With almost 40 hours of educational content, 22 breakout sessions, over 20 speakers, and 4 art focused inspiring keynotes, MPI Cascadia Educational Conference welcomes you to “The heART of Your Meeting” and will deliver some of the best regional educational sessions for meeting professionals. This year’s educational program gives you the tools to best cope with our industry’s competitive environment. With inspiring sessions such as “Creative Heart Matters”, “Inspirations and Impressions - A Creative Journey” and “It’s Showtime!”, to tools of the trade sessions like “Googlicious” and “Hybrid Meetings - Where Virtual Meets Reality”, Cascadia 2012 is a must conference for any serious meeting professional in the Pacific Northwest and beyond!
As your Vice-Chairs, we along with our volunteer team, collaborated our best resources, maximized our learning budget and volunteered hundreds of hours to bring you an educational line-up that we are proud to present to you, our colleagues, members and friends. We challenge you that if you don’t get one idea or connection that can return you at least the cost of the conference, to contact us personally to get that value back to you. We look forward to your rave reviews at the Hotel Murano and the Greater Tacoma Convention & Trade Center and welcoming you to the 10th Anniversary of MPI Cascadia Educational Conference – The heART of Your Meeting!!
Detailed Schedule
(Sessions are subject to change and updates will be provided here leading up to the conference.)
Saturday, March 3
1:30pm – 9:30pm | Pre-Conference Activities (see Pre-Conference tab for more details)
Sunday, March 4
8:00am – 1:30pm Pre-Conference Activities (see Pre-Conference tab for more details)
1:30pm – 2:30pm Hosted Buyer Appointments - Part 1
2:30pm - 3:45pm Breakouts
Farm to Table 101 Sarah Wilcox and Roy Breiman
Farm to Table 101--Building sustainable relationships in a new hospitality paradigm’… In this breakout you will hear how Cascade Harvest Coalition is working with local farmers to bring fresh produce to this area. Roy Breiman, Culinary Director of Cedarbrook Lodge, will share how this is a win-win for resorts and groups. In addition, the Tacoma CVB will share how they are using tours of local farms to spice up meetings. Their success stories (both in the field and in hospitality) will demonstrate the inherent value that these many relationships bring to our region.
Battle of the Registration Apps
Moderator: Marti Castillo, CMP
Panel: Mike Lawrence, StarCite; Nicole Brambila, EventBrite; Chris Emerson, Certain
Hear from representatives of the top registration software applications companies in the business. You’ll leave with lots of information and contacts to help you take your event registration responsibilities to the next level.
Do More with Windows 7 and Office 2010
Chenda Wilson
Learn how Windows 7 on your PC can help simplify everyday tasks, work the way you want, and make new things possible.
• Which version is right for you?
• Benefits, features, and tips and tricks
• Video demo and audience participation
See how fast and easy it is to connect to Windows Live - a set of online tools & desktop programs that work together seamlessly to help create, connect, and share with the cloud.
• Edit and share photos and videos
• Post your content online and on social networks
• Personal and free online storage
Microsoft Office 2010 offers flexible and powerful new ways to deliver your best work-at the office, at home, or at school. Get a quick overview on the products and features of the Microsoft Office suite.
• Which version is right for you?
• Top 10 reasons
• Benefits and features of Outlook 2010
4:00pm - 5:15pm Breakouts
Wine 101 for Groups and Events
Lenny Rede, Operations Manager WINE WORLD Warehouse -The Largest Wine Store in the Northwest
Meeting Technology in Troubled Times – How to Do More with Less
The Rise of Free or Very Low Cost Web Tools for Meeting Professionals
Corbin Ball, CMP, CSP
Advances in web technology are driving costs down for a wide range of event planning, tradeshow management and communication tools for meeting planners and suppliers including registration, exhibit floor plan management, booth design, electronic ticketing, polling, collaboration tools, communication tools, mobile apps and much, much more. This session will explore the causes and cover dozens of free or low cost web applications to make increase productivity and reduce costs.
Brand YOU: A Magnificent Masterpiece
Dr. Sean Harry
• Discover and leverage the one key thing that makes you most successful
• Create professional growth strategies that align with your deepest core values
• Utilize social networks to enhance your career and grow your personal brand
• Build powerful networks that enhance professional opportunities
This breakout session is about creating and developing the unique masterpiece of you. Forget about relying on your resume to climb the corporate ladder. That simply doesn’t work these days. Forget about copying what everyone else does. That makes you bland, boring and forgettable. In today’s world we are all free-agents. In order to successfully navigate our careers and grow our businesses we must develop our own uniquely personal brand. Join Sean Harry as he helps you discover and leverage the key things that make you special.
