As the industry continues to shift and evolve, it is easy to feel lost in the shuffle, or unsure of what is “next” either personally, or as a business. For Smart Monday this year, we invite you to adventure through several different pathways to achieve greater clarity in life and in work.
Be it thinking about how you design your own business narrative through the skill of storytelling, or design events and workspaces that create psychological safety. Maybe it is learning how to create a shared vision or purpose for your team, or how to communicate the power of your personal brand. No matter the journey, we know Smart Monday will be an experience that will help you find your own sense of clarity.
InstaHits with SongDivision
Create the Soundtrack for Your Pathway to Clarity
SongDivision is BACK with their audience's favorite InstaHits! Join one of their many talented musicians during Smart Monday and collaborate in the creation of a personalized song that gets you energized for the day ahead, creates a vision for the future, or even defines a new way to creatively communicate your value, purpose, or passion as a professional.
During these micro-sessions attendees will:
Powered by:
Room: South Pacific F
Speaker: Jillian Cardinal, Partnership Manager, E-180
Boost Audience Engagement with Collaborative Learning (Literally!)
Events are learning experiences. Yes, you’re modern educators! Let’s explore 3 types of learning that are sure to boost engagement. We’ll also create intentional group discussions. Braindate, whose mission is to unlock human greatness by helping people learn from each other, will facilitate this interactive session. Get ready to learn & be inspired!
InstaHits with SongDivision
Create the Soundtrack for Your Pathway to Clarity
SongDivision is BACK with their audience's favorite InstaHits! Join one of their many talented musicians during Smart Monday and collaborate in the creation of a personalized song that gets you energized for the day ahead, creates a vision for the future, or even defines a new way to creatively communicate your value, purpose, or passion as a professional.
During these micro-sessions attendees will:
Powered by
Room: North Escalators
Speaker: Precious L. Williams
Connect with Precious L. Williams, a 13-time national pitch champion, and perfect your "escalator pitch" before you head to your next Smart Monday destination!
Learning Outcomes
Sponsored by:
Room: North Escalators
Speaker: Precious L. Williams
Connect with Precious L. Williams, a 13-time national pitch champion, and perfect your "escalator pitch" before you head to your next Smart Monday destination!
Learning Outcomes
Sponsored by:
InstaHits with SongDivision
Create the Soundtrack for Your Pathway to Clarity
SongDivision is BACK with their audience favorite InstaHits! Join one of their many talented musicians during Smart Monday and collaborate in the creation of a personalized song that gets you energized for the day ahead, creates a vision for the future, or even defines a new way to creatively communicate your value, purpose, or passion as a professional.
During these micro-sessions attendees will:
Powered by
Room: South Pacific F
Speaker: Kai Kight
Composing Change: Events that Move People
As a meeting and event professional, you are required to check a lot of boxes. Sometimes, it can be easy to get so lost in the details of work that you miss the bigger picture of creating an impact on those experiencing your work. In music, a great performance requires both masterful techniques and embodied emotion. Artists must not only “hit the right notes” but also connect their works to the humanness of the people in their audiences. In this captivating performance, hear original violin compositions and gain metaphorical insights on how to bring artistry to your own events. Enjoy a moment that will be both entertaining and thought-provoking.
Sponsored by:
InstaHits with SongDivision
Create the Soundtrack for Your Pathway to Clarity
SongDivision is BACK with their audience favorite InstaHits! Join one of their many talented musicians during Smart Monday and collaborate in the creation of a personalized song that gets you energized for the day ahead, creates a vision for the future, or even defines a new way to creatively communicate your value, purpose, or passion as a professional.
During these micro-sessions attendees will:
Powered by
Room: North Escalators
Speaker: Precious L. Williams
Connect with Precious L. Williams, a 13-time national pitch champion, and perfect your "escalator pitch" before you head to your next Smart Monday destination!
Learning Outcomes
Sponsored by:
Room: South Pacific F
Speakers: Event Design Collective
Design #WEC 2027 Using the #EventCanvas Methodology - Sprint # 1
During this session, participants will ...
