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Feb 27 | Virtual Education: From Basics to Brilliance: Generative AI in the Meetings Industry
February 27, 2026
1:00 PM - 2:30 PM
Join MPI Upstate New York Chapter for our first Educational Program of 2026!
From Basics to Brilliance: Generative AI in the Meetings Industry
From Basics to Brilliance: Generative AI in the Meetings Industry
When: February 27, 2026
Time:1:00 PM - 2:30 PM (EST)
Where: Virtual, Zoom link to be emailed
THANK YOU TO OUR EVENT SPONSOR:
Take your lunch break to invest in your professional growth!
Since ChatGPT exploded in our lives in 2022, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is already having a significant impact on the tasks and and requirements needed for today’s meetings and events industry work. While many are fearful that AI will replace the need for many, the reality is much more nuanced than what many are preaching, though the skill sets and tasks required are evolving. Attend this session to better understand the foundations of Generative AI and how they impact your career moving forward.
After participating in this session, attendees will be able to:
• Identify and evaluate the most relevant AI tools currently transforming event planning and management workflows
• Review the top 10 LLM (large language models) tools that can impact your work today
• Assess which event management tasks are most likely to be augmented, automated, or enhanced by AI technologies
MPI Upstate New York Chapter events are open to both members and non-members as well as professionals from any career.
SPEAKER INFORMATION
Name: James Spellos
Website: https://www.meeting-u.com/
James Spellos is the President of Meeting U. whose mission is to help people become
more productive and comfortable with technology.
Smart Meetings named Jim as one of their Smart Speakers in 2025. In 2024, Meetings Today magazine named Jim one of the Meeting Industry trendsetters, for his “AI Education with Integrity” commitment. He was also named a trendsetter for them in 2015 as well. In 2022, Meeting Professionals International included Jim on their most
influential list in the hospitality industry in honor of their 50 th anniversary celebration. He was a faculty member at New York University for 25 years, receiving both their Award for Teaching Excellence and their Outstanding Service Award. Jim was previously named one of the Meeting Industry’s trendsetters by Meetings Today
magazine in 2015.
Jim is on the Board of Directors for Rock and Wrap It Up, an anti-poverty, anti-hunger organization which recovers excess food from events. Jim co-created their Whole Earth Calculator app. He also speaks about food recovery and sustainability at events. In 2018 & 2019, BizBash named Jim one of their top 500 people in events for his work in Sustainability.
He has a certificate in Plant-Based Nutrition from the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutritional Studies, is a certified Food for Life instructor through the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, and is on the staff of Plant Powered Metro New York, helping to educate people about a healthy diet and lifestyle, which helped to save his own life. In 2024, PPMNY chose Jim as their Grassroots Champion.
Jim is an accomplished musician and songwriter who released his first solo album, Stroke of Genius in 2020.