnering with Boston Cyberarts, a local art organization from Jamaica Plain, we opened up the Marquee to Massachusetts artists, transforming it into a cutting-edge gallery for short videos, animations, and computer-generated motion works. Our “Art on the Marquee” program has been an astounding success for four years, producing 14 digital collections and displaying more than 140 pieces of digital art from local artists, including three rounds of work from college students. These students responded to our call for art with ideas and concepts. They were then mentored by professional artists – many of whom have exhibited on the Marquee themselves – to bring their creations to life on our screen. Selected students have come from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design, the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Fitchburg State University and the New England Institute of Art. These pieces were not only a wonderful opportunity for students to get exposure for their work, they also tested their abilities, challenging them to design for our unique, multiscreen display. Partnering with mentor artists, students created exceptional digital experiences, brightening the days of the many people who pass by on Summer Street and delighting attendees at BCEC conventions and events.
“Exhibiting my artwork on the Marquee has been such a great experience, especially since this is the first time my artwork has been publicly displayed.”
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local artists showcased since 2014 inside our facilities
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Massachusetts student artists featured on Art on the Marquee since 2013
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innovative and interactive outdoor art installations featured on The Lawn on D since 2014
KRISTEN RACAMATO
KRISTEN RACAMATO ART ON THE MARQUEE STUDENT EXHIBITOR University of Massachusetts Lowell student, Kristen Racamato, was selected in our third round of Student Art on the Marquee with her piece, Letter Land – an enthralling animation of amusement park scenes constructed entirely of letterforms. Astoundingly, it was one of Racamato’s first animations. She plans on pursuing a career in motion graphics and animation.
MARLON FORRESTER: THE ECSTASY OF FLIGHT Local artist Marlon Forrester was featured in the Hynes Convention Center from October 2014 through January 2015 with his exhibit, titled The Ecstasy of Flight. The focal point of the exhibit was a twenty-foot long vinyl wall piece that wowed attendees. Born in Guyana, South America and raised in Boston, Forrester is an award-winning painter, artist, and educator and is very active in the local arts scene.
“Boston features amazing exhibition spaces that bring together individuals from around the world,” says Marlon Forrester. “I am honored to have been selected to add my voice to the walls to those that have come before me at the Hynes. I received a lot of positive feedback on The Ecstasy of Flight, and I thank the MCCA for continuing to be an important partner for local artists.”
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Beyond Kale: Levy Restaurants Is Big on “Greens”
PROFILE: NEW ENGLAND GROWS CONTINUES TRADITION OF GIVING
Our food and beverage provider, Levy Restaurants, is as committed to sustainability and good green practices as we are. At the BCEC and Hynes, Levy sources a combined 74% of food and beverage served from local vendors. For example, the micro arugula that tops Executive Chef Chris Pulling’s caprese salad is sourced from 2 Friends Farm in Attleboro, Massachusetts, and the strawberries served to countless attendees in the form of decadent strawberry shortcakes are from Ward’s Farm in Sharon, Massachusetts. In addition, any disposable wares, such as cutlery and plates, are made of bagasse, which is a sugarcane by-product. These wares are easily composted right here at our facilities – there are compost bins in designated spaces around dining areas. “Local food builds community,” says Tim Elderkin, Executive Chef at the Hynes. “When we buy direct from a farmer, we are engaging in a timehonored connection between eater and grower. It’s also an investment in the future – by supporting local farmers today, we are helping to ensure that there will be farms in our community tomorrow.”
For the second year in a row, leftover food from New England Grows, an educational partnership of the leading horticultural and green industry associ ations in the New England area, was donated to the Boston Rescue Mission, an organization that provides life necessities and social service programs to the homeless throughout Greater Boston. Levy and New England Grows first worked together to donate surplus food from their show in 2014, when an entire day of the event was canceled due to snow. Not wanting the food to go to waste, Levy, New England Grows, and the MCCA’s Community Liaison found an eager partner in the Boston Rescue Mission. This year, New England Grows donated over $4,000 in food to the Mission.
