News Around Town - July 2022

Congratulation members

Congratulations to Courtney Jones who passed her advanced event design and strategy certification. Courtney is also the new MPI Director of Education.

Congratulation to Karen Wiersma, the new MPI Ottawa Chapter’s President for 2022/2023.

Welcome members

Welcome to our supplier member, Pamela DiNardo, Director of sales and marketing at Ottawa Conference and event Center.

Welcome to our supplier member Claudia Urrutia, CMP, Strategic Business Development Director with PCMA.

Welcome to our association member Violet Hayward, Education & Events Assistant at County of Carleton Law Association.

Welcome to our planner member Shenai Recile, DES, Event Manager at Buksa.

Welcome to our planner member Celine Ouellette, Senior Conference Services Manager at Sodexo/NAV Centre.

MPI Announcements

The 2022 Prix Prestige Awards nominations are open

📢 The MPI Ottawa Prix Prestige Awards are designed to recognize excellence in active chapter members for their commitment, service and involvement in the Chapter, industry and/or community at large.

Each year, members are recognized in the following categories:

Planner of the Year
Supplier of the Year
Mentor of the Year
Volunteer of the Year
Student of the Year
Rising Star

Nominations are now open! Click on the link here to learn more about each category and to get the nominations form.

July President’s Message

New MPI Ottawa President, Karen Wiersma, talks all things MPI in her first President's Message.
To view her message click: Karen’s Message

State of the Industry

Summer challenges: The waiting game at Canadian airports

As if a two-year-long global pandemic lockdown wasn’t annoying enough, travellers are enduring slug-like lines for airport security and customs. Officially, air passengers are recommended to arrive at the airport two hours before domestic flights and three hours for international departures. But with some security lines taking 75-90 minutes, that timeline seems woefully inadequate.

At Pearson International Airport (YYZ), passenger complaints of 80-minute waits for baggage check-ins, followed by mile-long, 90-minute lineups for security checks, prompted Toronto Region Board of Trade president and CEO Jan De Silva to hold a May 12 press conference. “Over the past week alone more than 100,000 people, 50% of travellers moving through Toronto Pearson, suffered extensive delays. International passengers are being forced to wait for up to three hours, sometimes inside the aircraft they flew in on, because of longer processing times by customs officers. These challenges reflect staffing shortages and outdated pandemic policies that create unnecessary delays. When the need was there we did the right thing and we protected travellers and our economy by putting new policies in place. But now to realize our potential we must act to reduce the duplications, withdraw the restrictions that were put in place and fully reopen our economy.”

There are rumours afloat that some groups, specifically sports related, may have skipped lineups to drive across the border for flights.

Elsewhere, Montreal-Trudeau International Airport (YUL) has been advising travellers to come three hours ahead of all flight times.

To read full article click: Canadian airports status

Unofficial museums, Ottawa unveils 76 new museums in one day

Insert trailer video => https://youtu.be/bG3cHOndpBg

Ottawa is home to some of the best museums in the world, and this summer we’re granting Unofficial Museum status to over 70 grassroots institutions, including local galleries, concert venues, festivals, restaurants and attractions.

The Unofficial Museums campaign aims to attract travellers to Ottawa by celebrating culture and creativity in the nation’s capital, and to shine a light on some of the city’s cultural hidden gems showing the world the range of cultural experiences that Canada’s capital has to offer.

To sweeten the pot even further, the 3^rd Night on Us offer encourages visitors to stay longer and save: if they book a three or more night stay at a participating Ottawa hotel before October 10, 2022, the third night is on Ottawa Tourism.

Find out more about Ottawa’s Unofficial Museums including the Unofficial Museum of the Croffle, the Unofficial Museum of Unplugging, the Unofficial Museum of Bumpy Rides and more!
Details 👉https://bit.ly/3xyFUCS

The Metcalfe A new luxury boutique hotel

The Metcalfe hotel by Gray Hotel Collection, completely renovated has reopened its doors early this year. The Metcalfe Hotel offers an upscale experience to local and international travelers. Representing the perfect balance between modern design and historical architecture, the hotel is full of natural light due to its 5-story atrium.

To reserve click: The Metcalfe Ottawa

Cocotte Bistro by executive Chef Stephen La Salle

Cocotte Bistro offers a refined, yet accessible version of French bistros with a local touch. With Executive Chef, Stephen La Salle’s, classical, yet current, vision, Cocotte Bistro bets on bubbles sold by the glass, carefully sourced ingredients, promotions for Happy Hour and on dishes you can share and served in cocotte.