5:45pm - 6:30pm First Timers Reception for first time CEC attendees
For other attendees - Hotel Murano Art Tour ($15 per person – see Pre-Conference tab as must pre-register), or Happy Hour at Lobby Bar
6:45pm - 7:45pm Opening Keynote
Creative Heart Matters
Amy Lee Segami
Engage your heart with inspired art while you watch the speaker create a one-of-a-kind Painting On Water™. Literally, she uses water as her canvas.
You will re-energize your heart, re-charge your creativity, and re-engage your business. This is a uniquely Segami experience: innovative, interactive, with inspirational insights. Be prepared to enhance your awareness and appreciation of beauty and opportunities while you take note of personal development and business applications.
Highly regarded as an innovative application of science and visual art that offers elements of cultural diversity, this program is designed by a mechanical engineer and an award-winning artist to engage your heart and mind. Learn directly from the original developer of Painting On Water™ -- a contemporary version of Suminagashi (Sue-me-nah-gah-she), based on an ancient art of flowing ink on the surface of water which originated in China over 2,000 years ago. As a bonus, you will also learn the Asian wisdom and Chinese legends you can take back to your office.
7:45pm - 9:30pm Reception & Tradeshow Opening
Monday, March 5
8:30am - 10:00am Breakfast and Opening Keynote
Inspiration and Impressions – A Creative Journey
King Dahl
Enjoy a morning of extraordinary design ideas from King Dahl, Executive Director of Event Design for MGM Resorts Events, Las Vegas. King will reveal his sources of inspiration and his techniques in creating dramatic first and lasting impressions. Through the use of vivid photos and video, King will outline the essential components he incorporates when designing his signature, innovative event environments.
King will also disclose the secrets that have propelled his team into one of the world’s leading, and most award-winning event companies. Come prepared to ask all the questions you’ve always wanted to, as King will be an open book in discussing his work philosophy and personal journey throughout his long and distinguished career in event production.
10:25am - 11:55am Breakouts
Googlelicious
James Spellos, CMP, MOS
Google is the most utilized search engine on the Internet. Millions of people use it daily to find out about almost anything. However, search engines such as Google have dozens of advanced capabilities of which most people aren’t even aware. With billions of information-rich websites (a number that’s growing daily), the task of finding the piece of information you require for your job is becoming even more arduous.
This session is for everyone from Google novices to search engine pros. It will demystify how to use the various search tools to find what you need…and do so in minimal time. Google will be utilized primarily; however, advanced search features from other sites will also be discussed.
After participating in this session, the attendee will be able to:
• Understand the 7 critical techniques of effective web searching
• Identify 10 Google tools beyond the search box
• Recognize why results are returned from your search
• Create a custom Google home page and search engine.
Brick by Brick: Building a High-Performing Event Team
King Dahl
Get a peek inside the leadership practices of King Dahl, Executive Director of Event Design. He will share the specific strategies that make up the foundation of successful event organizations. Building your company into a respected leader in the events industry requires dedication, focus, and a strategic plan. King will reveal the building blocks necessary for developing today’s employees into an effective, creative, and interdependent team culture.
• Charge through the present and into the future with the 8 Values of a Successful Event Team
• Develop, communicate, and instill your vision and core values
• Learn principles for leveraging your most important assets
• Learn the functions, dysfunctions, and most importantly-the malfunctions of a team.
Painting on Water – from Mindful to Mindflow
Amy Lee Segami
Apply your imagination. Experience FLOW. Literally, use water as your canvas. As you create, you will learn to handle the uncharted waters, chaos and uncertainties in your life with a new perspective. Note the "A-ha’s!" that will re-engage you in your personal and professional applications.
This proven hands-on program is an innovative application of science and visual art that offers elements of cultural diversity. It is designed by a mechanical engineer and an award-wining artist to engage your heart and your mind. Learn directly from the original developer of Painting On Water™ -- a contemporary version of Suminagashi (Sue-me-nah-gah-she). It is based on an ancient art of flowing ink on the surface of water, originated in China over 2,000 years ago. Past participants have found it to be a fun, unique, thought-provoking, and memorable creative experience that goes beyond expectations.
Suitable for anyone with a curious attitude. No prerequisites. No artistic talent necessary. Must be 21% open- minded. Limited space.
