As we turn the page on another election cycle and begin to look to the holidays, MPIGNY is focused on ending this tumultuous year with our eyes on the future. Yet, since we are just about three weeks from Thanksgiving, it is not lost on me how grateful I personally feel for all the blessings that I have in my life. I do realize that these are still very tough times for all of us; we see it, feel it and experience it, seemingly every single day. Though, I believe it is one’s perseverance through adversity that symbolizes one’s character, and our industry comprises some pretty tough characters. The future is still unquestionably bright, and I am thankful for everyday that I have on this earth. Life can change in an instant, and it is important to appreciate every moment of every day for the gift that it is. I hope that resonates with some of you and that you each find a way to celebrate with your friends and family this holiday season.

I typically like to look forward in my monthly message, but I would be remiss if I did not look back upon our most recent event that took place on Thursday, Oct. 22. The inaugural MPIGNY Education & Expo (EdX) and the Annual Genies Awards were rolled into one fabulous (virtual) day that simply would not have been possible without all the hard work from so many of our members. This was a labor of love for a lot of us, but I would especially like to recognize Travis Pham, Elaine Morena, Colleen Jasinski and Carly Roncaglio-Marotta for their unwavering commitment to executing this experience for our membership. They, along with several other vital members of our chapter, went above and beyond in helping to create all of the day's festivities. A huge thanks, as well, to all of our sponsors, speakers and attendees who each contributed to the overall success of one of the most ambitious programs our chapter has ever produced. 

So, what's next? For those of you who have not yet volunteered for our monthly shift at God's Love We Deliver, there is still time to do so before the end of the year. We currently have two days scheduled — Tuesday, Nov. 17 and Monday, Dec. 14. I encourage each of you to sign up for one of these shifts. With God’s Love having to reduce volunteer shifts due to COVID-19, our presence is very much appreciated by both the staff and the community they serve. The details for November's registration are outlined below, and you can also find December's event on our website. We may also be adding a second volunteer shift in December, so be on the lookout for that in the coming days.

Speaking of God's Love, we would like to invite you to join “Team MPIGNY” in support of GLWD’s annual "Race to Deliver." The race was scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 22, as a community event, but, like so many other events this year, it has been postponed to 2021. But that has not stopped our team from participating! We are planning to hold our own socially distanced walk as a group, likely in Central Park, that morning or early afternoon, and we would love to have more of our hospitality colleagues join us in supporting this important fundraising event. Please see the event details below and click the link to register. If you are unable to join the team, please consider donating to help us achieve our team goal. If you have any questions, please reach out to MPIGNY Director of Corporate Social Responsibility Jennifer Rondinelli at jerondin@maccosmetics.org.

Finally, I would like to mention our next education event that is taking place on Thursday, Nov. 19: The One Big Thing - Business on the Brink of a Breakthrough with Jamie Mason Cohen. Jamie led a wildly successful in-person event for our chapter back in January and has graciously agreed to return, virtually this time, for what is expected to be yet another outstanding program. This interactive virtual workshop is dedicated to small businesses and how they can adapt to unexpected and unforeseen challenges. You will leave with seven relevant insights to take back to your team while planning the ONE BIG THING to reset your professional goals in real time in the midst of massive change and disruption. Registration is complimentary and open to all hospitality professionals, so feel free to invite your colleagues and industry friends to join us as well. 

Please see all the event details outlined below for more information. And, if you are not yet following us on social media, please be sure to do so as our marketing and communications team is doing a fabulous job keeping our followers up to date on all things MPIGNY as well as a variety of important industry topics. 

Facebook     Twitter     LinkedIn     Instagram

Happy Thanksgiving!

Best,

Patrick Colomer
MPIGNY President
patrick.colomer1@gmail.com

As we enter the month of giving thanks for all that we have, we must not forget about those who may not be as fortunate. In this spirit of giving, MPIGNY will return once again to God’s Love We Deliver for our regular volunteer session providing help in the kitchen. Due to social distancing guidelines, our assistance is needed now more than ever. 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. 

Our next volunteer session is scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 17, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. 

*Please note the time change.* Due to scheduling changes at GLWD, the session is extended by one hour. Please try to stay for the entire time, if you can. Gloves and masks will be provided to all volunteers. 

REGISTER HERE

If this session time is not convenient for you, check out the God's Love volunteer calendar for more volunteer opportunities. With numerous sessions scheduled each day, you are bound to find one or two that fit your schedule!

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 is 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!
• Celebrate with a Plate! Sponsor a holiday meal. So many people are alone during the holidays. Our special holiday meals are delivered with love to make sure that each and every one of our sick clients knows that someone cares. Your $20 funds a holiday meal for a seriously ill New Yorker and their loved one. 
• 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.

REGISTER HERE

All kinds of businesses get hit by forces out of their control and face unexpected and unforeseen challenges. They need support in how to adapt to the new world. This is not business as usual. Help is on its way, and that is where THIS workshop comes in. 

Jamie Mason Cohen, creator of the TV pilot, "BUSINESS ON THE BRINK," and returning MPIGNY speaker, spent the past eight months listening to and interviewing business owners who were successful before COVID-19 hit and now find their businesses on the brink.  

His goal: To find out what their No. 1 problem is and to bring together leading business experts from across North America (virtually and some in-person locally) to help derive counterintuitive, unconventional yet potentially successful strategies to turn the crisis into an opportunity.  

The business owners left their consultation with viable advice, hope and an action plan.  

This session will dive into Jamie's findings from these interviews for the TV pilot, focusing on businesses in the hospitality and meeting industry.

It will be followed by an in-depth 2021 real-time ONE BIG THING goal-setting session by YOU. You will be guided on how to build a mindset that incorporates resilience, optimism and realistic expectations. And you will walk away with renewed and reinvigorated confidence to tackle what is in your control to make the year ahead your most meaningful and purposeful one yet.

Learning outcomes:

In this 90-minute practical, interactive and inspiring virtual workshop, you will:

• Gain seven relevant Insights on what actions you can take to bring your business to the brink of a breakthrough (based on actual MPI member case studies during COVID).
• Plan your ONE BIG THING to reset your priority professional goals in real-time for 2021 in the midst of massive change and disruption.  
• Connect, collaborate and crowdsource success strategies with fellow MPIGNY members in a safe, inclusive and confidential space. 

Many of us have Zoom fatigue, but this is not another Zoom chat. This will be a meaningful and memorable experience as well as an opportunity to strategize and bond with fellow MPIGNY members. 

Supplies needed for the workshop:

You have the option of printing the hand-outs Leading Through Change and The One Big Thing (especially, THE ONE BIG THING) or having the hand-outs available online to reference. You also need a notebook and a pen.

CEU CREDITS: CMP-IS Domain A: Strategic Planning, 1.0 Clock Hour

EVENT AGENDA:

5:30 p.m. – 5:45 p.m.  Opening Remarks, Sponsor Recognition & Announcements
5:45 p.m. – 6:45 p.m.  Presentation & Breakout Sessions
6:45 p.m. – 7:15 p.m.  Breakout Session Shout Out, Key Learnings & Recap
7:15 p.m. – 7:20 p.m.  Q&A, Closing Remarks
7:30 p.m.  Event Concludes

Thanks to the generosity of our education sponsor, Visit Raleigh, this event is complimentary to all meeting and hospitality professionals.

REGISTER HERE

MEET OUR SPEAKER

 Watch Jamie's intro video.

Jamie Mason Cohen is the creator of the upcoming business reality TV Pilot, "BUSINESS ON THE BRINK," a resilience + leadership virtual keynote speaker and graphotherapist. He gives regular virtual business and leadership workshops to Fortune 500 and mid-size companies and his work has been featured in Forbes, Business Insider and TED.

Jamie received a 4.55/5 rating from attendees for MPIGNY Presents: SATURDAY NIGHT LEADERS Workshop-Keynote in January. Feedback from the talk included comments from attendees that they wished his presentation went on even longer because it was so impactful. 

So we've invited Jamie back to build on his last session and bring a hopeful message with a plan because this is not business as usual. This is BUSINESS ON THE BRINK. 

As part of our ongoing commitment to God's Love We Deliver, MPIGNY participated in the Race to Deliver last November, and we had planned to participate again this year. Unfortunately, as we all know, 2020 had other plans and has forced us all to adapt to the challenges of COVID-19. And adapt we did! With the race going virtual this year, MPIGNY is still doing its part to support the fundraising efforts of God's Love.

We are proud once again to build a team of dedicated volunteers raising much-needed funds for The Race To Deliver, one of GLWD's largest annual fundraisers. While we won't be able to run with all of our fellow racers on Sunday, Nov. 22, we will, individually and safely, take to our neighborhood streets or the treadmill in our basement, and together we will raise more money for God's Love than we ever could alone!

Our dedicated team of volunteers are the lifeblood of the CSR team, without whom we could not support God's Love. And 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 GLWD's ultimate campaign goal of $250,000. Won't you please join us by making a donation? Any amount will help!

JOIN OUR TEAM!

Thank you for your generosity!

Visit God's Love We Deliver to learn more.

While, sadly, we have had to postpone our annual Auction & Mixology Madness event, we are continuing to plan and looking ahead to next spring. An exact date is still TBD, but mark your calendars for April 2021 when we expect this popular event to make a spring comeback, so stay tuned for more details coming soon!

If you would like to donate an item for the silent auction, please click here to fill out the simple online donation form. 

If your company would like to sponsor one of the tables serving up cocktails all night, or if you are interested in joining us as a sponsor and learning about the full benefits of sponsorship, please email Lauren Carbonneau at lauren@qualiaevents.com.

MPIGNY's second GrubClub Peer-to-Peer Discussion session was held on Oct. 7. Chapter members came together for the opportunity to continue the dialogue from our September education program on contracting, cancelling and rebooking hotel agreements during this unusual time. In small groups, we discussed and shared best practices related to strategies used to accommodate cancellations and re-bookings. Attendees also discussed how capacity restrictions weigh into the negotiation conversations and how their organizations are viewing future meetings and the criteria they are using to make difficult decisions around live meetings and events. We are planning to host a third installment of this popular group discussion event very soon, so stay tuned for more details!

Joanne Dennison’s

Virtual Intensive CMP Exam Preparation Class

MPI Greater New York is a proud marketing partner for this upcoming event! Don’t miss out on the Virtual Intensive CMP Class held by Joanne Dennison if you are thinking of getting your CMP. Dive into the world of meetings and events, earn 16 CE hours, get useful tips for the CMP exam and real-life knowledge that you can start applying to your work right away.

Enroll once and get:

• A take-again option: Enroll once and come back to Joanne’s class as many times as you need!
• Three answers-afterwards sessions: For three weeks after the class, once per week, join Joanne and your classmates for a follow-up discussion with your questions!

Click here for more information and to register!

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.

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

Our chapter has a bright future ahead, and we want you to be a part of it. If you are interested in growing your own career and maximizing your return on investment within MPI, please feel free to reach out to any board member as we are truly here to help.

In that spirit, last year MPIGNY launched a mentorship program in which we paired up a select few of our newer members of the industry (10 years or less) with some of our veteran chapter members for mutual growth and career development. 

The Power of Two: MPIGNY Mentorship Program is a yearlong endeavor that, in its inaugural year, was highly rewarding to those who participated, and we are happy to announce that the application process for our second mentorship cohort is now open! This is a minimal time commitment and something you’ll truly feel proud of! 

"Overall I thought the mentorship program was a great experience and a good use of my time. I knew my mentee prior to starting the program so we already had somewhat of a rapport. We usually planned to speak once a week or every other week, and I enjoyed getting to know her and her business a bit more. We even ended up partnering on a project that she needed some help with, which was nice. We ... are still in touch and chat occasionally when we can." - Colleen Jasinski (Mentor, 2019-2020)

Please apply for the Power of Two: MPIGNY Mentorship Program here:

Mentee Application | Mentor Application

Are you interested in volunteering for your MPI Greater New York Chapter, but just don't have the bandwith to commit to a full committee or board position? Would you like to help out for an hour or two, but you're not sure who to ask?

“Task Master," MPIGNY's new volunteer initiative, just might be the answer you're looking for. Intended to increase participation among our membership and strengthen relationships within the chapter, the program offers numerous opportunities to volunteer some of your time through quick, easy, one-time tasks, powered by SignUp Genius. 

It's simple: Click here to access MPIGNY's SignUp Genius page online where you will see several tasks listed for various committees. Sign up for one or two (or more!) and follow the instructions to complete the task. It is that easy! Not only will you be benefiting the chapter, but also learning about committees and engaging with other MPIGNY members.

Help is always needed, so check it out! We look forward to having you join the team!

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.