1. Discover the Event Canvas as a mental model to guide your team to design for behavior change
2. Experience first-hand what it’s like to be facilitated by a Certified Event Designer on a team
3. Apply the Empathy Map, Event Canvas, and Event Delta to analyze stakeholder behavior as a team member
By invitation only.
InstaHits with SongDivision
Create the Soundtrack for Your Pathway to Clarity
SongDivision is BACK with their audience's favorite InstaHits! Join one of their many talented musicians during Smart Monday and collaborate in the creation of a personalized song that gets you energized for the day ahead, creates a vision for the future, or even defines a new way to creatively communicate your value, purpose, or passion as a professional.
During these micro-sessions attendees will:
Powered by
Room: South Pacific F
Speakers: Event Design Collective
Stop TALKING about Event Design Start DOING It
Design #WEC 2027 Using the #EventCanvas Methodology - Sprint #2
During this session, participants will ...
By invitation only.
Room: South Pacific F
Speaker: Event Design Collective
Stop TALKING about Event Design Start DOING it
Design #WEC 2027 Using the #EventCanvas Methodology - Sprint #3
During this session, participants will ...
InstaHits with SongDivision
Create the Soundtrack for Your Pathway to Clarity
SongDivision is BACK with their audience favorite InstaHits! Join one of their many talented musicians during Smart Monday and collaborate in the creation of a personalized song that gets you energized for the day ahead, creates a vision for the future, or even defines a new way to creatively communicate your value, purpose, or passion as a professional.
During these micro-sessions attendees will:
Powered by
Room: South Pacific F
Speaker: Event Design Collective
Stop TALKING about Event Design Start DOING it
Design #WEC 2027 Using the #EventCanvas Methodology - Sprint #3
During this session, participants will ...
By invitation only.
Room: Islander DEI
Speaker: Zoe Moore, MS, CDP, Hospitality Strategic Consultant, Moore Consulting Agency LLC
Ain’t I a Woman? - Visibility & Advancement in the Workplace
Limited depictions of what it means to be a woman hinder the way we engage, advocate, and support one another in our workplaces, communities, and personal spaces.
Sponsored by:
Room: Islander DEI
Host: Cheryl Hatcher CDME, HMCC, Vice President of Business Development, MPI
Guest: Kimberly Napolitano, Executive Director Industry Relations and Intermediary Group Sales, Hilton
Host:Katri Laurimaa, HMCC - VP Business Development, Meeting Professionals International
Guest: Guests: Sonia Fong, Senior Vice President of Convention Development, Louisville Tourism and Lia Cheung, UNLV student and Industry Emerging Professional
Ladies Choice - Women in Business Development
Meeting Professionals International (MPI) is home to one of the (almost) exclusively female business development teams. From the Chief Revenue Officer to all 3 of MPI’s Vice President’s of Business Development, MPI has excelled at ensuring women lead in all areas of the organization. Much of this success is attributed to the mentors, partners, and other industry colleagues that have helped to support and challenge each member of this team to excel. Join us for our ladies’ choice segment, where two of our dynamic business development team members, Cheryl Hatcher, CDME, HMCC and Katri Laurimaa, HMCC will sit down with a special guest of their choosing to talk about the role and impact of women in business development. During this session you will: Learn about the power of mentorship when working to advance women in the workforce, specifically business development. Apply the formula for success in advancement to your own career path. Hear from industry leaders on their perspective around how women can continually make in-roads to historically male-dominated workforce sectors.
Sponsored by:
Room: Islander DEI
Gender Equity in the Workforce – A Solution to the Economic Crisis
In a recent (2022) report, the World Economic Forum shared that “the current recession, unlike past economic slumps that have tended to be worse for men, is disproportionately bad for women.” This is because “it comes after a period where the COVID-19 pandemic and multiple shocks in the global economy have hindered progress on closing the gender gap.” In fact, “Women’s jobs were 1.8 times more vulnerable than those of men throughout the pandemic and are suffering more disruption in the subsequent economic fallout.” As a result, our final session of She Means Business will conclude with a dynamic panel of leaders who span a vast number of identities and industry verticals to help provide perspective on how we can harness the collective power of women within the meetings & events sector to make an impact on the current economic crisis.
