Last week, MPI Greater New York held our Annual Auction & Mixology Madness at the Hard Rock Café New York in Times Square and, by all accounts, it was a great experience for everyone involved. We had dozens of silent auction items, which led to a lot of happy bidders along with a few big-ticket, live auction packages that helped to close out the night in exciting fashion. A huge thanks to everyone for participating in this MPIGNY tradition!

Also occurring last week, the MPI Global leadership team announced their annual awards to all chapter leaders, and I’m very pleased to announce that MPIGNY was awarded a Top Performing Chapter Award for the first time ever! This is a distinct honor, and we are really excited about receiving this award. We truly appreciate the recognition as it reaffirms that we’re on the right path and doing some great things that, hopefully, are making a positive impact on your experience within MPIGNY.  

If you weren’t able to make it to the Auction last week, don’t worry, we still have a few more ways for you to get engaged before the holidays. On Tuesday, Nov. 19, we’re hosting our third Education event of the year at Convene, 810 Seventh Avenue. The topic is food sustainability, and industry leader, Yalmaz Siddiqui, VP of corporate sustainability for MGM Grand, will be our keynote speaker. It promises to be a truly informative event where you’ll learn all the ways you can make a positive impact on sustainability. All the details are outlined below, so please register. We hope to see you there.

Finally, please save the date for Tuesday, Dec. 17 as we tie a bow on 2019 with our Annual Holiday Party. This year, we'll be at the brand new Skylight Room at Manhattan Manor! Always a great way to close out the year with friends and industry colleagues, this event is not to be missed, so please plan to attend and feel free to invite some of your colleagues to join us as well.  

Best regards,

Patrick Colomer
President
MPI Greater New York Chapter
patrick.colomer@hilton.com

MPI’s CSR team is dedicated to creating engagement and meaningful opportunities for our members to convene collectively with the purpose to network while proactively creating change in the local community.

When people meet with purpose, we increase the opportunity for change and authentic relationships.

Our mission and objectives are:

• To create meaningful, community-based volunteer activities for our members to be engaged
• To foster an ecosystem of local community partners
• To connect member partners with our ecosystem

With that said, please join MPIGNY for our October God's Love We Deliver volunteer activity. This month, we'll need your help in the kitchen!

Kitchen Prep 
(10 to 12 volunteers) 
Work as a group in the kitchen on a variety of tasks with guidance from their on-staff chefs.

Tasks may include packaging meals, chopping onions, ladling soup, peeling potatoes or making meatballs. Volunteers can also package meal bundles for clients and assemble children's meal kits.

Clothes must cover your shoulders, underarms, knees and toes (with closed-toe shoes). Watches, bracelets and dangling earrings must be removed. You can bring your own hat!

We ask all volunteers to arrive 15 minutes prior to their shift for self check-in and a quick orientation.  
*** Each volunteer MUST sign up for this event. *** 

Register now to sign up!

Date:
Wednesday, Nov. 13

Time:
4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Location:
God's Love We Deliver
166 Avenue of the Americas
New York, N.Y.

Venue Details:
Group volunteering at God’s Love We Deliver: Without the help of our amazing volunteers — more than 10,000 strong every year — we simply would not be able to cook and deliver more than 7,000 delicious and nutritious meals each weekday to our neighbors in need. Outnumbering our staff by a ratio of more than 100 to 1, volunteers work in the kitchen, deliver and package meals and work in our office.

Learn more about God's Love We Deliver by viewing this video!

What’s Cooked in Vegas, Stays in Vegas

Sustainability is now a strategic priority for many organizations. So it is natural that sustainability thinking is extending into events of all types. But how do you actually bring in specific and meaningful societal and environmental benefits to the events you host? It’s all about prioritization, and finding ways to meet broader event goals in a more sustainable way. Learn specific ways to prioritize the benefits that matter most to your clients and attendees, and come away with a detailed and specific sustainability plan, for your very next event.

The region of Las Vegas presents a unique and surprising contrast to this present-day norm. Food waste of all types is often up-cycled to the right destination, not down-cycled to lower value. Learn how sustainable thinking, sometimes enabled by technology, can inspire innovation that improves the world. Learn what happens in Vegas: MGM Resorts, the predominant hospitality player in the city is ready to share. 

Read more about our speaker and RSVP to the educational event here: LINK

Date:
Tuesday, Nov. 19

Time:
6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Location:
Convene at 810 Seventh Avenue
810 Seventh Ave
New York, New York

Don't Miss The Exchange, MPI Greater New York's Planner Only Interactive Session. 

This free session takes place just prior to the November Educational Program on Tuesday, Nov. 19 from 5:15 p.m. to 6 p.m. Please indicate your participation during registration for the educational program.

The Exchange is designed to provide a casual environment for planners of all experience levels to interact and discuss "topics of the day" interests as well as allow for spontaneous interactions/discussions.

Since all planner members have a unique combination of skills and experiences, The Exchange provides an opportunity for all participants to share, question and contribute to enhancing their knowledge and planning skills. Don't miss this exciting opportunity to participate in this unique "planner only" experience!

*Qualified planners are current planner members of MPI or nonmembers who plan events as their primary job responsibility. 

