The door, locked since the middle of March, is opening.
For some, it’s slightly ajar and only a few can pass. For others, it’s nearly wide open, forcefully in some cases.
For those of us who cross that threshold, we do so with some trepidation. There are those of us who wear the mask and some who don’t. I suspect all of us, particularly in our meeting and event community, long for the days of face-to-face interactions with colleagues, friends and loved ones.
All of us long for the days of face-to-face interactions with colleagues, friends and loved ones.
Our MPI Global office has reopened, adhering to our state’s capacity limits. Enter the door and immediately wash your hands. One-way paths throughout. Social distancing markers placed to ensure proper spacing. A bit of fun with a colleague caught in a vortex: he must turn left to wash his hands when he enters, but by following the one-way path, he cannot get to his workstation unless he exits and therefore has to go to the hand-wash station again. A battle supreme between the “senator” from Florida, Kevin Kirby of the MPI Foundation, and yours truly on who will claim the best self-quarantine beard.
We need these moments. We need to laugh. Yes, the return to “normal” seems so far away still; honestly, we know the new normal is still to be defined.
We’re learning more about how the new normal may look, though. In our report, “Limited Contact, Continuous Sanitization,” Managing Editor Blair Potter explores how live events are going to look, and feel, different from the “halcyon days of February 2020.”
“We have a lot of business customs and norms we are used to as it relates to how events are scheduled,” Dan Surette (MPI Dallas/Fort Worth Chapter), chief sales officer for Omni Hotels & Resorts, told us. “Attendees and our associates will have to adjust to differences in how we manage the flow of traffic at meetings so that sanitization can be continuous and visible during the course of an event, rather than after hours, which will now become a thing of the past.” The report is a must-read.
Podcast: “New Standards for Cleanliness, Health and Safety (in the Air and in Hotels)”
Our newest podcast, “New Standards for Cleanliness, Health and Safety (in the Air and in Hotels)” featuring Doreen Burse, vice president of global sales, North America for Marriott Inter-national, and Alison Taylor, senior vice president of global sales and distribution for American Airlines, offers insightful information on how airlines and hotels are implementing procedures for ensuring the safety of guests and travelers.
Elaine Pofeldt wrote the latest installment in our monthly diversity and inclusion series, “From Inclusion to Belonging.” She explores how Ann Garvey (MPI Virginia Chapter), who appears on the cover this month, and other meeting professionals are putting a priority on ensuring a great experience for LGBTQ+ event attendees.
There’s much more in this month’s issue of The Meeting Professional and we thank you for being part of the MPI community.
“If anyone can get through this, it’s meeting and event professionals. We are creative, resilient and make miracles happen.”
Continue to follow daily industry updates in our e-newsletters—MPI NewsBrief, MPI NewsBrief Weekend, MPI Pulse, MPI Pulse Canada and MPI Pulse Europe—and on our Trusted Resource page.
Thank you for participating in our survey in the May issue of The Meeting Professional. Click here to see the results. We invite you to participate in the June survey found on the cover.
Be safe and healthy, and we’ll see you on the other side of the door. #WeWillMeetAgain
Until next time…
Rich Luna
Editor in Chief
rluna@mpiweb.org
