Welcome to a new decade of MPIGNY. We hope you enjoyed the holidays and are excited for what's to come in 2020!

I would like to send out a huge thank you to everyone who participated in our All Industry Holiday Celebration last month. It was a great event, and we really appreciate Manhattan Manor creating a wonderful experience for all of us to close out the year!

Our first education event of 2020 is taking place this evening. You can still register on-site! The title of the event is "Saturday Night Leaders: How to Solve Problems Keeping You Up Until 3AM." In this highly informative talk hosted by Saturday Night Live! alum Jaime Maison Cohen, you will learn how you can incorporate emotional intelligence into your leadership role, how to enhance communication in the workplace and how to shift from a reactive state to an effective emotional response in your daily interactions with stakeholders and colleagues alike. It is going to be a great night! And remember, all qualified meeting planners can register for only $10. 

Stay tuned to your inbox for more details on upcoming events as 2020 is going to be a truly exciting year for our chapter, and we want you to be a big part of it! 

Sincerely,

Patrick Colomer
President
MPI Greater New York Chapter

Saturday Night Leaders:  How to Solve Problems Keeping You Up Until 3AM 

You have many things to worry about — impossible deadlines, a changing industry and challenges with team members and clients. Problem-solve faster and have more fun doing it with calmness and composure.

Jamie Mason Cohen is a keynote speaker, a certified leadership trainer with The Leadership Circle, and he worked for "Saturday Night Live." He will teach advanced emotional intelligence strategies and processes so that you can develop a new level of self-awareness. The session will give you space and time for some quality self-reflection on your emotional intelligence as a leader.  

MORE INFO AND REGISTRATION HERE

Date:
Thursday, Jan. 9

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

Location:
Convene at 605 Third Avenue
605 Third Avenue (at 40th Street)
New York, New York

CEU credits:
1 CEU - CMP Clock Hours: 60 minutes - Domain G - Meeting or Event Design

Venue details:
Convene at 605 Third Avenue is the perfect Midtown South meeting space for planners who are looking to host executive retreats, corporate training, company off-sites and evening receptions. Hosting meetings at this location gives event planners more than 28,000 square feet to work with, including a 2,200-square-foot outdoor terrace. Our versatile hub rooms can accommodate up to 80 people, and our largest forum room can seat 184 people in theater style. State-of-the-art boardrooms fit up to 14 participants with generous gallery spaces and access to the terrace.

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

This free session takes place just prior to the January Education Program. Please indicate your participation during registration for the 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

REGISTER FOR THIS PLANNER EXCLUSIVE EXCHANGE HERE

Date:
Thursday, Jan. 9

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

Location:
Convene at 605 Third Avenue
605 Third Avenue (at 40th Street)
New York, New York

Over the past six months, MPIGNY has secured 15 hours of volunteer opportunities for dozens of members to give back to our community at God's Love We Deliver. We are delighted to share our January to April 2020 calendar. Take a look and save the dates/sign up now! 

Make sure to sign up for our Jan. 23 event! 

January to April 2020 - God's Love We Deliver Volunteer Calendar

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

Please join MPIGNY at God's Love We Deliver. 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

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!

Thank you to our industry partners for a successful celebration!

A capacity crowd of meeting professionals gathered on Dec. 17 to celebrate a successful year with plenty of camaraderie and cheer. Check out photos from the event below! Password to download the photos is 10510.

HOLIDAY PARTY PHOTOS 

The MPIGNY CSR Committee created several volunteer opportunities throughout the year for the MPIGNY community and ended 2019 on a high note this holiday season with two New York Cares programs focused on helping fellow New Yorkers – New York Cares Winter Wishes and the New York Cares Coat Drive.

Winter Wishes is an annual holiday gift-giving program in which wishes are matched with volunteers who purchase personalized gifts for tens of thousands of children and teens. MPIGNY members helped to fulfill Winter Wishes for 25 students at a middle school in Far Rockaway, New York. The school is home to many low-income families, and according to the guidance counselor, for many students, these wishes may have been their only gift at Christmas. A huge thank you to all who participated and generously purchased a gift to make a student's holiday a little brighter. 

The annual Coat Drive is a citywide effort that aims to collect more than 100,000 coats each year and distribute them to New Yorkers who need them most in the colder months. Since the first coat drive over 30 years ago, New York Cares has distributed more than 2 million coats to social service agencies, public schools, transitional housing shelters and more. This year, at the annual Industry Holiday Party on Dec. 17, MPIGNY collected 26 coats for donation to the Drive. Thanks to the generosity of our members, many New Yorkers in homeless shelters, community centers, public schools and religious institutions will be a little warmer this winter.

Thank you all for your support. We couldn’t do it without you!

Do you want to develop your leadership skills? Do you want to be part of a team that has your back to succeed? Do you want to show you have what it takes to keep the upward momentum of our chapter on track? Do you want to show your boss the success you build outside of the workplace that compliments your position and shows an ROI for your MPI membership?

BECOME AN INDUSTRY LEADER

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