January 28, 2025
Innovate, Educate, Elevate: a Meeting Planner's Guide to Emerging Tech
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February Education - Intentional Meeting Design Makes a Difference!
| Be Mindful, Be Bold, Be Better! |
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Our industry is desperate to see live attendance at events back up to pre-pandemic levels. Planners are tasked with building BOLD experiential events to ensure participants feel their time is well spent—with relevant content, and an atmosphere and presentation delivered in a top-notch manner. So much has changed in how we approach planning now. Planners must be MINDFUL of their attendees’ needs, suppliers mindful of their clients’ needs; and everyone mindful of their own needs. With so much on our plates both planners and suppliers must take care to work from a restful place. It is important to be focused while maintaining a calm demeanor so that you can bring your most productive self to the workplace. When we do that then we can be bold enough to plan outside the box and do everything BETTER! When we are working from a centered demeanor, detail planning is a cinch! Upsets and surprises won’t rattle you to the point of dismay. Staying calm amidst disruptions (because it is going to happen) can bring out a new level of creativity that makes the attendee/client experience highly rewarding. |
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It is time to be Mindful, Bold and Better! Join us to hear from three fresh voices, each with a unique perspective to share. Our distinguished panel of presenters for this session will be:
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In this informative and engaging session you will learn:
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| As an industry leader, MPIGNY strives to stay ahead of the trends. To that end, we are very excited to offer professional closed captioning for this program. Robert Schechter, Director of Business Development and Operations at Total Caption is graciously providing closed captioning for the program so we can all see this inclusivity tool in action. Closed captioning is an essential element for meetings that should be an industry standard. |
| Agenda: 6:00 – 6:15pm: Registration 6:15 – 6:30pm: Opening remarks, announcements 6:30 – 6:45pm – Mindful Masterclass (Ashley Cardini) 6:45 – 7:00pm – Being Bold Despite Challenges (Hallia Baker) 7:00 – 7:15pm – Disruption & Creativity (Gregory Offner) 7:15 – 7:30pm – Q & A 7:30 – 8:30pm: Networking |
| CEU CREDITS: CMP-IS Domain G: Meeting or Event Design, 1.0 Clock Hour |
| *REMINDER TO ALL IN-PERSON ATTENDEES: In compliance with New York State COVID protocols, SaksWorks requires all attendees to provide proof of vaccination prior to entering the premises. Please be prepared to show a copy of your COVID vaccination card or New York State-approved vaccine app and a photo ID. While indoor masking is not required, attendees are encouraged to mask as much as possible when not eating or drinking. Thank you in advance for your cooperation. |
| Meet Our Speakers: |
 Hallia BakerSenior Events Manager, The Netherland-America Foundation Hallia Baker is the Senior Events Manager for The Netherland-America Foundation (The NAF) where she supports the NAF with organizing its annual NAF Ball, the annual Netherland-America Friendship Gala, and various online and in-person boutique events throughout the year. Prior to coming to The NAF, Hallia served as Vice President of Meetings & Events for the Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC). Hallia was the lead manager over the highly acclaimed CAPC National seminar, industry tradeshows and all internal/external meetings and events. In 2020, Hallia was appointed Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer where she played a pivotal role in building a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion at CAPC. Hallia has over 15 years’ experience in the financial sector working for various investment banks such as Kidder, Peabody, PaineWebber, and Salomon Smith Barney, where her meetings and events career began. During her career, Hallia achieved the designation of Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) through the Events Industry Council (formerly known as the Convention Industry Council (CIC)). Hallia is a member of Meeting Professionals International Greater New York Chapter (MPIGNY) where she currently holds the seat of VP of Education. In 2000, MPIGNY presented her with the prestigious Board of Directors Award, and in both 2001 and 2020, she received the Genie Award for Planner of the Year. Hallia is a graduate of The City College of New York and New York Institute of Technology holding an MA in Creative Writing and BS in Architecture. |
Ashley Cardini The Mindfulness Masterclass Ashley is a mindfulness, meditation and breathwork and coach for high achievers, as well as wellness consultant for the meeting planning industry. After working for 10 years as a corporate event planner in professional sports and financial services and witnessing the burn out and stress that became so prevalent in the corporate environment, she knew there had to be another way to operate. She’s seen first-hand the positive effects that mindfulness and meditation can have on focus, productivity and communication and teaches accessible meditation techniques for any level in office or at conferences and retreats. Ashley is a Certified Holistic Health Coach, a certified yoga instructor and a MINDFRESH meditation practitioner. She is a Master Energy Healer and has studied directly under some of the most world-renowned teachers in the wellness industry. Her goal is to teach her students how to access their intuitions through our own mindful toolkits so we can each become the greatest version of ourselves. She's excited to help clients curate environments that lead to better health. |
Gregory Offner, Jr. Professional Keynote Speaker, Creator of “Disruption & Creativity” Gregory Offner is an internationally known dueling pianist, who just happened to have a 17-year career in corporate sales leadership and insurance. Using this unique background, Greg weaves song and story together to deliver a mesmerizing tale of the ups and downs of disruption. The process of 'making change' and the perspective needed to 'manage change' are what give name to the program title - a play on the word duel / dual. Having worked over 40 jobs before turning 30; attended 4 different schools before age 14; and endured 12 major surgeries to repair extensive damage to his voice from a career in music and sales, Greg doesn’t just speak on disruption...he has lived it! His studies of Philosophy and Psychology enable him to simplify the science of why we create the patterns we do - where they come from, and how to change them to amplify results. From his career as a top-performing Fortune 500 sales executive, to a 12-year run around the globe as a professional musician Greg brings a track record of integrity, creativity, and passion to every event - oh, and he also brings an electric piano! |
SaksWorks is not just work - it's the works. With two locations in Manhattan, one in Greenwich, CT, and more coming soon in Manhasset and Westchester, SaksWorks provides space to elevate the everyday.
In the penthouse of the Saks Fifth Avenue store, SaksWorks Flagship location is an open, airy oasis in the heart of midtown. SaksWorks Flagship provides over 13,000 square feet of impeccably styled, flexible event space suitable for off-sites, panel discussions, networking receptions or annual dinners, in addition to offering memberships to individuals and organizations for workspace, meeting rooms, fitness rooms and curated programming.
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