“The shorter the time between the farm and the table of our guests, the less likely it is that nutrients will be lost from fresh food.” CHRISTOPHER PULLING, EXECUTIVE CHEF AT THE BCEC
CHARGED-UP Visitors who find a spot in the Boston Common Garage (BCG) may not realize that they’re parking in an award-winning garage. In June 2014, we received an Award of Excellence from the International Parking Institute (IPI) for our sustainable parking and transportation initiatives. With our electric vehicle charging stations, Zipcar plug-in hybrids, 100% electric options, and policies to reduce idling time and improve air quality, the BCG is so much more than just another place to park your car.
42 1,150 80.6 %
average waste diversion rate in FY14 and FY15
total recycled tons in FY14 and FY15
tons of goods donated to local nonprofits through Conventions C.A.R.E. in FY14 and FY15
EAST BOSTON HIGH RECEIVES TWO TONS OF FURNITURE In fall 2014, the football players of East Boston High School made a field trip that no one would have expected – to the BCEC to load a truckful of furniture to bring back to the school. The school contacted the MCCA with a need for furniture, and, as it happened, we had plenty to share: Sibos, the premier annual conference for the international financial industry, had just taken place in September, leaving us with plenty of donated material from the exhibit hall floor, including chairs, desks, file cabinets, fans, a couch, and more. The donations came as part of the MCCA’s Conventions C.A.R.E. (Community Assistance by Responsible Events), a program
founded in 2010 that collects clean, usable, non-perishable goods from exhibitors after conventions and delivers them to local nonprofits. This was the first time that Conventions C.A.R.E. had distributed goods to East Boston High School. “We had so many spaces, especially in our library, that were just not being used due to a lack of functional furnishings,” says Annissa Essaibi-George, teacher at East Boston High, “With the addition of the donated furniture, we were able to reclaim these spaces, providing more areas where students felt welcome and comfortable.”
BEING
BEING GREEN Never one to shy away from
a challenge, we have tackled an issue that plagues the convention industry head-on: Environmental Responsibility. We are proud to bring a new environmentalist’s attitude to the industry, partnering with organizations that share our passion for energy, water, and waste conservation. From our sustainability-minded food and beverage provider, to our industryleading recycling programs and electric vehicle charging stations in the Boston Common Garage, we make it easy for those hosting events, attending a convention, or parking in the Back Bay to join us in our greening cause.
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The Lawn on D Opens to the Community When we opened The Lawn on D in the summer of 2014, we knew it was going to be a marketable space for us. As a one-of-a-kind, experimental outdoor event space, it allows us to host events outside the confines of the BCEC. We could now encourage meeting planners to think outside the convention box. We imagined a networking happy hour, where guests could not only mingle, but play a game of bocce, or a company picnic under our tent, with live music on our stage. What we envisioned has come to life, with organizations such as TripAdvisor taking over The Lawn for its 2015 Summer Outing – complete with bounce houses, food trucks, and lawn games. The Lawn on D, however, is as much a boon to the community as it is to our clients. It’s a place where families can spend the afternoon lounging in the Adirondack chairs, or where young professionals can gather after work. To drive this neighborhood focus home, we hosted a “Community Day” to kick off the grand opening weekend of The Lawn on D, which included entertainment for kids and adults alike, such as face-painting, live bands, an ice cream truck, and interactive art exhibits such as Swing Time – a lighted art installation from award-winning architects Eric Höweler and J. Meejin Yoon of Höweler + Yoon Architecture. The event was a huge hit, drawing thousands of our neighbors and helping to make The Lawn on D a beloved part of the city. To date, we have hosted over 150 days of event programming on The Lawn, and continue to bring innovative neighborhood-minded events, art installations, and programming to the space for all to enjoy.