Topics are selected by you and can include the following and much more:

• How to manage your boss and/or your direct reports
• Tips for successful recruitment and retention on your team
• Best practices for managing a third party
• Coaching and mentoring - inspiring your team and encouraging creativity
• Contract negotiations
• Creative ways to engage attendees on meeting apps

Date:
Tuesday, Nov. 19

Time:
5:15 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Cost:
FREE - RSVP HERE

Location:
Convene at 810 Seventh Avenue
810 Seventh Ave
New York, New York

Join us for the 26th Annual Race to Deliver

God’s Love We Deliver provides nutritious meals to people in the New York City metropolitan area who are living with severe illness. For more than 30 years, God’s Love has been there for our New York neighbors so that no one has to fight the dual crises of being sick and hungry.

This year’s 26th annual Race to Deliver is more important than ever! God’s Love now cooks and delivers 1.8 million meals each year to more than 7,200 people who are too sick to shop or cook for themselves. So join in the race to help raise awareness for those in need! 

Below are the four steps that each person will need to do. Step 3 is very important — since the race is not run by God's Love We Deliver, the participant needs to sign waivers. You should not be asked to pay any additional fees once directed to the website as you will receive an invitation code.  

Step 1: START registration by clicking here to join team MPIGNY CSR and use promo code mpignycard.

Step 2: Make sure you click on GO TO MY CAMPAIGN to activate your fundraising page.

Step 3: COMPLETE the race registration on New York Road Runner's website with the invitation code that will be emailed by the next business day.

Step 4: Share your crowdRISE fundraising page with friends and family to help fund medically tailored meals for our neighbors! ($10 = one medically tailored meal)

Date:
Sunday, Nov. 24

Time:
8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.

Location:
Central Park

On Oct. 15, meeting professionals and suppliers gathered at Merchants Hospitality’s newly opened Ivy Lane to participate in MPIGNY’s second Education event of the 2019-2020 year. Participants experienced an excellent session with subject matter experts in the field of organizational development and learned "Winning Strategies to Create Buy-In."

Check out photos here!

Some key points included:

Defining buy-in
Buy-in is an emotional state of mind. When you achieve real buy-in, your stakeholders are owning the work versus renting space within the work. When a tenant is renting and something breaks, it’s another guy’s problem. When you're an owner and something breaks, you're responsible for fixing it.

Important skills

• Emotional intelligence - "Know yourself and the people in your tent" – relationships are everything.
• Empathy - Approach getting buy-in, resistance or lost buy-in with empathy and curiosity: How can you get it; why did you lose it?
• Selling - As Dan Pink famously wrote, we’re all in sales. Think like a sales person: What's their pain point? How am I solving their problem?
• Communication - Mindfully select opportunities for individual versus group communication. Frame messages differently for different thinking styles. Does the listener need to hear things simply or are they interested in all the complexity. Pay attention to what works and then course-correct.
• Facilitation - Let go of control/authority and use facilitation instead.
• Managing in all directions - Manage up by keeping top people informed to give them comfort that everything's in control. Employ "servant leadership" principles to manage employees and team members.

To learn more, check out this awesome link for key takeaways: PDF

According to the REAL ID study, commissioned by the U.S. Travel Association, an estimated 99 million Americans may not currently hold the proper identification required to pass through airport security when the REAL ID Act becomes law Oct. 1, 2020. Help educate attendees flying within the U.S. to your event by implementing these best practices when communicating about REAL ID:

• Use a common hashtag in social media copy, such as #REALIDReady and #REALID.
• Use a common tagline, such as, "If you don't have the star, you won't go far."
• Direct attendees to their state DMVs for the latest information.

Ensure you and your attendees are prepared by utilizing this REAL ID toolkit complete with resources that can help explain the new security measure and its requirements. Read more about these upcoming changes.

Did you know that all members are welcome to attend all MPIGNY board meetings? Join us in November to learn more about what we have planned in the coming months and meet some of your peers. 

Date:
Wednesday, Nov. 20

Time: 
6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Location:
New York Hilton Midtown
1335 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10019
Hilton Board Room located on the 4th floor

Are you interested in getting more involved with MPIGNY? Volunteering with a committee is a great way to meet new clients and industry partners! Visit our website or click the link for more information on how to get involved: MPIGNY - Join a Committee

We added a new campaign this year called "People of MPIGNY" and want to learn more about our incredible members! If you are interested in being featured, click the links below to read about some of our members and to complete the handful of questions to be considered for our next issue!

People of MPIGNY
People of MPIGNY Application

A key focus for the board moving forward is going to be the engagement of the meeting planner professional. We consider sustained planner participation to be a vital part of this chapter’s success. So, with that in mind, we’re rolling out the red carpet this year with the objective of increasing our planner engagement at all of our events.

Many thanks to the London Convention Bureau for graciously sponsoring several one-year planner scholarship opportunities that will increase our planner base and enhance overall engagement. Interested planners can apply here: London Convention Bureau Planner Scholarship. 

Did you know that MPI can help you cover costs for a preferred MPI membership and help fund your MPI Academy courses (including CMM, HMCC, Experiential Event Series, Meetings Essentials, Basics Boot Camp and more)?

Yes, it’s possible. The MPI Foundation provides MPI members professional development and career opportunities through grants and scholarships. MPI Foundation scholarships are awarded on an ongoing basis. Applications received by the end of the month will receive notification by the end of the following month. Conference scholarships do not typically follow the normal application cycle but will be reviewed each month. 

More information can be found here: MPI Foundation Scholarships