The Canadian Meetings + Events Expo (CMEExpo) is both the first large event that took place in Canada and the very first event that took place inside Metro Toronto Convention Centre (MTCC) since the pandemic started.

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 Élodie Lortal (elodie.lortal@nac-cna.ca) to make a submission for the next issue!

It was a mix of planners and suppliers. The in-person event sold out; the group took over the whole hotel. There were 30 virtual attendees and the MC, Jennifer Spears, did a great job engaging with both audiences. There was a supplier networking event that incorporated the virtual attendees so they could actively participate.

It was a summer job that got me into the meetings and events industry. I was not studying in the field at all, I was studying Fine Arts at Ryerson. I took an administrative assistant job for the summer that my aunt connected me with so that I could make some money to pay tuition. I started with Junior Achievement of Canada in 2000. I fell in love with the events process. I stayed with them for nine years moving through the organization in various roles and responsibilities, creating student conferences across Canada during that time.

Inaugural Ottawa Meeting Professionals Against Human Trafficking (MPAHT) Awareness Day 2020 – with special guest, The Honorable Lisa MacLeod, Ontario Minister of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries

I decided to join MPI Ottawa because I live in the city. When I heard about the Chapter I immediately thought: “I had to look into that”. My professors and mentors were very encouraging about me joining the association, especially my mentor Rebecca Trafford. When I was asking her how to get my feet wet and how to get into Ottawa’s events scene, she told me: “don’t underestimate how powerful the connections are in the events industry”. The Chapter provides valuable resources, webinars, and networking events to help you thrive in the events’ world.

The idea of a putting out a podcast goes back to mid-2019, fresh off the heels of our main stage Community Keynote at MPI’s World Education Congress (WEC) in Toronto. Marie-France Watson, Tim Whalen, and I are the Co-Founders of MPI’s Rise Award winning - the EVENT which kicked off in 2018. After 2 successful years of the EVENT, we wanted to continue our creative pursuits and in February 2020, we recorded our first episode. During the pandemic, we have released 30 episodes. Our two seasons were actually planned pre-pandemic, released during and then like many things, adapted to the trying times our industry has been through.

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 Élodie Lortal (elodie.lortal@nac-cna.ca) to make a submission for the next issue!

Wishing to pursue the option of self-employment, I established a company and provided services to Nokia, a leading cell phone and security platform company. Billing by the hour, this role became full-time, leaving no time to secure other customers; ultimately, Nokia wanted to have me join their company full time as North American Event Manager. At Nokia, I had the unique opportunity to manage large-scale productions including Consumer Electronics Show (CES – held annually the 1st week of January) and planned quarterly strategic events for the North American market with the goal to increase sales and brand exposure.

Trying to reproduce the goals/aims of our in-person event in a virtual environment was entirely new. We had to redesign the entire event structure from start to finish taking into account the attendees’ different time zones, how much time our attendees want to spend online and what their expectations were for an online event. The idea was how to make a very hands-on industry work in a virtual environment. We looked at new ways of doing things to make sure we could engage the audience, expanded the number of education sessions that we offered and added an additional day to the program but restructured for less programming each day to combat “zoom fatigue”.

You’ve probably heard that there are so many benefits to being a member of MPI, but what you might not know is that those benefits can be deeper and more personal than you could ever imagine, simply by reading about them on the website.

I have benefited from having a membership with MPI Ottawa for the past 22 years from various aspects: building client relationships, mentoring students to help them with both sides of the industry, bringing me knowledge of the incoming workforce, attending education sessions has assisted me in bettering my knowledge and bringing me to a Senior Sales professional level. I love attending MPI Ottawa events, they allow me to build stronger client relationships and to increase awareness of Fairmont Quebec Resorts by providing services to MPI Ottawa members.

I had the luxury of not rapidly pivoting in 2020 to turn an in-person conference into a virtual one. We cancelled our Fall 2020 conference in April 2020 and decided not to offer it virtually. This allowed for additional time to learn everything I could about virtual event design, Zoom fatigue, adult online learning and what does and does not translate virtually. I have said on record before that the conferences in 2020 were ‘planned’ but the conferences in 2021 will be ‘designed’ and I set out to do exactly that.

The biggest benefit this past year from the MPI membership was the study group. I did not realize how necessary that was to help me study and helped me prepare for the exam. Along with the study group, I received a discount for joining the association which also provided access to key resources such as whitepapers, webinars, event industry best practices etc. This year, I’m looking forward to using my MPI membership to network with other members and see what other benefits the membership may provide.

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 Élodie Lortal (elodie.lortal@nac-cna.ca) to make a submission for the next issue!

To volunteer as a way to network is the best advice I can give to a new person entering the meetings & events industry. Being able to work on different projects, with different members, to learn new skills make you grow outside of your comfort zone.

To get the maximum ROI from your membership you must attend events; educate yourself; if you have the time, volunteer in a committee. Being President is a lot to do and commit to, but I love it. The Ottawa MPI Community is so tight and so close. I’ve made lifelong friends through my involvement with MPI Ottawa.

The main objective of the event was to hold our annual conference, bringing members together virtually. We did this through education, networking among peers and colleagues, make new connections and update members on pandemic changes to current policies.

Joining MPI Ottawa for me is really about wanting to network with others in the industry, getting to know people again. I want to give back to the community of meeting planners in Ottawa. Additionally, I would like to participate in the chapter event, online and in person events when they’re available again.

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 Élodie Lortal (elodie.lortal@nac-cna.ca) to make a submission for the next issue!