Meeting Professional International’s signature event, the World Education Congress (WEC), is going back to some familiar destinations, the organization announced on Wednesday (Oct. 17).
Coming off a successful conference earlier this year in Indianapolis and with plans for next year’s event in Toronto well under way, Paul Van Deventer, president and CEO of MPI, said that WEC will take place in Grapevine, Texas, in 2020, Las Vegas in 2021 and San Francisco in 2022.
“The community is still buzzing about the incredibly successful format and experience that was held just four months ago in Indianapolis, when MPI reimagined how we brought WEC to life,” Van Deventer said during a press conference at IMEX America in Las Vegas.
He added that feedback from attendees showed 93 percent satisfaction with the event; 96 percent of respondents said they would recommend attending WEC in the future; and in a nod to host Visit Indy, 86 percent said they would recommend or bring a meeting to Indianapolis.
The 2019 conference, planned for June 15-18 in Toronto, “will continue that transformation with a focus on your learning and education experience,” Van Deventer said. “We’re carrying over our villages environment and high energy atmosphere, and trust me when I tell you that the level of buzz has only gotten greater.”
He cited the relationship with MPI’s partners in Toronto as setting a strong foundation for WEC.
“That alignment with their team combined with the enormous success we just had in Indy has resulted in an already record-breaking registration pace with nearly four times as many attendees signed up to date, year-over-year. To say that the excitement level is heightened is an understatement.”
WEC has been in all three of the announced new destinations in the past—2006 in Dallas, 2015 in San Francisco and 2017 in Las Vegas. The Las Vegas event will take place at the new CAESARS FORUM conference center, which broke ground earlier year.
“It’s been 12 years since we’ve been in the Lone Star State and we’re already hard at work with Grapevine to keep our momentum going,” Van Deventer said. “I know how much everyone here enjoys being in Las Vegas; well now you have yet another reason to come back, because in 2021, Caesars will play host to WEC.”
Van Deventer and Darren Temple, the organization’s chief operation officer, covered a wide range of topics in the press conference.
Van Deventer said this year’s Smart Monday, powered by MPI, was “easily the most successful we’ve had here at IMEX America,” featuring more than 70 education sessions and drawing more than 800 attendees. MPI’s daily keynote speakers have been “tremendously well-received,” he said.
Julius Solaris spoke on Monday, drawing 400 attendees; more than 430 attended Kelly McDonald’s keynote on Tuesday and Wednesday’s keynote, Paul Smith, also attracted strong attendance.
Thursday’s keynote, “Emotions and Technology: An Exploration of Audience Connection,” will incorporate the unique learning style from C2, the Montreal-based event that incorporates commerce and creativity to explore trends, opportunities and disruptions.
MPI offered daily booth education throughout IMEX while also creating an experiential atmosphere through games, activities, jugglers and magicians on the MPI Midway.
More than 100 hosted buyers attended IMEX through MPI, the highest total since MPI began the program at the Las Vegas event.
Van Deventer also shared insight into the Administrative Planner Experience, a group of 20 individuals who do not necessarily plan events as their full-time job. The group, which was exposed to the IMEX experience and MPI education, is part of a greater network of more than 400,000 people throughout the United States.
Van Deventer also spoke about MPI’s European gathering, the European Meetings and Events Conference (EMEC), Feb. 9-12 in The Hague, Netherlands. The theme of the conference is “Changing the Game.”
The event is the first to be franchised, with the MPI Netherlands Chapter in charge of planning and funding.
“After great success partnering with our friends at SITE this past January for Global Forum in Rome, we’re launching a re-imagined European Meetings and Events Conference,” Van Deventer said. He added EMEC is “taking cues from our own WEC format through utilizing the #EventCanvas planning methodology to produce a truly extraordinary event.”
Their unique format incorporates cutting-edge event tech and methodologies to provide hands-on, demonstration-based learning and a unique incorporation of the host destination.
Temple followed up with the announcement earlier this week of Kevin Kirby as the new executive director of the MPI Foundation.
“As many of you know, Kevin has been a major influencer in this industry, having served in leadership roles at Hard Rock, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts and Universal Orlando, just to name a few,” Temple said. “We are beyond excited to have Kevin come on board to lead the MPI Foundation, which provides the highest level of charitable contributions to our industry worldwide.”
Kirby, who served as chair of MPI’s International Board of Directors from 2014-2015, and most recently served on the MPIF Global Board of Trustees since 2016, will oversee the non-profit organization that raises funds to provide members with professional development and career opportunities through grants and scholarships. The foundation also funds research and pan-industry initiatives that support MPI’s strategic plan.
Kirby replaces Christine Roberts, who resigned earlier this month. He will begin his new role with MPI at the end of October.
The foundation, which Temple said is on track to raise about $1.8 million this year, has already awarded 169 scholarships this year for members to attend such events as MPI’s WEC and the IMEX industry trade shows in Frankfurt and Las Vegas. The foundation, which has awarded four chapter grants and three major grants this year, raises funds through events such as Rendezvous, a networking celebration at industry events around the world, including WEC; the President’s Dinner, which honors volunteer chapter and industry leaders; silent auctions; and other industry events.
Temple also addressed recent additions to MPI’s educational offerings.
“The MPI Academy is doing things that our industry has never seen before, providing education opportunities and bringing forth new thinking and relevant topics that are truly helping to advance professionals at the individual level and our industry at the global level,” he said.
For example, at the MPIF Thought Leader’s Summit, Nov. 4-7 at UNICO Hotel Riviera Maya in Mexico, “we are delivering a deliberate strategy to equip our community with knowledge and tools needed to build inclusive experiences,” Temple said.
“Too often, diversity programs fail because they attempt to change people’s inherent beliefs and don’t provide actionable methods of driving genuine change. Therefore, the focus of MPI’s inclusion strategy is on the business case, tactics and tools needed to design inclusive experiences that make all people feel welcome before, during and after events.”
MPI has partnered with NYU’s School of Professional Studies to conduct a research study that examined tactics associated with universal event design. The results will be released at the summit.
MPI and San Diego State University have joined forced to launch the first of its kind Meeting and Event Management Master’s Degree. More than 600 people have registered interest in completing this program, which is designed to not just serve to increase the expertise and level of strategic skill sets of the program’s graduates, but will increase the status of the profession itself.
The program is scheduled to begin in August 2019, and takes 18 months to complete.
“It’s designed for experienced meeting professionals who will continue their day jobs and study primarily remotely with one week on campus at the start and finish of the schedule,” Temple said.
The Certificate in Meeting Management program, created by MPI in the mid‐1990s, has collaborated with Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business and the Department of Tourism, Conventions & Event Management. With a new tagline, “Executive Leadership for the Business of Meetings,” the CMM is a three‐phase, comprehensive executive education program for meeting, event and travel professionals.
The program will be taught by Indiana University faculty and takes 15 weeks to complete, after which attendees earn 48 clock hours and 4.8 CEUs.
The first CMM in-residence immersion course took place in September with 30 aspiring CMMs from 16 states and two international destinations. The next CMM Program kicks off in Indianapolis this December.
Temple also discussed the recent partnership with Cvent as MPI’s Preferred Online Event Management and Planning Vendor for the next three years.
“We believe the alignment with event technology giant Cvent and their multi-purpose platform will help us plan and market events, execute on site, engage audiences and measure and analyze results incredibly effectively, and we are also encouraging our 90 chapters and clubs and nearly 18,000 members to follow suit, in efforts to streamline practices,” Temple said.
Cvent announced this week that is has purchased Social Tables, which offers a web-based platform for event planners that helps them easily deal with seating charts, registration, sourcing venues and marketing.
