MPI Minnesota October 2023 President's Message

Fall is officially here. I will confess, I am an outlier in that I may be on the only Minnesotan that doesn’t sprint towards the fall season, full steam ahead, pouring pumpkin spice seasoning on every edible surface I find and taking awkwardly posed selfies at apple orchards on the weekends.

With that being said, this particular year came with some life changes that was I very excited for. Both of my kids started school for the first time – kindergarten and pre-k. And with the start of school came two wildly different outlooks from each one of them. My kindergartner was pumped. She had the perfect dress picked out for her first day. She talked non-stop about all the things that she was going to learn and all the friends she was going to make. She was ready to make her impression. Kindergarten, here she comes!

My four-year-old, on the other hand, was indifferent. As I tried to psych him up in the days leading up to his first day, he looked at me and said, “I really don’t think it’s gonna be that great. I think you should just keep me home with you. I don’t need school.” As I drove to drop him off on his first day, he sat there, stone faced and sullen, staring at me in my rearview mirror. He was not having this whole school thing.

This is the perfect example of how different people can view attending an event – whether it be an educational opportunity or networking. You’ve got the person that walks into a room and they are ready to go! You see them meander around, introducing themselves to every person they can. They take photos of the slides during the presentation or furiously scribble notes on their pad of paper. They are going to make the most of the two hours that they have and guarantee their ROI.

And then you have the opposite end of the spectrum. This is the person that has decided before they walked through the door that they aren’t going to see the value. They’ve been to a networking event in that past and it wasn’t worth it. Talking to people is exhausting. The education will probably just be sub-par. There will definitely not be anything of substance gained.

Going back to that first day of school and how it ended, my kindergartener leaped off the bus that afternoon. Her day had gone exactly as she had imagined it - maybe even better! She recapped the entire day and proceeded to brainstorm for the next day and how she was going to make it even better. As for Mr. Grumpy Pants? He, too, got off the bus on that first day with a little pep in his step and a smile on his face. I asked him, as we walked home, how everything had gone. He had one thing that he told me – the one highlight of his entire day.

He sat by a girl on the bus ride home and they made fart noises. So there you have it. Farting noises saved his first day of school.

The next time you go to an event, just remember that you only need to walk away with one tangible item to give it value. Make one new connection. Write down one piece of advice that you heard from the presenter. Once you find that value, little by little, things will fall into place and it’ll be easier to find that takeaway and make that connection. Look for the positive – even if it comes in the form of fart noises.

As we look into this fall, we have an exciting couple of months planned out for you, our members. On October 18^th, we’ll gather at CHS Field for our monthly education meeting where we’ll hear from Mary Ellen Reihsen with Hellmuth & Johnson Law Firm. She’ll discuss issues the directly impact the meeting and event industry, touching base on the good, bad, and ugly of contract clauses. She’ll also dig into current topics in HR and labor laws, such as the Minnesota Parental Leave, cannabis legalization, and non-compete laws.

And on November 15^th, we’ll host our most anticipated event of the year – our annual Holiday Celebration – at Top Golf. You’ll have the opportunity mix and mingle while bidding on incredible silent auction items.

I hope to see you at an upcoming event!