The master in the art of creating great events (live, hybrid, virtual) makes little distinction between learning and connecting, classroom and hallway, teaching, and playing. Their events leave it up to the guest to decide if they are working or playing. To the designer, they are always doing both." This paraphrase of a James Michener quote is at the heart of relevant, dynamic, never-miss meetings. Play with a Purpose has been blending the two key results attendees want from a meeting – education and networking – using experiential and engaging learning strategies for decades. Come play, participate, and get hands-on as you learn to deliver bold results in virtual meetings.

The move to virtual has been quick, with no real standards in place. Things are still clunky- like the first few dates with someone new. You think you like them, but don’t know whether you’re compatible, so you ask all sorts of awkward questions, or do all sorts of awkward activities trying to connect. Virtual events still feel that way, right? But what if they didn't have to? What if the opportunity for connection still exists, it just looks different because the way people connect *is* different and the way we engage has changed. This session will unpack the new ways we're all learning to create connection, and the new opportunities for engagement within every event- virtual, IRL, and hybrid alike. From new technology solutions to opportunities for real human moments we'll discuss how to create true points of connection, raving fans, and ecstatic clients.

Supporting minority-owned businesses also means supporting minority communities. From Venues & Catering to Speakers & Travel Management, these businesses thrive from the opportunities given through your meetings and events. Learn how to source, engage, and support in an inclusive and equitable fashion.

Staceyann and Patrick of Well-Seasoned Education explore the cost of hybrid vs in-person or virtual events

Have you ever attended a large-scale event that fell flat? Sometimes the large macro experience gets lots of love, but we forget about all the important micro-moments. Every experience contains a myriad of micro-moments. Sometimes, though, within the hustle and bustle of designing the event, some of these micro-moments lack the intention and time they deserve. What if we were able to create, moment by moment, identify, and then design specific micro-moments we knew would yield specific outcomes? Zooming out, think of what the entire experience might look like with that level of intention! This session will define and describe distinct “micro-experience” types grounded in experience design research and show participants how to intentionally craft events by carefully curating micro-experiences that climax in a magnificently personalized experience and gives your participants exactly what they want and need.

Customer experience is recently considered as a more competitive advantage than price, product, or quality. However, virtual event experience is different from traditional meetings due to the lack of face-to-face social interactions with people and the physical environment, as well as a lower level of engagement. This session aims to present the results of the MPI research project on virtual event experience and attendees' risk perceptions during the post-COVID-19 era, introduce different components and temporal dimensions of virtual event experience, and propose new innovative measures to capture the affective and moment-by-moment nature of event experience, including survey scales, experience sampling method, electrodermal activity, electrocardiography, pupillometry, and other emerging techniques.

When we organise events we want to change behaviour of our participants. We want them to do something different after the event than before: buy new products or services, gather new knowledge to innovate their services, change their ideas and attitude towards a specific subject to grow closer in a cooperation etc. To change behaviour we need to learn, gain new insights, and get inspired. How can we help our brain to optimize this activity? How can we influence our brains to learn?

For over a decade, the industry has been content to be "in-person first", despite having bullet-proof solutions for live streaming and remote audience engagement. Then COVID-19 happened, and we were forced to take our events completely online, all at once. And what did we see? Increased attendee counts more diverse and worldwide engagement, hundreds of new streaming providers, and for some even a bump in membership and revenue. There is no question in-person events will always have a future, but now that both planners and attendees have had a taste of the power of online events, how can we move forward? The future is hybrid. Learn how modern events will incorporate two distinct audiences, online and in-person, and how to build unique, engaging experiences for both.

The planning for WEC 2020 was in the home stretch until COVID-19 derailed everything. When MPI’s leadership made the decision to postpone WEC to November, the WEC planning group had to throw out years of traditional event planning best practices and not only start from scratch but transition a highly interactive live event into a hybrid conference. Kevin Iwamoto, GLP, GTP and Melinda L. Burdette, CMP, CMM, HMCC, Director, Events for MPI discuss what happened and how MPI pivoted to re-create WEC 2020 in a pandemic world.

Event Food & Beverage in the New Environment – There are so many things to think of when planning meetings with the health and safety of your participants in mind. This session will help you identify ways to modify catering for your meetings to prevent exposure.

Meeting and event planning are a constant negotiation. There are simple negotiations like price, terms, and concessions that define a predetermined outcome. However, to recover and compete in the fast lane in today’s hectic global world, the scope and significance of negotiations involve intense, high-stakes interactions revolving around a series of complex daily issues. When facing these more sophisticated situations, negotiators need highly developed methods, strategies, and formulas that are often the difference between getting what you want and settling for what the other side will give you. BUCKLE YOUR SEAT BELT! This fast pace program is designed to reunite with those who expect to analyze and participate due to the extreme new challenging business negotiations. Immediately experience and engage with your peers to effectively execute today’s negotiations that create winning authentic partnerships when dealing with your customers, vendors, co-workers, the boss, family, friends, or even the Starbucks coffee server. Up for the challenge?

Your business model is broken...just like everyone else. Let's spend an hour to prepare yourself for the next years, to identify future challenges, and to get you clarity on the actions you are going to take in the short term.