In October 2009, I participated in a virtual facility tour of Coca-Cola Enterprises’ (CCE) Bellevue, Wash., property. The tour featured CCE’s CEO John F. Brock and was held during the company’s CRS in Action Week. Media from around the world were able to attend this live online event to hear about how CCE is addressing water stewardship, energy conservation/climate change, and sustainable packaging/recycling at the Bellevue facility.

 

The event featured videos of the tour followed by a live question and answer session. Members of the media were able to submit questions via an online chat interface and the panel of CCE employees instantly answered these questions.

 

This unique media event has earned CCE a 2010 PR News CSR Award in the Video Program category.

 

“It is important that we continue finding innovative, thoughtful ways to engage our stakeholders and communicate Coca-Cola Enterprises’ Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability efforts,” said John H. Downs Jr., senior vice president for public affairs and communications. “This recognition validates the work we are doing to embed sustainability into our operations not only at our Bellevue facility, but also in our more than 400 facilities throughout North America and Europe.” Source: CCE

 

Scott Van Camp, editor of PR News, commended the presentation for not only providing tour participants with live access to CCE company leaders but also that there were no hiccups during this event. This was the first time CCE had held a live and interactive event like this and as an attendee, I was impressed with how smoothly the entire event went. It was also nice to be able to participate in an interactive event without having to travel to a distant location. That, in itself, is eco-friendly.

 

Read more about my coverage of the Coca-Cola Enterprises Virtual Facility Tour:

You can also watch an archived recording of the event on the CCE website.