Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2016
4 - 7:30 p.m.

YOU SAY MORE THAN YOU THINK
Successful Negotiating and Building Rapport and Trust
Begins with YOU and YOUR Body Language!

Here are some of the action items we will work on in this e²:
* Recalibrate your thinking about the meaning of hospitality
* Avoid conflict by learning to decode the nine ways your body language hurts your brand
* Improve your negotiating skills

Thursday, Oct. 13, 2016
6 - 9 p.m.

Get Hooked with PCMA Capital Chapter and MPI Potomac at our third annual Fall Networking Event

Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2016
8 - 10:30 a.m.

How are you keeping up with the technological advancements that impact your job and career? Do you find that you’re barely able to keep pace with the latest developments within the hospitality industry? This session reviews what’s new and way cool in technology within the meetings industry in this fun, fast-paced look at what’s here for us to use now and what’s coming in the near future, including the latest information about augmented reality and digital security.

Share the MPI love! We are pleased to offer you an opportunity to help a colleague, friend, or young professional experience the benefits of MPI membership. By referring a future MPI member, you will allow them to waive the $50 application fee. Also, for each new member you refer, you will receive $25 off your next membership renewal! After all, what are friends for?

For "Refer a Friend" voucher, please contact Amanda Parsons at aparsons@hayadams.com. Be sure to add your name and member ID to each voucher prior to giving it to a potential new member.

With this issue of FYI we’re introducing a new feature called "Committee Spotlight" where we will present the tremendous work of one of our committees each month to provide you the inside scoop on how each supports the success of MPI Potomac. Michelle Coombs with San Diego Tourism Authority and our Board Director for Member Retention will kick off this new feature.

by Michelle Coombs, Director of Member Retention

Celebrity couple Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin called it quits in the spring of 2014, coining the term "conscious uncoupling." Whether it’s a deliberate decision or simply a lapse in dues, the goal of the Member Retention Committee is to make sure that your relationship with the MPI Potomac Chapter outlasts the average Hollywood marriage.

To complement the efforts of MPI Global, our team routinely makes reminder calls and emails members as their renewal date approaches. We like to think it adds a more personal touch when it’s a member of your own chapter reaching out, in addition to the staff in Dallas. Understanding that we’re all busy professionals, our team will also contact members during the "grace period" — the 60 days following the membership expiration date — so that renewal can take place without a lapse in membership.

But we are more than just bill collectors! The Member Retention Committee will also be on hand at events this year to answer questions and help people get the most from their membership. A new initiative this year aims to engage members right from the start; our team is putting together a New Member Welcome Packet to greet members as they enroll in our chapter and help them get involved straight from the start. MPI Membership is like a good marriage — you get out of it what you put into it. So we want to ensure that our chapter members are involved and committed so that renewing the membership is never a question.

Whether conscious or not, we hope that our chapter members would never consider uncoupling with MPI Potomac!