11 minute read
Meeting Professionals International
BOUNCING BACK
MPI president hopes to take lessons learned from pandemic and turn them into opportunities for members
By ERIN THORBURN
Donna Robinson, president of the Sunbelt Chapter of Meeting Professionals International (MPI) embraces her role with a collaborative spirit, passion and positivity. These character traits have served her well in her career spanning many years, in a variety of industries. Robinson has received both the Planner of the Year and Rising Star MPI awards for her achievements in event and meeting planning. And, from restaurants and salons to collections and administration, her diverse experience in industries-wide leadership makes Robinson an asset to the Sunbelt MPI chapter. It also helps that she is all about people.
Coming off of a year of ongoing fluctuation, Robinson continues to problem solve, facing challenges head-on and appreciating moments of victory — sharing successes with her colleagues and fellow chapter members. We sat down to hear more about what motivates Robinson and what she’s looking most forward to in her role as president of the Sunbelt Chapter of MPI.
AzBusiness: What are you most looking forward to this year in your role as the Sunbelt MPI Chapter president?
Donna Robinson: Had you asked me that question last year, it would look very different. This year, I most look forward to meeting in person again. I didn’t think that would be the No. 1 thing I was thinking about as I entered this role.
As a leadership team, we want to take the lessons learned from our struggles these past 16 months and turn them into opportunities for our members to engage, collaborate and just have fun. Our outstanding board of directors and volunteers are here to listen to what members want and provide them with exceptional education, networking and comradery. We are a small but mighty part of this large industry that brings people together — because it is all about the people.
DONNA ROBINSON: The president of the Sunbelt Chapter of Meeting Professionals International is also the event producer and director of region and chapter services for the Association for Learning Environment. (Photo by Mike Mertes, AZ Big Media)
AB: What makes the Sunbelt MPI Chapter an asset to educating, encouraging and fostering engagement within the local meeting and event planning communities?
DR: People do business with people they know, like and trust. The passion and enthusiasm of our volunteers to provide the very best experiences for our members and future members are what make our chapter vital to the growth of the meeting industry in the Valley.
Relationship building is key, and MPIAZ provides the opportunities to be involved, engaged and foster those relationships through fun events, education platforms, networking and volunteering. We are a community within the community where best practices and ideas are shared while supporting each other. We are not competitors, we are family.
AB: How do these powerful relationships in MPI translate to boosting the health and economic wealth of Arizona’s prospering hospitality/event planning industries?
DR: The power of the MPIAZ community — supporting each other, utilizing MPI members for partnerships in events, collaborating to provide exceptional events for clients and the public — will continue to build our state’s tourism dollars and economy. MPIAZ members are the trendsetters for Arizona events, and as collaborators, we will bring economic growth of tourism back to our state. Face-to-face meetings and events must happen to return our hospitality and event industry to its former glory.
AB: What are some of the challenges your industry faced during the pandemic, and how were they overcome?
DR: The literal shutdown of our industry affected companies large and small, with devastating results including massive layoffs and many companies going out of business. Many event professionals were forced to leave the industry altogether. What were ‘meetings’ going to look like with the country shut down? How were we going to meet if we could not do it face to face?
As event professionals, we have had to reinvent ourselves quickly and learn new ways to execute events and provide a level of interconnection that we experienced through live events in the past. There was a large learning curve in a short time frame to understand new technologies and encourage people to want to meet virtually. We found ourselves in uncharted waters and managed to forge a course back to collaboration through hosting virtual events.
AB: What are you particularly proud of in terms of wins within MPI and your industry?
DR: MPIAZ faced the same challenges as many others have within the industry. We took a hard look at how to keep our members engaged during the pandemic. For example, I am proud of our chapter leaders who took a leap of faith and dove headfirst into turning to 100% virtual events. Some were successful; some, not so much.
We pulled ourselves up, learned from our less successful events and reinvented what that looks like in the future. As a result, during the pandemic year, we provided more monthly education opportunities for our members than in years past. We also continued our Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) University course virtually, which engaged students in the outlying areas of the state (and neighboring states) and were able to conduct three fun virtual events — a much-needed morale booster.
These successes for our chapter are why I am proud to be part of this MPIAZ community. We are here for each other because, well, it’s all about people.
AB: How has your role with MPI strengthened your career?
DR: Hands down, the education and collaboration with other event professions have helped boost my career. The continued education provided by MPI and the Sunbelt Chapter enhanced my career as an event planner through new ideas, industry trends and standards. By way of the MPIAZ family, I have built friendships and business connections. The resources and professionalism in this organization helped me build my personal and professional board of advisors. Volunteering with MPI has improved my knowledge, experience and event planning.
AB: What advice would you give to someone looking to embark on a career path within your industry?
DR: Don’t stop learning. If last year taught us anything, it’s the importance of staying on top of trends and learning new things. Be bold and don’t be afraid to try new things. Join MPI or another association and network to build your own board of advisors and find a mentor who has experience in the industry and learn all you can from them. Most of all, enjoy and have fun.
