Three Ways MeetDifferent 2010 Will Improve Your Future
It is more important than ever to attend MeetDiferent 2010, due to, rather than despite, the down economy.
By Rowland Stiteler and Michael Pinchera
No. 1
Position Yourself in a Strategic Role for Success
Brooke Dillier, director of content management for MPI, says attendee feedback from MeetDifferent 2009 was instrumental in continuing the innovation process and building the foundation for MeetDifferent 2010 in Cancun, Feb. 20-23.
“It’s not just innovation for innovation’s sake,” Dillier said. “It’s innovation to help our members survive and thrive in the world of business as it is evolving—to teach meeting professionals to play a much more strategic role in their organizations, associations and corporations. The concept is bringing in innovative ways to look at things, innovative ways to manage things and innovative ways to manage your meeting portfolio, all of which contribute to taking the risk and putting yourself out there, positioning yourself to play a more strategic role in your company or organization.”
Key structure and time-management changes will enable attendees to get the most out of the conference experience. A conference content preview on Sunday, Feb. 21, offering 30-minute mini-versions of longer educational tracks to be held during the course of MeetDifferent, allows attendees to develop their conference strategies. Conference plans also call for some early-evening sessions featuring book club discussions.
The Learning Hallway, located just outside the meeting rooms, will offer comfortable seating to encourage networking, casual conversations, interactive games and activities to keep attendees’ minds stimulated between conference programming. Other elements of the conference experience designed to create the free exchange of ideas include several open-microphone-style debates that will take place in the Idea Exchange room, allowing attendees to take different sides of hot industry issues such as event pricing structures, intellectual property issues and event space. The Idea Exchange room will offer presentations by experts and hands-on learning experiences such as career coaching and industry legal counsel.
No. 2
Grow Your Connections
Face-to-face interaction between attendees is the best way to increase your pool of connections.
“One of the primary goals of MeetDifferent is to encourage these one-on-one connections in non-traditional ways. As such, a conventional trade show will no longer be a part of MeetDifferent, replaced with a renewed focus on meaningful, face-to-face interactions,” said Kristen Przano, MPI’s exhibits manager.
TradeDifferent will function like a trade show reception or event with 25 suppliers set up in niche locations at 25 spots around the host hotel. (Additionally, some suppliers will be hosting receptions and networking events at nearby hotels.)
“It will give attendees a chance to experience all that Moon Palace has to offer, with hosted outdoor areas showcasing different themes, cuisine and settings,” Przano said. “It will be a more relaxed, personal networking experience, allowing old friends to catch up, and new friends to meet.”
There will also be two lunches during the four-day conference in which suppliers buy tables and host planners, who can enjoy lunch and network with the presenter and others at their table. And suppliers can also distribute their materials at a new offering called the Supplier Showcase, highlighting information on various destinations, venues and products.
No. 3
Build Knowledge Without Breaking the Bank
Worried about blowing your budget by attending MeetDifferent? Don’t be. Just apply for the Hosted Buyer Program—it can defray your expenses dramatically. This newly initiated program connects individual planners with suppliers whose products and services are a good match for each planner involved. Once approved for the program, each planner who signs up for appointments with 15 different suppliers will earn a free four-night hotel stay (a US$952 value), plus choice of either complimentary conference registration (a $625 value for MPI members) or airfare reimbursement up to $500.
“What we focused on at MeetDifferent are some ways to create situations in which people feel more comfortable connecting with each other,” Dillier said. “While the trade show format is tried and proven and lots of sales leads are generated, we do believe strongly and research proves that there are even better ways to connect. In life you don’t typically go to a party or social event that looks like a traditional trade show, so we tried to create a format that is simply more natural and more comfortable.”
And for the first time ever, an all-inclusive property (Moon Palace Cancun) will play host to MeetDifferent. Consider all of the components consumed by the “all inclusive” banner: room taxes, wireless Internet access, international long-distance telephone calls back to the U.S., meals, cocktails, transportation to and from the resort/airport and tips and gratuities.
At a comparable non-inclusive Cancun resort, the daily rate with all of the above amenities can run nearly US$500. At Moon Palace Cancun, the flat daily room rate is only $238.
Join your industry peers in Cancun, Feb. 20-23, for the strategic professional education and world-class networking essential for your future success. One+
ROWLAND STITELER is a freelance writer based in Crystal Beach, Fla., and a regular contributor to One+.
MICHAEL PINCHERA is associate editor of One+.