While loyalty programs come in many shapes and sizes, the most common method of accounting is points. Yesterday, meetpete received an offer of “Priority Club Meeting Rewards” from American Express and the Intercontinental Family of Brands. Every dollar on the master account billed to Amex earns points that can be redeemed for personal rewards or credits toward a future meeting. Clever marketing but a better idea if, in order to avoid any perception of individual impropriety, redemption was limited to meeting credits alone.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has directed its procurement staff to consider energy efficiency and recycling programs in the evaluation of hotels and convention centers bidding on its business. The General Services Administration (GSA), which sets policy for all government travel (an estimated $50 billion annually) is expected to follow suit.

In less than a generation, being green has gone from the obscurity of planners’ wish lists to the top of their checklists.