MAKING LEMONADE OUT OF LEMONS
Virtual webinars and education, personal phone calls to check in and paying it forward are some of the ways MPI overcame pandemic-related challenges and churned up unexpected wins
By ERIN THORBURN
In an industry dedicated to the gathering of people, how could meeting and event planning survive COVID-19? It was a question everyone in the market had to face square on. And, they had to do it with no warning. But, despite wondering what the pandemic had in store for their industry and careers, many meeting and event planners embraced the challenges ahead with the gusto of MacGyver and Martha Stuart tasked with making a masterpiece out of duct tape and a toilet paper roll. They made, and continue to make, magic out of messes.
Here in the Valley, the Sunbelt Chapter of Meeting Professionals International (MPI) exemplifies the inventiveness and fortitude needed to forge ahead. Not only did it press on, but the Sunbelt Chapter also walked away with several wins. It has been able to indoctrinate several of the adaptive strategies applied during the pandemic, into lasting practices. In addition, it has also helped the chapter and its members remain profitable.
According to statistics, an estimated 96% of event professionals experienced cancellations during the pandemic, with an additional 50-plus-percent expecting a negative economic impact on their business, possibly lasting up to 12 months. Of MPI members, specifically, 21% expressed concern of negative economic impact lasting upwards of 24 months.
“Hesitancy to commit and fear of the unknown by both clients and attendees/ participants were the primary impacts of our industry,” says Terrie Rickard, vice president of operations for ADI Meetings and Events. “While we continue to create an optimistic future and positive spin on reasons to meet, we have been impacted. This is reflected in how we have altered contract terms, plan for contingencies and risk mitigation and proceed with caution in commitments and obligations.”
Technology talks
In addition contract alterations and contingencies, like softer attrition/ cancellation penalties, one of the biggest changes and challenges in event planning — not surprisingly — has been how people meet. Obviously, technology in the form of remote/virtual meetings and events boomed during the pandemic. But now, largely in part of the COVID-19 vaccine, more in-person venues are taking place, and planners must also get creative when it comes to occupant restrictions and safety.
“By transitioning to virtual events
Terrie Rickard Donna Robinson Mary Anne Whittle
last year,” Rickard says, “we actually ended up offering more educational and networking programs than we had in the prior year.”
“We made it a point to stay on top of what was happening in the industry and flexed with the rapid-fire changes that were impacting all of us,” explains Mary Anne Whittle, administrative assistant III for Benchmark Technologies.
Whittle, who serves as the Sunbelt Chapter MPI vice president of education. further expounds that the “rapid fire changes,” including “agilely converting our in-person educational offerings to virtual platforms, and providing innovative content that addressed the concerns of our members.”
Admirably, the Sunbelt Chapter of MPI, also took the emotional impact of the pandemic into consideration. Collectively, the chapter developed a “Pay-it-Forward” program. Members who were able could donate a sum of money to programs requiring registration fees, so others who could not afford to attend were able to register without worry of financial strain. But, that’s not all.
“We also got on the phone and checked in with our members to see what they needed and how we could help,” Whittle says. “In short, we became even more laser focused on what our members needed right now and shifted priorities to meet those needs.”
“The Pay-it-Forward program assists those who may not have been able to attend education due to lack of funds or job loss,” adds Donna Robinson, director of region and chapter services for the Association for Learning Environments. “And it raised enough to help several people to attend our virtual education, Certified Meeting Professional University (CPMU) and provided two scholarships for our 2021 EduCon in August.”
Additionally, the Sunbelt Chapter’s 2020 Membership team started the Care and Concern call program. They — along with board members — reached out to every member of the chapter on a regular basis, just to say, “Hello,how are you?”
“The response was overwhelming,” Robinson says. “And our members were grateful for our support.”
Resiliency rises
While the Sunbelt Chapter worked to secure the emotional well-being of members, they also set out to learn and incorporate the necessary requirements to ensure physical health and safety — not only for members, but for their meeting attendees as well, something for which Whittle believes will remain in place beyond the wake of the pandemic.
“Meeting planners and suppliers will continue to place high focus on cleanliness, health and well-being of all who participate in live meetings and events,” she says.
This includes, according to Whittle, high priority of touch-surface sterilization and sanitizer kiosks. “Our industry takes the health and safety of its delegates very seriously and will do what it takes to instill confidence in those who are ready to venture out,” Robinson adds.
In addition to high health and safety protocols and standards, what else can we expect to stick around beyond COVID-19? Many people are particularly curious about the longevity of Zoom, Google Meets, Microsoft Teams and the like.
“I would venture to guess that virtual webinars and meetings will continue to thrive in circumstances where organizations can see opportunities to cut costs and time — especially internal meetings,” Rickard says. “However, I see that virtual attendance in larger industryrelated conventions/conferences is waning.”
As Whittle points out, “Meeting participants have become Zoom-weary and are craving the in-person experience again.”
Yet, despite many people seeking more face-to-face events, challenges—such as the COVID-19 Delta variant, representing about 83% of new infections in the U.S. (at the time of this writing) — virtual formats may linger longer than anticipated.
“Many parts of the country have begun to repave the road to live events, starting small and slowly expanding,” Robinson says, “revealing a positive outlook for the industry to rebuild and become stronger. There is still a long road ahead but we are determined to gain momentum as we recover from the devastating losses.”
And recovering they are.
“When the going got tough, the tough came together, and we poured all of our support back out to our members,” Whittle says. “We put our heart and soul into our work with the chapter and we truly care about our members and this industry. We will do what it takes to keep our members engaged and restore our industry into the innovative body it was prior to the pandemic.”