94 90 community events held in our centers since 2014
thousand dollars
in Hospitality Scholarships given to Massachusetts students since the program’s inception in 2007
900 thousand dollars
UNITED WAY Holidays present a great opportunity to help our communities, and Thanksgiving 2014 was no different. Last November, we were again able to assist the United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley in two meaningful ways. The United Way’s Thanksgiving project is an annual event in which the organization provides holiday meals to families in need. All turkeys, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and vegetables need to be sorted into baskets for distribution, which requires a big space. And that’s what we offered: the United Way used the Hynes Convention Center to organize over 150,000 pounds of food. We didn’t stop there. The United Way relies on the help of volunteers to package the food, so 13 MCCA employees headed up to the Hynes auditorium during their lunch break to help. In total, more than 5,500 baskets were distributed to Massachusetts families in need, serving ten different communities.
in Community Partnership Grants donated to local nonprofits since program’s inception in 2007
Annual Community Events • South Boston’s Citizen Association Dinner • South Boston’s St. Patrick’s Day Breakfast • El Jolgorio Navideño • Celebration of Life Thanksgiving Dinner • MA Fallen Heroes Memorial Dinner • Christmas in the City • First Night Celebrations
“It is a great, lasting feeling to know that I was able to help feed over 5,500 families.”
• American Foundation for Suicide Prevention • Fall Western Mass Veterans Expo • American Red Cross Hometown Heroes Breakfast • Marine Corps Luncheon
STALANEY ROBERT
• Martin Luther King Breakfast
MCCA TRANSPORTATION COORDINATOR AND
• Pie in the Sky
UNITED WAY THANKSGIVING PROJECT VOLUNTEER
• We Are College Bound
GET KONNECTED! For two years in a row, the BCEC hosted Get Konnected!, Boston’s premiere networking event, which helps urban and international professionals, business executives, and multicultural entrepreneurs forge new business and social relationships, making Boston a more diverse and inclusive city. In March 2014 Get Konnected! celebrated its sixth anniversary by honoring 12 distinguished Boston leaders as “Diversity Game Changers,” including former MCCA Executive Director Jim Rooney, for his role in the creation of the award-winning “Weekend of Discovery” program that markets Boston as an event destination for diverse associations.
SUMMER SOLSTICE ART CELEBRATION As part of a summer-long celebration of the 10-year anniversary of the BCEC in June 2014, we held a full-building art reception that took over the South Boston facility. This open-to-the-public event incorporated live performance art, sculptures, photography, digital art, paintings, music and more. Drawing more than 600 guests, the event highlighted the value that art brings to our venues, and how much it is appreciated, not just by attendees, but also by our neighbors in Boston and across Massachusetts.
COMMUNITY
COMMUNITY SPACE Boston is known for its entrepreneurship and innovation.
Nevertheless, the city cannot function without its diverse and burgeoning neighborhoods, where people take pride in their surroundings and work together to create vibrant communities. The neighborhoods that surround our facilities contribute much to the important work we do at our convention centers, making Boston not only a more desirable place to visit, but a better place to do business, to gather and discuss groundbreaking ideas, to fully appreciate our culture and history. We belong to these communities and contribute to them whenever possible – helping to make our city a wonderful place to live, work, play, and visit.
PEOPLE WHO
PEOPLE WHO CARE Our dedication to serving the
community is not only deeply engrained in our business practices, it is also a source of pride for MCCA employees. Many of us take time to volunteer, from an after-work 5k road race benefitting local charities to beach cleanups bright and early on a Saturday morning. We are eager to serve, building deeper connections to the communities where we work and live.
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A Sense of Community
Four Notable SWIM Events
While our employees and contract partners have always taken the time to volunteer individually, many expressed interest in taking part in community service initiatives as part of an “MCCA team.” In the past we’ve come together to run local charity races and organize events here and there. This year, however, we have made volunteering a major part of our institutional culture, introducing our very own “SWIM Team” – the MCCA’s Society for Workplace Involvement & Morale. The SWIM Team was created to generate a sense of community, improve internal communication, and foster positive workplace relations at the MCCA. It is made up of six different committees, including a dedicated Community Service Committee. The Community Service Committee organizes at least one volunteer event each month.
“The Community Service Committee strengthens the relationship between MCCA employees and our community. It also forged stronger ties with our colleagues across the MCCA.” MELODY MOORE, MCCA SALES MANAGER AND COMMUNITY SERVICE CHAIR FOR SWIM
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Blood Drive: Open to MCCA
employees and community. 30 units of blood donated, helping save or sustain 84 lives.
Frog Pond: A group of MCCA
employees went to the Public Garden for a night of skating in support of Southie’s Special Kids and Young Adults.
