We have turned the page to August and are officially in the middle of summer. It is great to see New York City beginning to open back up as neighborhoods in all five boroughs are embracing the outdoor dining concept, and several industries are getting back on their feet. While we realize there is still a long way to go before the hospitality industry returns to pre-COVID levels, we are starting to head in the right direction. 

As the debate continues about whether or not schools should reopen in the fall, we are fortunate that the MPI Academy provides numerous online opportunities to further our professional development. I encourage everyone to take advantage of the Academy’s offerings and go “Back to School with MPI” during these waning days of summer and focus on how you can advance your professional career. Included in your membership, the MPI Academy offers a robust schedule of resources aimed at helping you grow as a hospitality professional. A plethora of free content is available including how to organize meetings and events post-COVID-19, resources for equality and justice and planner resources to help you successfully execute your next meeting or event. The MPI Academy also provides exclusive opportunities to further your education through virtual classes on Women in Leadership, Emergency Preparedness and Meeting Fundamentals.  

MPIGNY is remaining committed to providing opportunities for our members to continue to come together during this unprecedented time. This Thursday, Aug. 6, we are producing another complimentary event that will involve some summer sweat! Get a Move On with MPIGNY will be a virtual networking event in which you can select one of three fitness classes: chair yoga, HIIT workout or a Pilates class. We have three fantastic instructors who will be running the respective classes. So, grab your sports bottle and plan to join us on Thursday afternoon.  

MPIGNY strongly believes in the power of collaboration and “strength in numbers,” especially in times of crisis. With this in mind, I am pleased to announce that we are partnering with New York PCMA on Tuesday, Aug. 18, at 5 p.m. for a joint networking event featuring the highly talented team at Song Division. If you are a fan of music, cocktails or networking (or all of the above), please save the date for what promises to be a fantastic event. We will share more details, including the registration link, in the coming days. 

Any plans for lunch next week? Would you like to join your fellow peers in a thought-provoking discussion on the challenges we are all facing in this current environment? If so, please register for one of the MPIGNY Grub Club Peer-to-Peer Discussion Groups. Each day will be dedicated to a specific group of members including: Unemployed or Furloughed Members (Monday), Employed Junior Planners (Tuesday), Employed Senior Planners (Wednesday), Small Business Owners/Third Parties (Thursday) and Employed Suppliers (Friday). These intimate discussions are intended to provide our members with a safe space to brainstorm ideas while sharing your own experiences navigating the waters in the world of COVID-19.

Our latest CSR event is also taking place next week. We are partnering with Give To Get in creating bracelets and gift cards that will be donated to hospital and front-line workers. This is a great opportunity to make a positive impact on the community from the comfort of your own home. MPIGNY has absorbed the majority of the costs in purchasing the kits in order to provide an economical way for our members to participate. There are only a couple of slots left, and the registration deadline is tomorrow at 5 p.m. After registering, please remember to mark your calendar for the Kick-off Happy Hour scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 13, at 5:30 p.m. A representative from Give To Get will join us to share the history of the organization and provide direction for creating the gift packages.

We have received an incredible response to the creation of the MPIGNY Diversity & Inclusion Committee, with an overwhelming number of members sharing a strong desire to create positive change within our chapter. With that in mind, I am pleased to announce that Josh Novick and Hallia Baker have been named co-chairs of the Diversity & Inclusion Committee. Josh is no stranger to chapter leadership, having served as president of MPIGNY during the 2017-2018 term. He not only understands the inner workings of MPI but is also heavily involved in D&I within his own organization, bringing a wealth of experience to the team. Hallia has been a member of our chapter for many years. She is passionate about this initiative and also serves on our Education Committee, where she will continue to impact the educational content we produce for our membership. The D&I Committee is in great hands with these two seasoned hospitality professionals, and I could not be more excited to see all the progress they make over the coming year. 

Finally, I would like to remind everyone of the MPIGNY Community Support Fund that we created in response to COVID-19. As we know far too well, this pandemic has had a devastating impact on our industry — especially in New York City. Our board of directors felt strongly that we needed to find a way to alleviate some of the financial strain that our members are feeling during this tumultuous time. This fund provides grants to any active member who needs assistance in covering housing, healthcare, childcare, groceries, etc. The application process is completely confidential; only Kathie Stapleton, who serves as our executive director, will have access to any applicant's personal information. If you need financial assistance, please fill out an application. We would like to do whatever we can to help ease the burden for so many who have been adversely affected this year.  