Moderator: Betsy Bondurant - President, Bondurant Consulting
Panelists:
Jen Beatty, DES, HMCC - Director of Business Development, Tourism Calgary
Michelle Mason, FASAE, CAE – President & CEO, ASAE
Meg Gould, CMP - Senior Event Operations Manager, Questex
Sponsored by:
Room: Islander F
Speaker: Mariela McIlwraith, Senior Vice President for Industry Advancement, Events Industry Council
Accelerating Sustainability and Social Impact in Events
Join your industry peers for an interactive discussion with practical and inspirational examples about circularity, climate, well-being, diversity, equity and inclusion, and social impact in events. The session will help you refine clarity of purpose and clarity of practices related to sustainable and socially impactful events.
Learning outcomes:
Meeting professionals and venues who are serious about CSR, need to approach the evaluation of a meeting venue's social credentials such as environmental and social responsibility differently.
If you are a meeting professional with little or no reference to this currently in your venue evaluation process; or are a venue representative pointing buyers only to your website for details of your CSR credentials, then you may be contributing to the doubt that social responsibility is important.
Join this discussion on how to evaluate venues better and is best practice and a measure of a responsible venue.
During this session you will …
Room: Islander F
Speaker: Cathy Breden, CAE, CMP-F, CEM
Creating Vision and Purpose for Your Exhibitions and Events with CEIR
Proving the value and effectiveness of exhibitions and events has never been more critical and leveraging exhibitions as a marketing medium is critical to your business strategy. Hear the latest industry trends collected and reported from several timely reports on market sector performance, economic impact and insights that will assist in creating vision and purpose for your exhibitions and organization.
During this session you will …
Room: Islander F
Launch of Incentive Travel Index 2022
A joint initiative of Financial & Insurance Conference Professionals (FICP), the Incentive Research Foundation (IRF) and Society for Incentive Travel Excellence (SITE), the Incentive Travel Index (ITI) is the business events industry’s most authoritative study of the global incentive travel market and its impact on corporations, agencies and the supply chain in destinations. Join our panel of industry experts from the corporate, agency, DMC, hotel and DMO sectors for a forensic dissection of the intriguing results of the 2022 edition.Moderator: Calum di Lieto, Editor, C&IT (UK)
Panelists:
Room: Islander G
Speaker: Khatdija Meghjani, Senior Storyteller, Dear World
Storytelling for Transformation
During this session, participants will learn about the power of storytelling in the workplace. Participants will use data and current research to understand how storytelling in the workplace drives value to employees and transforms organizations.Room: Islander G
Speaker: Khatdija Meghjani, Senior Storyteller, Dear World
Level up Your Narrative
During this session, participants will learn how to tie individual stories to corporate values or mission statements. Participants will learn about specific opportunities (time and place) to share their stories and the impact leaders have on employees by sharing their stories.
By the end of this module, participants will …
Room: Islander G
Speaker: Khatdija Meghjani, Senior Storyteller, Dear World
Strategy and Story, Presenting with Clarity
During this session, participants will get story coaching on how to “communicate their why” effectively. Specifically, participants will receive guidance and a set of tools to craft the language around their story, effectively increase their presence in sharing their story and present in front of a specific audience.
By the end of this module, participants will be ready to share their story and be able to
Room: Islander G
Speakers: Heather Munell, Director of Client Experience, VDA
Experiential Design: What Can it Mean for You?
The buzz these days is all about “Experiential Design” which is a way for marketers to effectively translate their brand through unique and memorable experiences to their targeted audience. This type of brand marketing can be done in a variety of ways from pop-up events, interactive installations, intimate influencer soirees and other initiatives to support their marketing goals. The key difference between experiential design is that it encompasses in-person touchpoints vs. standard marketing engagements. Learn from Heather Munnell, Director Client Experience at VDA how experiential marketing can help you raise brand awareness and develop authentic experiences to help build your brand recognition. This will be an interactive session engaging the attendees and helping (1) person think through their upcoming conference to brainstorm potential experiential elements. Come and find out what Experiential Design can mean for you.
