News & Views

This monthly article series allows MPI Ottawa Chapter members to share their recent professional and personal accomplishments with the MPI community by highlighting the News Around Town. Get in touch with Disa Cameron (disa.cameron@encoreglobal.com) to make a submission for the next issue!

We are thrilled to share that the Event Management Program at Algonquin College of has launched a series of in-person fundraising events this March! Following the success of previous virtual events, their new intake of students has been trained to organize events that are both engaging and safe in today's landscape.

This monthly article series allows MPI Ottawa Chapter members to share their recent professional and personal accomplishments with the MPI community by highlighting the News Around Town. Get in touch with Disa Cameron (disa.cameron@encoreglobal.com) to make a submission for the next issue!

I knew I wanted this career path, before I even knew it was a career path. I knew I liked people, I liked having fun, I liked doing interesting things and I wanted other people to have a great time too. Back ‘in the day’ (aka High School) I was part of several committees and clubs, and to no one’s surprise, I liked to ‘organize’. Dances, cast parties, bake sales, graduation parties, cross border ski trips, themed house parties, epic cottage weekends, Road Rallies, nights out, all of it.

This monthly article series allows MPI Ottawa Chapter members to share their recent professional and personal accomplishments with the MPI community by highlighting the News Around Town. Get in touch with Disa Cameron (disa.cameron@encoreglobal.com) to make a submission for the next issue!

This monthly article series allows MPI Ottawa Chapter members to share their recent professional and personal accomplishments with the MPI community by highlighting the News Around Town. Get in touch with Disa Cameron (disa.cameron@encoreglobal.com) to make a submission for the next issue!

I’ve always had a passion for event planning, but my journey started in 2020 when I began my first industry role as a meeting and events coordinator for the National Arts Centre (NAC) in Ottawa. In my coordinator role, I was responsible for all logistical and technical aspects of in-person meetings. Two years later, I am starting a new life chapter, relocating to Paris, France. I will be a Sales Manager at the Novotel Paris Centre Eiffel Tower.

Our committee works hard year-round on a number of networking events for the chapter, including the AGM in the Fall, the Festive Dinner around the Holidays, a Surprise Activity in the Winter, and the June Volunteer appreciation event during the June Summer Bash. We are currently planning a Themed Festive Dinner that will combine a dinner with fun activities to keep you entertained!

With a re-envisioned programming format, the conference sessions and events took place in multiple locations across the city including the Remai Modern, the Western Development Museum, Prairieland Parks, TCU Place, Wanuskewin, The Delta Downtown, The Delta Bessborough, and the Sheraton Cavalier; all while highlighting the walkability of our host city!

The biggest challenge in my career has been the slow adoption of hiring staff based on emotional quotients versus intelligence quotients. I have worked with some very bright individuals from an IQ perspective but who lack basic emotional intelligence. Our industry is 90% relationship based. Anyone can be taught how to build a budget or how to reply to an RFP bid. Lacking the ability to communicate with a team, manage stress and/or empathize with others will consistently be a barrier to a truly successful event and building a long-term partnership.

How is it September already? I’m hoping that you all had a wonderful summer and that you are ready for all that the fall brings. J’espère que vous avez passé un bel été et que vous êtes prêt pour tout ce que l’automne nous apportera.

This monthly article series allows MPI Ottawa Chapter members to share their recent professional and personal accomplishments with the MPI community by highlighting the News Around Town. Get in touch with Élodie Lortal (elodie.lortal@nac-cna.ca) to make a submission for the next issue!

It’s always cool to see the creative set-ups WEC comes up with. Many of the sessions were held “campfire style” in the sunny foyer of the Moscone West Convention Centre. Participants were seated on little ottomans or stools or even just large cushions on the floor. It made for a less formal, collaborative session and it worked great to encourage interactivity amongst participants.

Hello! Bonjour! I hope that everyone is having a wonderful summer so far. It’s August so that means that the board is ramping up planning great education and networking events.

As I am new to the Director, Marketing role, I am diving in to learning the ropes, and ensuring that we keep the momentum as a top performing chapter from a Marketing and Communications perspective. At a committee level, we are continuing to support our Chapter’s efforts through communications, marketing and community engagement.

I have worked from golf courses to restaurants to hotels. I left hotels to do site selection and then the pandemic forced me to become a digital event planner. I was thrilled for the opportunity to join Explore Edmonton’s Business Events team. Now, I am getting destination management organization experience!

This was an official brand launch for Encore “We Are”. It was the first time that we collaborated publicly in the event community in Ottawa as our new brand. We wanted to reinforce the fact that the same passionate individuals from before the merger are the same ones that make up our team today, and the only difference is that we are doing it together as one team, one Encore.

This monthly article series allows MPI Ottawa Chapter members to share their recent professional and personal accomplishments with the MPI community by highlighting the News Around Town. Get in touch with Élodie Lortal (elodie.lortal@nac-cna.ca) to make a submission for the next issue!

I was born and raised in Birmingham, Michigan (Metro Detroit) and lived in Lansing, the Capitol of Michigan, after graduating from Michigan State University- Go Green! I moved to Ottawa, in 2015 when I married my husband and fellow MPI member, Roger MacKinnon. We have an amazing three-year-old daughter together and I am a stepmom to my beautiful 14-year-old stepdaughter.

This is a global issue. Focusing on millennials can provide insight into attracting, maintaining and satisfying this growing demographic in hospitality and related careers. This issue is not going away. It will take many years and concerted efforts to keep ahead of the game.