Bosses’ Night Philadelphia Zoo: Celebrating the People Behind the Events

On Wednesday, September 16, MPI Philadelphia Chapter members gathered at the Philadelphia Zoo for Bosses’ Night, an evening focused on connection, networking, and recognizing the relationships that help move our industry forward.

This annual program gives MPI members the opportunity to invite their bosses to experience the chapter firsthand, meet other professionals from across the Philadelphia events community, and connect outside of the typical work environment.  

"Bosses' Night is always exciting for our members as an opportunity to focus on their career growth and to bring their managers to see firsthand how impactful membership is with MPI Philadelphia Area. This year's event was elevated even further thanks to our incredible partnerships and dynamic program. We sold out the event and our members got to enjoy a fabulous experience." 

-        Anna Torchia, Director of Education, MPI Philadelphia Area Chapter

Bringing Bosses’ Night Together

This year, MPI Philadelphia was proud to partner with Advanced Staging Productions, who donated the event production services for the evening.  Working alongside the MPI Philadelphia team, Advanced Staging Productions provided the audio, video, lighting, staging, and production labor needed to support Bosses’ Night at the Philadelphia Zoo.

 Rather than making the production the center of attention, the goal was to create an environment that supported the evening and allowed the focus to remain on the attendees, conversations, and connections taking place throughout the event.  

That collaboration was made even more meaningful through MPI Philadelphia 2026 Chapter President Alicia Armento, who also serves as an Account Executive with Advanced Staging Productions. Alicia played a key role in planning and organizing Bosses’ Night and worked closely with the Advanced team to develop the production scope for the evening.

Having that connection between the chapter and one of our longtime partners helped bring the event together from both the planning and production sides.

Supporting Philadelphia’s Event Community

Advanced Staging Productions has been involved with MPI Philadelphia for many years, supporting the chapter and staying connected with the planners, producers, venues, suppliers, and other event professionals who make up our community.

Bosses’ Night was another opportunity to continue that relationship, with Advanced donating its team, time, and production services to help make the evening possible.  Advanced Staging Productions President Ryan McLaughlin also joined us at the Philadelphia Zoo and had the opportunity to share a few words with attendees.

“We’ve always valued our partnership with MPI Philadelphia and the opportunity it gives us to stay connected with the people behind so many great events in our region. Philadelphia has an incredible community of event professionals, and we love being able to support the planners and teams who continue to bring people together throughout the city and beyond.”

-        Ryan McLaughlin, President, Advanced Staging Productions

 Partnerships like this are an important part of what makes the MPI Philadelphia community special. Our chapter brings together professionals from every side of the events industry, creating opportunities to learn from one another, build relationships, and support the people and organizations we work alongside throughout the year.  

This year’s Bosses’ Night also held some added meaning as Alicia approaches the end of her term as MPI Philadelphia Chapter President. Throughout her time as president, Alicia has worked alongside our chapter leaders, members, partners, and volunteers to support MPI Philadelphia’s programming and strengthen connections throughout our local events community. Bosses’ Night provided another opportunity to bring those groups together as her term begins to come to a close.

It was especially fitting to celebrate one of her final events as Chapter President alongside the Advanced Staging Productions team, combining her work within MPI Philadelphia with her role in the event production industry.

Very Special Thanks to Our Supporters

A special thank you goes to Advanced Staging Productions for donating its production services, and supporting our industry.

We were also honored to have Omni Hotels & Resorts as our Event Underwriter. Our attendees had a chance to meet with representatives from eight Omni locations across the country.

The Philadelphia Zoo in partnership with Aramark provided an amazing atmosphere for our networking and program. We also were delighted to capture the moment with Promo Pix Plus and Thato Dadson Images.

Thank you to everyone who joined us at the Philadelphia Zoo for Bosses’ Night and to all of the members, partners, volunteers, and teams who helped make the evening possible.

Want to get involved?

If you would like more information on how you or your company can work with MPI Philadelphia, there are many ways to get involved! From becoming a volunteer to partnering on events.  More information can be found on our 'Become a Sponsor' page, or simply email staff@mpiphl.org.