iLinc Web Conferencing Saves 106,000 Pounds of Carbon Emissions, 5,300 Gallons of Fuel

The American Society of Training & Development Greater Philadelphia Chapter (ASTD-GPC) hosted its first-ever full-day online conference, and turned to iLinc (AMEX:ILC), a leading provider of web conferencing software and online collaboration solutions, to power the web conference and provide results on carbon emissions and travel costs saved as a result.

“With travel budgets tightening even further in organizations across the U.S., now more than ever the number of companies training employees, meeting with clients, and prospecting via web conferencing is growing in record numbers,” said James Powers, President and CEO of iLinc. “And now, informational full-day conferences that normally bring together groups in one place for education and professional development are going online too.”

The ASTD-GPC “Go Green” Online Training Conference consisted of a keynote presentation by synchronous learning expert, Jennifer Hofmann, followed by three concurrent tracks—Holding Successful Webinars, Using Web 2.0 Technologies, and Creating First-Rate Training—with three sessions in each track. All 10 sessions were recorded so attendees could review sessions they attended as well as hear sessions they were unable to attend after the web conference ended.

“While most of our presenters and attendees were from the Philadelphia area, we had two presenters from Connecticut and one from Arizona, and attendees from as far away as Utah,” said Frank Felsburg, President of ASTD-GPC. “These people wouldn’t have been able to participate if this conference were held at a hotel in Philadelphia.”

Using the iLinc Green Meter, an embedded feature inside iLinc web conferencing, ASTD-GPC was able to track the carbon emissions and gallons of fuel that they saved by holding the conference online instead of in-person: 106,000 pounds of carbon emissions and 5,300 gallons of fuel.

The iLinc Green Meter™ is a patent-pending feature that tracks the carbon emissions, cost, and travel reductions accrued with every online meeting. By using a mathematical algorithm to detect the locations of the people that are attending a web conference via IP address and measure the distance between the meeting participants and the meeting leader the iLinc Green Meter calculates the exact amount of travel that is eliminated. The tool recognizes what means of travel would commonly be used for the distance (such as car, small aircraft, large aircraft, etc.) and keeps a running tab of the carbon emissions savings and financial costs such as fuel, miles traveled and employee productivity gains.

“If we held this conference in downtown Philadelphia, presenters and attendees would have spent hours in their cars travelling from cities in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware to attend the conference,” said Felsburg. “And they also would have also spent money on gas, tolls, and parking. By holding the conference online, we were able to keep the costs low for everyone, and we felt good that we were able to do our part to help save the environment.”

Links: See a demo of how the iLinc Green Meter works http://www.ilinc.com/greenmeter/demo.php

About American Society of Training & Development Greater Philadelphia Chapter

The ASTD Greater Philadelphia Chapter (ASTD-GPC) is one of 134 chapters of ASTD and has more than 300 active members. ASTD-GPC supports the professional and career development of those who are responsible for linking workplace learning to improved organizational performance and provides its members with a professional development network, cutting edge programs, and opportunities for lifelong learning.

About iLinc

iLinc is a recognized leader in providing Web conferencing software and collaboration solutions for highly secure and cost-effective online meetings, presentations, webinars and virtual classroom training and support sessions. The company’s technology allows people in diverse locations to communicate and collaborate online while avoiding the expense, environmental damage, and productivity losses associated with travel. iLinc provides an award-winning, enterprise-wide suite of Web, audio and video conferencing solutions that can be scaled up or down to meet the needs of any size organization. Offering the industry’s most flexible pricing models, iLinc gives organizations the power to choose an on-premise installed, on-demand hosted, or hybrid web conferencing solution—whichever model delivers the highest ROI for the customer. iLinc is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona. For more, visit www.ilinc.com/investors.