During this session, you will
Sponsored by:
Room: Islander H
Speaker: Tim Mosseau, Speaker & Researcher, Create Safe
People-Centered Events: Designing Emotionally Safe Experiences
Emotional and psychological safety are vital to designing meaningful events. On a neurological level, people need to feel safe. If we feel unsafe, it is impossible to be present. We withhold our voices, stifle creativity, and disconnect.Sponsored by
Room: Islander H
Speaker: Jessie States, CMP, CMM
"Little" Data: Ditch Big & Go Specific
While all of the data you collect from your events is important, not all of it is critical to every stakeholder—and how and what you share (and with whom) could make a significant impact on your organization's business objectives today and in the future.Room: Islander H
Speakers: Twyler Jenkins, President & CEO, Strategic Events Solutions, Inc
Productivity as a Pathway to Wellness
While wellness has quickly become a hot topic post-pandemic both within the business culture and event design, we often forget to consider how we integrate wellness into our everyday lives. But what if wellness was the secret to living a more productive life? This session will explore techniques and resources that you can incorporate into your busy life that will enhance your well-being and productivity. It’s not about having time; it’s about using time productively with wellness practices. Busy is not the equivalent of productivity and realigning your time with a pathway of wellness will create a more productive workday.
Room: Islander H
Speakers: Howard Givner, Founder & CEO Event Leadership Institute
From Order Taker to Trusted Advisor: Proving Your Value with the C-Suite
Order takers are replaceable; trusted advisors are indispensable. Most event professionals want to be viewed as trusted advisors to their clients and stakeholders, but lack the tools, language, and strategies to communicate the value of their events, and themselves, to senior executives. This session provides critical insights to help planners become true business partners to their clients.Room: Bayview Patio
Concentric Community Campfires | Medical Meeting Professionals
During this Concentric Community Campfire experience, participants will engage in discussions on the following topics:
Concentric circles are circles with a common center that, much like our MPI communities, bring together meeting and event professionals around a variety of industry verticals and special interest or identity groups. In this movement-driven format, immerse yourself in a flash-campfire experience where attendees will rotate through (3) total campfire education sessions with topics that range from a focus on design, vision & purpose, and communication to those that center around hot topics among different industry verticals.
Speakers:
Sponsored by
Room: Bayview Patio
Concentric Community Campfires
During this Concentric Community Campfire experience, participants will engage in discussions on topics such as:
Concentric circles are circles with a common center which, much like our MPI communities, bring together meeting and event professionals around a variety of industry verticals and special interest or identity groups. In this movement-driven format, immerse yourself in a flash-campfire experience where attendees will rotate through (3) total campfire education sessions with topics that range from a focus on design, vision & purpose, and communication to those that center around hot topics among different industry verticals.
Speakers:
Room: Bayview Patio
Concentric Community Campfires
A lot of things go into making a destination one that is a “can’t miss” experience, but Louisville Tourism is shaking it up in ways many haven’t. Shake up your last Smart Monday session with dynamic campfire discussions, and after, stay and experience the flavors of Louisville live with a cocktail demonstration at the end of the session and see (and taste!) for yourself what makes Louisville stand out in a crowd.
During this Concentric Community Campfire experience, participants will engage in discussions around the 3 areas of uniqueness that make Louisville stand out:
Concentric circles are circles with a common center which, much like our MPI communities, bring together meeting and event professionals around a variety of industry verticals and special interest or identity groups. In this movement-driven format, immerse yourself in a flash-campfire experience where attendees will rotate through (3) total campfire education sessions with topics that range from a focus on design, vision & purpose, and communication to those that center around hot topics among different industry verticals.
Speakers:
Sponsored by: