Olympic torches lit up once more
Meeting Professionals International (MPI’s) World Education Congress 2010 finished up on July 27 in Vancouver British Columbia. This year’s mission… to share the latest trends, more efficient practices, offer top-notch networking and ROI that’s clear and measureable.
Demonstating how “events can shape business—and leave the world in better shape.”
CPR El Segundo’s Maureen Gehle shares her experience at MPI-WEC 2010:
“What a whirlwind four days of non-stop education and networking opportunities.
Cirque performers
Sew what?
The CPR team attended learning sessions on Disney Quality, Technology in Strategic Management Meeting Planning (SMMP), Smart Phone Apps for Meeting Planners and Practiced Spontaneity: Cultivating the Leader Within.
The General Session included John Furlong , the CEO of the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the Olympics, and Emmanuel Gobillot, described as the “first leadership guru for the MySpace generation.” Furlong discussed the values that they used to pull off the highest performing Olympic Games in the history of the Olympics… Teamwork, Trust, Excellence, Creative, Sustainability (of spirit and leaving a better human legacy). Good stuff for ANY organization!
Day 2: Sunday morning took me to “Disney’s Approach to Quality Service” which is always and engaging and humorous. Disney spends so much energy empowering all their ‘cast members’ to find solutions to everyday problems that it gave me time to think about our own teams and how our crews are the ones that I depend on everyday to find solutions to on-site challenges.
Walking the tradeshow floor proved to be challenging as there were so many companies to visit with, explore their products, listen to their pitches and learn. I always take away as much from listening to incredible salespeople at these events as I do from some sessions.
Day 3: Monday morning was my much awaited advanced excel computer lab. Before this class I thought I was ok with the programme but learned quickly that I’m a rank beginner. James Spellos attempted to make a very challenging topic seem easy. I can’t wait to invite James to return to LA and host another class and get to work on my new skills.
Street artist closing night
I believe that the afternoon held the most enlightening experience of the conference for me when I spent 3 ½ hours in the session Strategic Influencing Using Political Intelligence by David Bancroft-Turner creator of the political intelligence profile. This class showed us how to identify your political intelligence and put it to work for you.
Closing general session on Tuesday highlighted a dynamic keynote speaker Jeremy Gutsche author of ‘Exploiting Chaos.’ He spoke about trends and showed ways to find creative ideas. The closing night street party had Granville Street rocking, with tap dancers, cover bands, custom hot rods and motorcycles. The local restaurants were open for us and hopping from one to the next for a sample of their menu was a great way to get to know them.
Meeting Professionals International certainly knows how to host one heck of a meeting! Thank you Vancouver.”
