July 2023 President's Message

I returned a few weeks ago from my Association’s annual conference where their governance year also turned over. I worked with our Board of Directors to set the tone for the next year while announcing our past year’s achievements to the membership. Without me knowing it, it provided a perfect dress rehearsal for me to get into the proper mindset to start my term as President of this great MPI chapter and look forward to honouring where we came from.

One of the things my Association did was a board orientation for the new board members in which the facilitator stressed the importance of how no one board member has any power without their fellow board members. From a pure governance standpoint, the board’s authority lies only in being a collective. In fact, in our chapter, my role as President doesn’t even include voting power (the President votes as a tie-breaker). This model is so powerful because it means we have to be together to make changes, expand our minds and move the needle forward. This concept is not lost on us as Event Professionals. We understand better than anyone the value of coming together as a community to make a difference.

Allow me a moment to introduce myself to those members who may not know me. I am Karen Norris, CMP, and currently the Interim CEO and Director of Strategy, Programs, and Services at the Canadian Dermatology Association. Here is a quick summary of my journey so far:

• Proud member of MPI Ottawa since graduating from the Event Management program at Algonquin College (Ottawa) in 2009.
• Obtained my Certified Meeting Professional Designation (CMP) from the Events Industry Council in 2015.
• Currently sit on the Client Advisory Board for Algonquin College Event Management Program, consulting with the academic team to bring improvements to the curriculum for current and future graduates.
• Invited to sit on various tourism client advisory boards related to business events.
• Volunteering with MPI Ottawa since I became a member back in 2009 in various roles related to membership, community outreach, and education.

It is an honour and a privilege to be your MPI Ottawa President for the 2023-2024 year. This role comes with a good amount of responsibility given that our chapter is the second largest MPI chapter in Canada.

That said, I come in on the shoulders of giants. I want to honour our most recent Presidents who guided the Chapter through our darkest years due to COVID: Nancy Bradshaw, Ashley Craven and Karen Wiersma. We are only here as a Chapter because of their leadership, hard work and fiscal responsibility. Thank you.

Prior to COVID, we were 315+ members, as of today we are 183 members, which is incredible considering we were hovering around 100 during COVID. Like the rest of the world, we are adjusting to this ‘new normal’ and we are rebuilding.

At our April 2023 board retreat, I shared with the board that I did not want to work on a ‘legacy’ project as part of my Presidency. We are still fragile and we are still re-adjusting to the decimation of our industry and the trauma it caused us all, financially and emotionally. I want to encourage and facilitate this rebuild and to do it together, slowly as a Chapter.

My responsibility this term will be to champion the needs of our Chapter first. About 50% of our membership is new, which means we need to take the time to hear their voices, find patience when explaining why/how things have been done and be willing to try new things. This board will be focused on rebuilding our Chapter through member recruitment and member satisfaction, advocating for our industry, and ensuring the Chapter is well-poised for the 2024-2025 year. This will be managed by increasing our financial reserves and ensuring proper succession planning for a large board turnover next year. Once we are strong and re-focused, we can then better contribute effectively to the larger goals of MPI Global.

Our Chapter recently celebrated all our tireless volunteers at our annual volunteer appreciation event on June 20 with an Indigenous experience at the Mādahòkì Farm. We will continue to honour our volunteers in any way we can as this Chapter would not function without you. Thank you to the organizing committee and everyone who took the time to participate. In addition, some of our board members also attended the World Education Congress (WEC) in Mexico with MPI Global in June. Rest assured they are back with early season tans and some exciting ideas for our Chapter related to networking, education, and governance.

Members will see exciting social events with intentionally designed educational sessions for issues facing our industry, for example: AI, and human trafficking. Members will also see more collaboration between our partner associations like PCMA Canada East, the MPI Foundation and CSAE Ottawa-Gatineau to leverage expert speakers and respect members’ precious free time when choosing what to attend and when.

The Board will take the month of July off to rest up and will reconvene in August for our next board meeting. In the meantime, please feel free to reach out to me with any ideas or concerns at president@mpiottawa.ca. The rest of our dedicated Board members can be contacted as well, and they are all listed HERE. As for upcoming events, please save the date for one of our most important events as we honour our very own at the MPI Ottawa Prix Prestige Awards Gala on Wednesday, September 20, 2023. See you there.

Thank you for your trust in me as your President…now let’s get to work!