With the COVID-19 pandemic raging and the meeting and event industry at a standstill, MPI was determined to show industry professionals how to safely hold face-to-face business meetings and events.

The association stood committed to its World Education Congress (WEC) in November 2020 in Grapevine, Texas, formulating a plan to use its signature education event as a model for how this vital industry could jumpstart a recovery.

It would be an arduous, often daunting task for MPI, which launched ambitious duty of care protocols intended to instill confidence and trust for in-person attendees while also creating a fully live, hybrid education event—the first major industry conference since March 2020.

WEC would test the boundaries of a large in-person gathering, with more than 600 attendees at the Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center.

With attendee safety a top priority, the results showed essentially no cases of COVID onsite or in the aftermath. Yet, the path to WEC was mired with angst, financial uncertainty and support (as well as criticism) from the industry—ending with a sense of relief, success and determination to continue moving the industry forward.

WEC Vegas, June 15-17, 2021. Make your future.

MPitv, led by host Sarah Soliman, set out to document the story of WEC Grapevine through the voices of the association’s leadership and event team, sponsors, partners, attendees, health professionals and even some who elected not to attend because of health concerns or travel restrictions. Much was at stake and Soliman and the MPItv team set out to capture a thorough narrative, not only to document what happened at WEC, but to show how the event would set precedents for the immediate future of face-to-face gatherings, including at WEC in Las Vegas this June.

“As the meeting and event industry continues to grapple with complex decisions on whether they should move forward with producing live events, the WEC20 documentary offers a level of transparency that showcases every stage of planning and executing one of the first hybrid industry events since the pandemic,” says Soliman, president and CEO of Soliman Productions Inc. “My hope is that meeting organizers and their stakeholders use the documentary as an educational resource that provides tangible answers and builds confidence as they look to get back to planning face-to-face events.”

WEC Vegas duty of care. Creating a safe, worry-free experience is our top priority.

Annette Gregg, senior vice president for experience at MPI, says executing an in person WEC last year was a proud accomplishment.

“It was probably one of the most challenging projects any of us has ever attempted,” she says “By explaining our journey in a documentary, we hope to provide valuable perspective to meeting organizers that in-person programs are possible and worth the effort. We also wanted to represent a variety of stakeholders to highlight the complexity of the environment. Our partners on all fronts—destination, hotel, venues, production—all came together to unite our industry in a time of deep challenge.” 

Our thanks to Discover Puerto Rico for sponsorship of the WEC Grapevine documentary video.