Enjoy the rest of your summer.  

Best,

Patrick Colomer
President
MPI Greater New York Chapter

Join us and try a new group activity with fellow industry members.

Chair yoga: Gentle breathing and stretching exercises with use of a chair. Accessible to all. (30 minutes of chair yoga followed by 15 minutes of breath work)

Office Meet Yoga (OMY) is a team of experienced wellness professionals ready to bring mindfulness, fitness, Zumba, cardio, healthy eating and yoga classes to you, when and where you need them most: at work either virtually or on-site, at your conference or meeting.

HIIT workout: Get your sweat on with a quick and effective HIIT workout. Tailored to all fitness levels with options and challenges for each exercise! No equipment needed, just yourself! (Resistance bands and dumbbells can be added for challenges.)

Taylor Savastano is a NASM-certified personal trainer with a passion for fitness and health. She has experience with all ages and fitness levels and is currently offering personal and group training sessions in person or via Zoom.Instagram: coachsav_

Pilates: Pilates offers plenty of benefits to your body, no matter your fitness background. If you’ve been thinking about trying Pilates but something has been holding you back, here's your chance!

Our Pilates instructor, Jan Homestead, will take you through a 45-minute instructional flow of the basics of the Pilates practice. Focus will be on good form, stability, strengthening the body and establishing a connection between the body and mind. Modifications and challenges will be offered throughout the class.

Homestead is an IFTA-certified Pilates instructor and a certified Barre instructor who has been teaching studio and online classes for 12 years. She is currently offering personal and group classes via Zoom.

After each workout, there will be time for Q&A with the instructors to answer any questions you may have on your selected activity.

Get a Move On with MPIGNY!

Wondering how your peers in similar positions or companies are handling the challenges we are all facing today? Have a strategy idea you want to run by others in similar situations? Have a success story that could help others navigate this difficult time? Or perhaps you simply want to connect with other event professionals to chat about shared interests or for encouragement and camaraderie.

Join your fellow MPIGNY members for our Grub Club — a safe space to discuss collective experiences and concerns. These casual, peer-to-peer discussion sessions will allow you to connect with your peers, collaborate openly and help you stay connected to our industry while discussing the topics that are on your mind right now.

Learning Objectives:

• This session will provide you with an outlet to discuss and share experiences in addressing the challenges you may be facing. By connecting with your peers, you will be offered support through sharing both personally and professionally.
• Each day will be dedicated to a specific group of members with "like" backgrounds to allow for more comfort in speaking openly.

(Click the links below to select the session you wish to attend.)

• Monday, August 10: Unemployed or Furloughed Members
• Tuesday, August 11: Planners – Employed Junior
• Wednesday, August 12: Planners – Employed Senior
• Thursday, August 13: Small Business Owners/Third Parties
• Friday, August 14: Suppliers – Employed

Registration is complimentary and open to all members.

MPIGNY is partnering with Give To Get for an at-home volunteering opportunity.

We will be creating COVID-19 support kits for hospital and front-line workers. In exchange for a donation of just $25, you will receive a kit to create 10 Hero bracelets and 10 cards of support. The kits will be shipped directly to you, so please be sure to provide a complete mailing address when you register.

Once registered, please mark your calendar for our Happy Hour Kick-off Call to be held on Thursday, Aug. 13, at 5:30 p.m. ET. On the call, we will discuss the project instructions and share the story of Give To Get and its community impact since its inception 25 years ago.

There is a limited number of kits available. If you are interested, please register by Wednesday, Aug. 5.

Register Here

As our city continues to reopen, we are reminded again of the impact closing has had on organizations like God’s Love We Deliver that rely heavily on volunteer staff to fulfill their commitments. Due to social distancing guidelines, God’s Love has had to minimize the number of people in the building overall and in the kitchen area, especially. Yet, they are still committed to serving over 10,000 meals per day. 

And MPIGNY will be there to help. We will be back at God's Love again this month providing help in the kitchen on Thursday, Aug. 20, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Gloves and masks will be provided to all volunteers. If you are able to join us, please register here.