To consult the menu, click: 🍽 Cocotte

Hidden Gem ReStays Boutique Hotel in Ottawa

With an enviable location off Sparks Street and a host of luxurious amenities, reStays Ottawa is quickly establishing itself as Ottawa's favorite destination for business and leisure travelers in our Capital.

Its mission is to offer the new luxury by delivering the ultimate urban living experience when travelling. The multi-night stay property features fully furnished suites including fully stocked kitchens, ensuite laundry, and heated underground parking.

One night is not enough to experience "re"markable Ottawa – not when you have direct access to the historic Sparks Street pedestrian mall, fine dining, lively nightlife establishments and exquisite shopping locations. Guests can ride the elevator to our Skylounge to get epic Instagram shots of Parliament Hill one block over.

To reserve click: reStay Ottawa

Industry News in General

Promotional products that attendees really love

When it comes to swag, the downsides don’t need a lot of elaboration. Who doesn’t have their own stash of shame? Cheap logo-strewn drink cups, dried out pens, ill-fitting T-shirts? And just how many stress balls does one person need?!

As meetings resume, the reimagining of swag—which started pre-pandemic—involves delivering all the good stuff, without the pitfalls. We asked two industry insiders for advice. How to create meaningful, memorable but non-trashy swag? Here are some key considerations:

• Quality and sustainability; Organizations, want to be associated with a quality product.
• Brand power; Versus generic pieces
• Non traditional inclusion; We’ve seen the trend of well-curated boxes enhanced with local products—including foodstuffs.
• Hybrid; one option is to incorporate digital swags.
• Personal touch; e.g. “a handwritten note that goes to that recipient saying, “Hey, this is why I sent it to you” or “You’re valuable”

To read the full article click: Swags

Events are back but are they different?

Events have made their comeback in-person. However, the pandemic has been challenging and ultimately forced the meetings and events industry to change. What have changed you may ask?

• Custom menu options; the current supply chain issues affecting the industry, the items listed in our menu are least likely to be impacted.
• Dependence on technology; now more than ever, we rely on technology to encompass a hybrid event. Having both professionals working side-by-side creates synchronicity with the AV component, and the event manager ensures that all the details are covered. 
• Sustainability is a standard practice; more and more planners are looking for eco-friendly facilities, compostable programs... Attendees don’t want single-use items anymore.
• Health and Safety are top of mind; planners know their delegates will be asking what measures will be in place and likely won’t attend if health and safety is not a priority.

To read the full article click: Shaw Centre / events are back…

Upcoming Industry Events

Taking a break for the summer, more events to come in September.

📅 August 3^rd – 1PM - Online

World Education Congress

Join Encore's tech goddess Disa Cameron on August 3rd at 1pm for her group session "AMA: The Digital Integration Era" as she shares her thoughts and experiences at the upcoming #MPI TalkFEST | Words & Wisdom from Women to Watch in 2022 - with Braindates. Seating is limited.

The event is now open for registration! Interested to attend? Simply register here: http://ow.ly/jJFc50K0vt9 and use code: MPITALKFEST2022
#womentowatch2022

📅 August 11^th, 2022 – 9PM to 10PM – Ottawa, Lansdowne Park

Yogathon

🧘‍♂️Register now for “Moon Yoga” in support of the MPI Foundation🧘‍♀️
Lansdowne Park, The Great Lawn, 452 Queen Elizabeth Dr, Ottawa ON K1S 3W7

*Alternate Location for Inclement Weather: Horticulture Building *
Click on the link to “Donate to Participate"

August 16th & 17th – Metro Toronto Convention Centre

Canadian Meetings + Events Expo (CMEE)

The Canadian Meetings + Events Expo is the largest and longest running tradeshow and conference for meeting and event professionals. CMEE allows you to network with suppliers from Canadian, US and International destinations, venues, tech companies, décor and more.

This year CMEE has added the Meeting Market Place for unique and smaller suppliers to join so you can discover that unique something special for your next meeting. Canadian Meeting Education programing is designed to share key insights, lessons learned and to continue to assist you in building your skills so you can deliver better meetings and events and achieve long term success.

For info and registration click: CMEExpo | Canadian Meetings + Events Expo

 Article edited by Darlene Kelly-Stewart | LinkedIn at Stonehouse Sales & Marketing Services