Know Before You Go

Welcoming letter from Bruce MacMillan, President/CEO

To say that our world is shifting around us at an unprecedented rate is a gross understatement. Just like you, MPI is faced with a changing environment, and with making complex choices about where to invest your resources. So right up front, I want to say thank-you for taking the time and making an investment in yourself and your community by attending WEC in Salt Lake this year when the economy might have made you think otherwise. There has never been a more important time to be making an investment in yourself.

For MPI, it's all about you, and how MPI can help you be successful and evolve in the midst of a new reality. At WEC, our focus is delivering the knowledge and the connections you need to be successful in challenging economic times. It's about continuing to elevate our professional conversations to speak the language of business and to help you strategically manage your meeting and event portfolios for maximum performance. At our Opening General Session, the focus is on what matters to you, with Ben Stein eloquently and convincingly talking about meetings as an economic and business engine. Gary Loveman, a PhD in economics, will make it real for us in our industry, and Betsy Myers will share a compelling "case study" on how she used meetings and technology to engage US citizenry, and even the world, during the Obama campaign and election.

But we also know that many who wanted to come to Salt Lake, could not. With support from our Salt Lake hosts, our MPI Foundation and our partners, we reached out with our MPI Cares program to offer scholarships, membership and registration assistance to those in need of help. We've secured the best content experts inside and outside of our field. And, for those who simply can't find the time or money to attend, we've made nearly all of our sessions, many in live video webcast format, available to our colleagues back in their offices. And also to you when you return.

We also know many of you need support and expert advice, right now. Our Resource ExCHANGE will feature resume experts who will spend one-on-one time with you, as well as legal advisors who can explain TARP regulations and other legal challenges. We'll also have many of our best speakers available, ready to share their insights and take your questions in more intimate settings. And our sessions feature programs on Strategic Meeting Management, Thriving in a Complex World, Managing a Small Business and much more, which you can take home and put right to use.

These are just a few of the choices we have made to invest the resources of your community at a time where our industry, and many others, are shifting and decisions are complex.

Now is the time. Salt Lake is the perfect partner and the perfect place. I look forward to seeing you all there.

Bruce MacMillan
President/CEO
Meeting Professionals International