MPI's 2008 World Education Congress Makes History!

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By Michelle Lizak, CMP  

MPI's 2008 World Education Congress (WEC) drew in more than 4,500 meeting professionals in Las Vegas, making it the largest event in MPI's history! The Kansas City Chapter did its part in making an impact - 27 local chapter members attended this event.  

Las Vegas, the city that never sleeps, was the 2008 WEC host city and host MPI they did! The opening night began with a gala welcome reception and dinner at Caesar's Palace. The evening was surely fit for a king!   Guests were greeted outside the casino with a red carpet entrance.    Several members of the Kings' Court were on hand to greet each guest as they entered the venue. The massive ballroom was wrapped completely in pipe and drape, dividing it into several sections. Floral arrangements and shelves holding hors d'oeuvres were suspended from the ceiling. Giant ice sculpture bars hosted sushi and other raw bar items. And let's not forget about the delicious pomegranate martinis! With music and visual objects and scenes streaming constantly, it was party for the senses. 

The overall theme for WEC was "Your Future is Showing." The theme focused on harnessing the power of each attendee's diverse perspective and skill set to help create and define their future. This notion gave each attendee the opportunity to shape their career and life direction as they saw best represented their needs and wants.

The General Session kicked off with Bruce MacMillan and other MPI leadership discussing the MPI vision and outlook for the 2008-2009 year. Larry Luteran was introduced as the new Chairman of the Board for this coming year. Corporate Meeting and Incentives Magazine summarized Larry Luteran's key milestones as follows:

• A new MPI awards program. The MPI RISE (Recognizing Industry Success and Excellence) Awards will be launched in phases, with the first award to be presented at MPI-WEC 2009 and the rest rolled out at MPI-WEC 2010 in Vancouver. The new program — developed by a volunteer committee of MPI members and staff — will feature a simplified submission process and, for the first time, non-members will be eligible for some of the awards.
• Two new MPI member groups. The association plans to launch the Future of Meetings Taskforce, which aims to identify goals for meetings of the future, and the Meetings Executive Advisory Council, which will advise MPI leadership on the direction of the association.
• A Community Knowledge Plan. The project will outline seven milestones for pursuing a career in the meetings industry. Each milestone will be marked with a certification or educational opportunity to encourage career development for members.
• A revamped Global Certification in Meeting Management program.

(To read the full Corporate Meetings and Incentives article CLICK HERE. 

Katie Callahan-Giobbi and Rita Plaskett, CMP reminded the attendees at the event of the importance of the MPI Foundation and it's accomplishments during the 2007-2008 year.   

Keynote speaker and respected futurist, Patrick Dixon, enlightened the audience with his keen vision on the meeting and events industry. Dixon explored the future of corporate events, conferences, workshops and seminars. He explained to the audience that events and conferences are on the brink of change, and forced everyone to ask the question: "Is my current company or organization's meeting format stuck in a time-warp?" Both wacky and informative, Dixon's presentation drove home the fact that in a ROI driven world, there is always to be a growing need to prove tangible value and measurable benefits to your individual executives and the organization as a whole.

The MeetingPlace once again was a new and fresh concept showcased by MPI. Gone were the rows of booths and in their place was an interactive environment that invited exploration and conversation. The Connection Spots from PEC 2008 were once again showcased through out the tradeshow floor. Connection Spots were free-standing, circular towers that divided into quadrants by side panels. The MeetingPlace was made up of more than 600 exhibitors ranging from hoteliers to DMCs to venues to entertainment to promotional items.

Café Conversations were cornerstone of the Knowledge Sessions this year. Café Conversations were an opportunity for roundtable discussions where the topics and the moderators are not pre-determined. Anyone was free to host a discussion on a topic of this choice, as long as it was with in the theme of the individual café session. These Café Conversation sessions allowed attendees to engage the knowledge of their industry peers.   These sessions created productive dialog and allowed for idea sharing on various topics.

The final night of the event was a true Las Vegas-style event. The Beach at Mandalay Bay was transformed into an adult playground. As the sun set on Las Vegas, the visual splendor began!  The evening showcased restaurants from the MGM, Mirage, and Mandalay Bay, featuring some of the finest chef specialties in the city. Colorful, lit stages were set up all around the beach for various performers, musicians, dancers, professional look-alikes to entertain the crowds. The evening capped off with a special private concert by none other than 1970s rock band, Styx who rocked the night away in-front of an international audience of 4,500 meeting professionals.

The city of Las Vegas, including all the host venues, sponsors and contributors embraced the need to make this entire week-long production a sustainable event. The host committee put together an extremely successful and highly sustainable event and actively worked to engage the individual attendees in their monumental task. Be sure to read the first installment of the new article KCMPI Times CSR: Spotlight to see a full listing of all efforts put forth by the host committee to make this event socially responsible!

I am sure I join the 4,499 other WEC attendees in saying ... JOB WELL DONE to the city of Las Vegas and the host committee! Click here to visit MPI's WEC Web page.