News & Views

What does the future of events look like post COVID? MPI Ottawa Chapter presented our Virtual Round Tables on May 27th to help provide some insight into the future of events.

This monthly feature article allows MPI Ottawa Chapter members to share their recent professional and personal accomplishments with your MPI friends by featuring updates each month in this article series.

I remember last year when I took over this role somebody telling me how fast the year will go by. At the time I didn’t feel that way, there was so much to learn, so many things to do. Now that I am at the end of the term I reflect on this past year and they were right; this year did fly by!

This monthly article series allows MPI Ottawa Chapter members to share their recent professional and personal accomplishments with the MPI community by highlighting the News Around Town. Get in touch with Katherine Craig to make a submission for the next issue!

As we have never before in our lifetime experienced anything that has crushed our Meetings Industry, we are definitely in new uncharted waters! More than ever, we want to bring back our meetings & events industry but we are still in a phase of what will that look like?

This monthly article series allows MPI Ottawa Chapter members to share their recent professional and personal accomplishments with the MPI community by highlighting the News Around Town.

Whether it is a local MPI Ottawa Chapter community event or a charity event, the call for volunteers is the first step in the events success. Everyone of us can think of a person who always seems to be involved.

The MPI Ottawa Chapter Round Tables Sessions held on March 3, 2020 at the Fairmont Chateau Laurier was truly a memorable event…not only for its educational content but also because it was the last chapter event before the COVID-19 pandemic unleashed its devastation on our industry.

Virtual Events (VE) are not necessarily a new as we have been using the technology, in some capacity, for decades (since 1993). At a high level, VE can be defined as “an online event that involves people interacting in a virtual environment on the web, rather than meeting in a physical location.”

Starting on April 1, 2020, our MPI Ottawa Chapter started offering a great way to deal with physical distancing measures that are currently causing our industry to feel socially isolated. Every Wednesday from 10 to 11 am, all members are invited to an informal Zoom meeting to share their experiences and hopes.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit Canada last month, event planners from coast to coast were grappling with whether to cancel, postpone or transform their upcoming meetings. For those with gatherings scheduled in March and early April, the decisions were mostly made for them, as municipal, provincial and federal governments enacted travel restrictions and made it illegal for large groups to meet in person. But what about those of us with meetings later in the year?

Just because 2020 is already here, doesn’t mean it’s too late to make a New Year’s resolution. If you are looking for an idea to make a better 2020 for your business, our community or just for yourself - why not volunteer?

At the EVENT 2020, we DARE TO SHARE relevant wisdom by hosting a Community Keynotes® event. This innovative keynote experience will feature our very own attendees as mainstage closing speakers!

Restaurants Canada, the Hotel Association of Canada, and the Tourism Industry Association of Canada have joined forces in their lobbying effort to secure tax relief and a credit facility for the sector as a whole. Collectively the food service, tourism and hospitality sectors represent $139 billion in direct economic activity and support 1.8 million employees in Canada - nearly 1 in 10 Canadians in the workforce.

With the number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases increasing daily and the issue dominating news headlines, the Health and Mental Wellness Committee of the Canadian Commercial Corporation would like to remind everyone that taking care of your mental health is as important as looking after your physical health. Below are six ways to help maintain a sense of control and ease anxiety to better cope with the COVID-19 threat and the uncertainty it’s creating.

On January 30, over 500 attendees gathered for the 16th annual MPI Charity Auction & Dinner which took place this year at the Shaw Centre. The organizing committee transported attendees to warm tropical beaches with help from the amazingly beached out decor by Mastermind Event Rentals, who truly transformed the room to match the tropical paradise them. Many people took this theme to heart and showed how to be truly living their best beach vacation life.

This was the 30th anniversary of this ever-growing event that features outstanding speakers and over 150 exhibitors. This year’s theme was “Look Back Face Forward”. Tête-à-Tête is always offered at no cost to all association and not-for-profit executive directors and employees, meeting and event planners, as well as government procurers. Attendance was approximately 1,200 for this year’s 2020 event.

The annual Prix Prestige Awards Gala will be taking place on May 7, 2020 at the Brookstreet Hotel. The awards gala recognizes the best in our industry within our MPI Ottawa Chapter. Nominations are open from January 23 to March 27.

Over the years, our chapter’s Board of Directors have noticed a lack of applications for scholarships to conferences and for professional development. The MPI Foundation collects millions of dollars annually and gives away hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants and scholarships alone. This money is yours to take, to grow professionally and personally.

This monthly feature article allows MPI Ottawa Chapter members to share their recent professional and personal accomplishments with your MPI friends by featuring updates each month in this article series.