What you will be learning:
• Relax and recharge your creative juices
• Manage flow
• Change perspectives in your work and personal life
• Learn cultural diversity
• Manage uncertainty and chaos
• Understand probability and opportunities
• Collaborate with Nature and Others
• Create and keep your own piece of basic Painting On Water™
• Journal your inner journey and capture you’re A-ha’s
A Skillful Composition: The Art of Developing Trustworthy Relationships that Build Team Unity and Increase Sales
Dr. Sean Harry
Learn and apply the “Formula for Trustworthiness” to increase your personal trust-ability
• Improve your trust worth quotient to build genuine relationships
• Gain tips for increasing credibility and proximity to quickly grow your business
• Reduce self-interest to become more engaging to your customers
• Improve working relationships by improving team cohesion
The Event Industry is all about building trusting relationships. We depend upon the relationships between planners and suppliers to pull off the smoothest, most successful event possible. But how do we build those trusting relationships in a highly technical, ever changing, economically challenging environment where ROI is king? In this session Sean Harry will give you practical tools for building trustworthiness that you can put to use today and that will serve you for years to come.
12:10pm - 1:30pm Relationship Building Lunch and Roundtable Discussion
12:10pm - 1:30pm Hosted Buyer Appointments - Part 2
1:30pm - 3:00pm Breakouts
Twitter-ific
James Spellos, CMP, MOS
Are you using Twitter effectively for your business? If you’re not, then you’re missing out on using the most important social networking tool available. Can you afford not understand how to use this service to help you connect with your customers and clients?
By attending this session, you will learn how to best utilize Twitter to listen to your audience, and provide an efficient, real time communications tool for your organization. This session will also show a number of additional tools that support how you use Twitter to reach your audience.
During this session, you will create your Twitter account, and use it during the session to share your conference experience and become part of the “in crowd”.
After participating in this session, the attendee will be able to:
- Understand how to use Twitter in your business and at your events
- Identify free Twitter applications that can enhance and simplify your Twitter experience
- Create and use Twitter hashtags and lists
- Understand the 5 keys to successful Tweeting
The Latest in Food and Beverage – Catering Trends
Patti Shock, CPCE
Using the SCAMPER method of strategic creativity, this session will show you how to differentiate your catered events from the boring cookie cutter meals of the past and work with your caterer to develop 'wow' presentations your attendees will talk about.
Planner Panel – Who We Are and How to Sell to Us
Audrey Fan
CMP or CMM? Is It for You? We Think So!
Cyndi Holloway, CMP and Marcus White, CMP
This class will prepare attendees to receive their Certified Meeting Professional/Certified Meeting Manager Certification (CMP/CMM). The class will outline the beginning to end steps in attaining certifications and involve the group in a “are you ready” interactive Q & A. Attendees will also spend time identifying the benefits of achieving these certifications.
3:30pm - 5:00pm Breakouts
Smart Phones—Smarter Meetings Revisited James Spellos, CMP, MOS
Have you unlocked all of the killer tools from your smart phones? Or are you are still using your phone just to make calls? This interactive session will provide you ideas for learning what these smart devices can do for your meetings, as well as for all of your customer interaction. This session is also ideal for industry suppliers to learn how to use their smart phones more effectively. Attendees will be encouraged to share their best practices with their favorite mobile tools and apps.
After participating in this session, the attendee will be able to:
- Identify meeting industry smart phone applications
- Understand social media mobile apps that enhance attendee and client communications
- Recognize why and how websites should be optimized for mobile devices
Latest Trends in Audio Visual
Panel: Rick Chinn, Stephen Driggs, Josh Hamon, and Tim Neill
Engaging Design Professionals to Create Impact at your Event!
Molly Murrah and Scott Karman
Investing in a professional saves time, stress, and money.
Learn how to navigate through your options to find the best design partner
to suit your needs and budget. Two industry experts will share their
experiences to help you to make the key decisions that will bring both print
and presentation magic to your event.
• Planning ahead produces excellent results. Gain insight into what it takes to create great design
to make your event memorable.
• Great design influences audiences. Learn about the value a design professional brings
to your program.
• Costs more per hour, but less at invoicing? Understand the ins and outs of selecting the
best for your budget.
• Enlist experience! Make your life easier by selecting professionals offering best practices.
"Lights, Camera, Take Action! The ART of Directing your Sales to a Whole New Level. "
Robert Ferguson
A Master Class in hospitality industry sales.