Click the link for an article discussing how our support is needed and appreciated in our community:   "Delivering tens of thousands of meals a day to sick and homebound people across our area"

GLWD is in desperate need of delivery drivers. If you have a car or van, they could really use some support with delivery services at this time. There are some walking delivery slots available as well. Please see the volunteer calendar for available times and to sign up.

If you are not able to volunteer, there are still several ways you can help!

The Cards of Caring campaign offers an opportunity to share a message of caring to brighten someone’s day. Many of GLWD’s clients are homebound senior citizens who, in this climate, are unable to have visitors of any kind. A cheerful note to let them know they are not forgotten can be a welcome reprieve from their solitude. The website provides guidelines on creating the cards, but feel free to be as creative as you would like. And if you have children at home, this might be a perfect activity to help pass the time in quarantine!

In addition, God’s Love has three distinct giving opportunities to donate much-needed funds.

• COVID-19 Emergency Fund for clients of God’s Love: $54 funds a shelf-stable meal bag and $100 funds a week of meals for a client living with serious illness. Please give what you can. Any amount helps!
• Birthday Bake Sale: God’s Love bakes and personalizes birthday cakes for their clients living with serious illness. Your donation contributes toward the purchase of ingredients, baking, decorating and packaging of these special cakes.
• Who Are You Cooking For?: God’s Love’s newest campaign to help fund 100,000 meals during the coronavirus pandemic. Donate what you would have spent if you were cooking for friends. More details are on the website.

Last, during this time, we are all doing a lot more cooking at home, and after nearly two months, you may be in need of some fresh ideas to answer that age-old question, “What’s for dinner?” Help yourself and God’s Love with a purchase of The God’s Love Cookbook: Nourishing Stories and Recipes from Notable Friends. You can finally stop making pasta (for the 100th time) and feel good knowing that you are doing good for your fellow New Yorkers. 100 percent of the book’s proceeds directly support God’s Love.

Operation Backpack® 2020, a community service of VOA-Greater New York, provides brand new backpacks and grade-specific school supplies to children living in homeless and domestic violence shelters throughout the five boroughs of New York City.

The organization typically relies heavily on donations of school supplies to fulfill their commitments to children in need. Unfortunately, this year, due to the coronavirus pandemic, they are unable to accept supplies from individual donors. As a result, they are in desperate need of monetary donations that will enable them to purchase enough supplies to meet their demand.

As we continue to seek out opportunities for our membership to help fellow New Yorkers during this time of social distancing, MPIGNY is proud to support this effort. We are pledging to raise $1,000 toward Operation Backpack®'s ultimate campaign goal of $200,000. Won't you please join us by making a donation? Any amount will help!

Join Our MPIGNY Team

Visit OperationBackpackNYC.org to learn more.

We are pleased to share that the 2020 MPIGNY Kalahari Resorts Golf Outing is moving forward on Thursday, Oct. 1. We are excited to continue the great tradition of this amazing event!

Please visit our website for our player registration form and sponsorship opportunities. We look forward to seeing everyone in October and will be in touch in the coming weeks with next steps. 

Until then, hang in there, get practicing, stay safe and keep washing your hands!

2020 MPIGNY Kalahari Resorts Golf Outing

MPIGNY is thrilled to announce the international board of directors has awarded Lifetime Membership status to our very own Frank Stapleton. Stapleton has remained an active and engaged member of our chapter since 1994 and served as the chapter president during the 2005-2006 term. He chaired the Golf Committee for 20 years and was responsible for one of our most memorable and well-attended events, "This Is Our City: Ellis Island." He created the highly acclaimed signature event, NYMix (New York Meetings Industry eXchange), which ran for five years. He was recognized as Supplier of the Year, Chapter Manager of the Year, Committee of the Year for Golf (twice), the President's Award (twice) and was inducted into our Hall of Fame in 2009.

In addition to his longevity and selfless service to MPIGNY, Stapleton has had a long and illustrious career in the hospitality industry. As the VP of marketing-North America at Rank Hotels, he managed five regional offices that generated sales for 23 hotels in Europe and North America. Stapleton currently serves as president of The Monarch Group, a strategic consulting and sales strategy management firm.

