As we prepare this month for the 2019 MPI World Education Congress (WEC) in Toronto, one of our industry’s largest events, I began recalling the memorable experiences that I’ve recently been able to attend: April’s digitalNOW conference in Orlando, Dirk Nowitzki's final NBA home game as a Dallas Maverick, numerous MPI chapter events, Destinations International’s CVB CEO Summit in North Carolina, the Event Industry Council’s (EIC) board meeting in a revitalized Puerto Rico and the always-exciting IMEX Frankfurt. It struck me how each experience was designed by planners to make a powerful and lasting impact on attendees in a unique way. 

The legendary Walt Disney, the expert of experiences, said it well: “Whatever you do, do it well. Do it so well that when people see you do it they will want to come back and see you do it again and they will want to bring others and show them how well you do what you do.”

The theme of WEC, “Stop Planning Meetings, Start Designing Shared Experiences,” reflects Walt’s wisdom. At WEC we aim for excellence and the delivery of an experience that inspires our attendees to grow as professionals, share what they’ve learned and come back year after year.

In 2018, we completely reimagined WEC, introducing new concepts and taking risks that resulted in a rich and memorable experience for attendees—as demonstrated by our overall attendee satisfaction score of 93 percent! This year, we will build upon many of those successful concepts introduced last year, like the popular villages—an open-floor environment that offers an opportunity for focused engagement, education and business in a free-flowing, creative setting—while also introducing new and innovative components and educational experiences.

We will deliver inspiring and innovative education, amazing keynote speakers, subject matter experts and thought-provoking sessions, as well as interactive business exchanges and dynamic networking. When speaking and listening to our members across the globe, we know that the experience of developing a new connection can lead to the formation of a great idea for executing the next event or expanding one’s own personal growth. That’s the power of a “shared experience” with a dynamic community!

Each day at WEC will be purposefully different, delivering the benefits and value that we promise to you and that our attendees have come to expect from MPI. We will open and close each day with cutting-edge topics, trends and ideas that will maximize inspiration and innovation. Through these shared experiences, we are delivering invaluable hands-on, breakthrough knowledge that will support your professional growth.

As I approach my seventh WEC, I am excited about the prospect of interacting and networking with our community, while being inspired by the designed experiences planned for WEC, and I look forward to seeing familiar faces along with meeting new ones. Thank you for your engagement with MPI and I look forward to seeing you in Toronto, June 15-18!

When we meet, we change the world!