Run to Home Base: Three MCCA employees participated in the 10k and raised over $7,000 to support veterans suffering from PTSD and traumatic brain injury.
Charles River Cleanup:
Sponsored by Charles River Watershed Association to support long term health of the Charles.
PLANTING One Boston Day was introduced this year by Mayor Martin J. Walsh as a way to remember the victims of the 2013 Boston Marathon attacks and as a celebration of the resiliency, generosity, and strength of the city. As our way to observe this important day and show our own “Boston Strong” spirit, we organized a group of employees to head to the Hynes and plant yellow and blue flowers in front of our facility and along the Marathon route. This act of coming together as coworkers and Bostonians, while making Boylston Street just a bit more beautiful, was both immensely moving to us and something we plan to continue for years to come.
STRATEGY & PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT VOLUNTEER DAY On their annual Volunteer Day, the Strategy & Product Development (S&PD) team visited Cradles to Crayons, a Boston-based organization that provides Massachusetts homeless and low-income children with essential items for home, school, and play. The S&PD team inspected and sorted books donated by sponsoring organizations, libraries, publishing companies, and engaged citizens, helping 200 kids from our neighborhood in the process. “The volunteer experience was refreshing not only because we were able to help underprivileged kids,” says Chris West, MCCA Director of Product Strategy, “but also because we were able to bond as a team.”
MASSMUTUAL CENTER MassMutual Center’s community service program, spearheaded by a building-wide internal committee, meets on a regular basis to identify different ways to give back to the community. One of their favorite initiatives is “dress down for a cause” days, in which staff get to wear jeans to work in exchange for a donation to a selected charity. They’ve also sent employees to the Friends of the Homeless shelter during their lunch breaks to serve food to those in need. Another initiative, the Read Aloud Program, takes team members to the Springfield Public Schools on a weekly basis to read to grade school classes.
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At the MCCA, we work with communities located throughout the city of Boston and beyond. Here is a selection of the people, organizations, and projects we have partnered with since 2014. These are relationships we cherish now and will continue to foster in the future.
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BACK BAY: MCCA employees planted blue and yellow flowers on Boylston Street along the Boston Marathon route to celebrate One Boston Day.
BOSTON: 3,000 discounted BCG parking passes distributed to Shakespeare in the Common patrons during 2014 and 2015 seasons.
BRIGHTON: MCCA employees participated in the Race Against Extinction 2015 Earth Day 5K at Artesani Park.
CHARLESTOWN: The MCCA sponsored 2014 and 2015 Bunker Hill Day events, including the Bunker Hill Day Parade.
DORCHESTER: Resident Marshea Kimble received a scholarship for her undergraduate study through the MCCA’s Community Partnership Scholarship Program.
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EAST BOSTON: We donated to East Boston High School through our Conventions C.A.R.E program.
FENWAY/KENMORE: In honor of Earth Day 2015, our Green Team took part in the Charles River/Muddy River clean up as well as cleaning up along Park Drive. FORT POINT: Digital artist Amy Baxter MacDonald was a featured artist on our Art on the Marquee Program in Winter 2015.
HYDE PARK: Nonprofit Youth and Family Enrichment Services received a $5,000 grant through our Community Partnership Grants Program.
JAMAICA PLAIN: The MCCA assisted Boston’s low income and isolated elderly by issuing a grant to Little Brothers Friends of the Elderly through the MCCA’s Community Partnership Grants Program.
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ROSLINDALE: Sisters At Work, a nonprofit aimed at encouraging young women to explore careers in the building trades, received a $5,000 grant in 2014 through our Community Grants Program. ROXBURY/MATTAPAN: We featured more than 15 local studio artists in our 2014 Roxbury/Mattapan Neighborhood Arts Collection.
SOUTH BOSTON: We sponsored and participated in an evening of skating on the Frog Pond to support Southie’s Special Kids and Adults.
W. ROXBURY: We featured the annual walk for local nonprofit, Birthday Wishes, on the BCEC’s Marquee, helping bring birthday parties to homeless children.
SPRINGFIELD: Six MassMutual Center employees volunteered their lunch hour at Friends of the Homeless in June 2015.