Please join us in congratulating Frank Stapleton on this well-deserved achievement!

MPIGNY records with sorrow the passing of longtime member and former MPIGNY board member Andrew “Andy ” Francis Anastasi (November 2, 1962 – July 18, 2020).

Anastasi was an industry icon who will be remembered for his fun-loving, positive personality and his dedication to his friends, his partner, Haynes Wheeler, and his family. He joined Hilton Hotels Corp. in 1989 as a sales executive and worked in both Washington, D.C., at the Capital Hilton, Hilton National Sales, and in their New York headquarters. He joined ConferenceDirect as vice president of the New York Region in 1999 after the company was only one year in business and became one of the top associates and part owner of the firm. He was elevated to senior vice president and a team leader. “He’s always been a bright light in the lives of everyone who knew him. Like so many others, I will miss him deeply,” said Brian Stevens, CEO of ConferenceDirect.

Rest in peace, Andy. You will be missed by all who knew and loved you.

Created in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its devastating impact on the live events industry, the Live Events Coalition exists to provide advocacy, resources and a network that connects and supports all of the businesses, contractors and our workforce — the lifeblood of every event.

Their mission is to advocate for and support the many voices that make up the live events industry — hospitality, planners, caterers, talent, musicians, producers, technicians, general contractors, engineers, suppliers, manufacturers and so many more.

The Coalition has two immediate goals:

1. Leverage the power of our network to provide care, support and resources for the community that makes up the live events industry.
2. Call attention to the catastrophic effects of COVID-19 on the business of live events, and ensure that we’re included in the ongoing national conversation and supplemental federal relief aid packages.

In just a few short months, chapters have formed in several major cities throughout the United States. For more information or to become a member of the Coalition, go to Liveeventscoalition.org.

The Events Industry Council (EIC) has released the Meeting and Event Design Accepted Practices Guide. The guide is intended to serve as a resource and educational tool for industry professionals to utilize as they put the aggregated resources and materials into practice. This guidance also is intended to be global and universal in nature. The work will continue to evolve through regional workshops led by task force members to ensure it is understood and applied broadly. EIC will update this guide as new information becomes available. 

At MPIGNY, our members are family, and in challenging times, we believe in taking care of our own. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the financial hardships many are experiencing as a result, MPIGNY has set up a community support fund to provide monetary grants to our colleagues who need it most. If you are in need of assistance during this or any of life's more difficult moments, we may be able to help. 

There is no issue too large or too small. If you need help, please know we are standing by to assist you. Simply submit a confidential Request for Support for review of support in any personal crisis situation. We can offer assistance toward:

• Housing while in quarantine 
• Essential items like groceries, rent, utilities or essential worker child care
• Rebuilding after natural disasters 
• Escaping from domestic violence
• Recovering from a serious accident
• Other support following loss when not otherwise provided by insurance

Submit a confidential request with all supporting documentation to Kathie Stapleton. As this is confidential, please share as much information as you are comfortable sharing. All requests will be reviewed and considered to determine what, if anything, we can do to assist you in your situation.

Additionally, if you are in a position to donate to the fund, MPIGNY is gladly accepting donations at this time. Please contact Kathie Stapleton for more information. 

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 

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

September Education Event

Date: Wednesday, Sept. 16

Time: 5:30 p.m. - 7 p.m.

Topic: Is It Wrestlemania Now? Let’s Knock These Contracts Out!

Are you looking for guidance during these changing times? Are you interested in mentoring a fellow MPIGNY member? The Leadership Development Committee is pleased to announce the second annual "Power of Two" Program! We had great involvement during the 2019-2020 year, and due to increased interest, we are going to run the program again for the 2020-2021 year. Stay tuned for additional details and expect the program to kick off in September.

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

The MPI Foundation is focused on helping as many current members retain their professional affiliation and the opportunity to continue to have access to all our resources. For more information, please contact help@mpi.org.

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

Did you know that MPI members have access to complimentary resumé critique through our career center? Members will need their MPI username/password to access this service. Visit: 

www.mpi.org > Resources > Career Center > Sign In > go to My Account (top left corner) > go to Resume > check mark “Send me my free professional resume critique from TopResume” > click on Upload Resume to, you guessed it, upload your resumé.