6:00pm - 7:00pm Cascadia Reception
7:00pm - 10:00pm “A Night at the Museum” Gala Dinner
Tuesday, March 6
8:30am - 10:00am Breakfast and Opening Keynote
Make Your Move
Eddie Slowikowski
“There’s a way to do it better – find it.” This quote from Thomas Edison gets to the heart of what it means to be innovative. Find your vision by using your in-born gifts of imagination and creativity to build the ‘Ultimate Winner.’ Join internationally known speaker Eddie Slowikowski as he gives participants the ride of a lifetime by taking the journey to discover the greatness within all of us.
“We must summon the necessary forces of honor, truth and love. We don’t get to decide how or when our lives will end. We can only choose how we are going to live, how we are going to take our journey.”
In today’s ever-competitive and challenging climate, it’s important to turn obstacles into opportunities. Only then can we facilitate energy that impacts innovation and positive change. Through storytelling and high-energy showmanship, Eddie takes participants through what it means to be a role model, how to follow through on a vision from inception to achievement and what positive energy can create for yourself and others.
10:25am - 11:55am Breakouts
Hybrid Meetings – Where Virtual Meets Reality
Aaron Cole
Meetings that combine an online presence with a physical event are a hot trend in the business and events communities. More and more companies are recognizing the cost savings and increased impact that a hybrid meeting can bring. From internal company-wide meetings to hybrid expositions complete with virtual networking lounges, sponsor booths and presentation halls, hybrid events can provide a huge impact and level of exposure to any existing event. But where to begin? How do you go about designing a hybrid event that compliments a traditional meeting, without detracting from in-person attendance or diluting your client’s message? This session will provide you with the tools required to bridge the two mediums, and harness this thriving business trend.
Bore No More
Jon Petz
Meetings, the cornerstones of collaboration, inspiration, and progress; have suffered excruciating humiliation at the hands of Corporate America. Gone are most good agendas, participation, focus, and follow-up that are the lifeblood of great meetings. Instead, too many meetings drone on like some sort of soul-crushing, walking-dead zombie robbing workplaces of joy, productivity, and time. But there is good news: your client meetings can be saved…by you – the meeting planner.
This session will deliver many Suckification Reduction Devices, (or SRDs), that will enable you to help your everyday office meetings and client meetings run more efficiently and effectively. With this session, you’ll learn:
• New techniques that will help you or your client run “get in, get it done, and get out” meetings
• The right ways to use PowerPoint (and other technologies)
• Three polite ways to motivate people to wrap up
• Why you should turn your phone on in all meetings
• Tips to make your presentation powerful and not pointless
• How to be a meeting hero, and get people to show up on time, participate, and return to their desks happy and with extra time in their pockets.
When done right, meetings rock. They can be vehicles for innovation, motivation, and decision-making. They can spark revolutions. They can save the world! YOU just have to enable them to make it possible. Bore No More will help show you how.
Contract Negotiations - What Planners Wish Suppliers Knew and What Suppliers Wish Planners Knew
Moderator: Audrey Fan
Facilitators – Jeff Bowe, Hotel Murano and Alex Doyle, 21st Century Group
Teaming Up to Make a Difference
Eddie Slowikowski
If you want to feel empowered to succeed as part of a team, this breakout rocks it. Join Eddie Slowikowski for a raucous, high-spirited, musical trivia party – and learn amazing teambuilding techniques along the way.
Participants go through a series of exercises that gives them the tools to make powerful decisions that can change the shape of their lives. Eddie uses his trusted tools of the trade to generate energy and excitement – dancing, music, and audience participation. Eddie uses popular culture, today’s biggest music hits, and collaborative skills to get participants moving and the competition flying.
12:15pm - 1:45pm Lunch and Closing Keynote
It’s Showtime! And Life Isn’t a Dress Rehearsal
Jon Petz
Let author, speaker & entertainer Jon Petz be the first to tell you to STOP meeting expectations! At this moment, it’s time to create impact in your life, at work and in the lives of others instead of merely meeting an expectation. These moments of impact (SHOWTIME moments) can present themselves at any time and when you’re least expecting it. This entertaining and thought provoking keynote speech allows you to see and experience the importance of every aspect of what you do and how you can identify ways and methods to further the service and value oriented experience of your interactions, phone calls, meetings or daily activities.
Are you ready for the spotlight? You better be, as its SHOWTIME, and life isn’t a dress rehearsal.
Attendees will be empowered to:
• Take action NOW
• Deliver an experience instead of merely meeting an expectation
• NOT be “just-ah” employee, father, mother, spouse or “just-ah” anything. Be the best YOU!
• Rekindle the passion in who you ARE and what you DO.
2:00pm - 3:00pm Sponsorship and Tradeshow VIP Event
