What a pleasure to spend Global Meetings Industry Day (GMID) in person with the MPISSN chapter.  This is an event I always enjoy attending and have a missed greatly over the last few years. It felt very exclusive this year at the Arden Hills Resort, Club and Spa.  The room was lovely and bright with lots of natural light, and the lunch was tasty too.  Kudos to Leena Riggs, Jenna Bailey, Christina Bauders, Kristina Duncan, and the rest of the team in charge of making this event a success.

Laura Thomas, California Association of Health Facilities, gave a fantastic presentation on Event Emergency Preparedness.  Laura has worked hard to hone her emergency “toolkit” and we all found many invaluable takeaways from her information.  Are you ready in the event of an emergency at your next program?  I highly recommend you review Laura’s checklist and incorporate some of her potentially lifesaving measures into your event preparation.

The Hot Topics panel moderated by Amy Orr featuring Ross Gimpel of Encore, Leena Riggs of Visit Rancho Cordova and Alisha Scully of Marriott Rancho Cordova was timely as we discussed the increased cost of doing business post Covid.  Ross and Alisha shared that the current labor shortage, increased minimum wage and supply chain issues are translating through to higher prices.  Leena reiterated how important it is to work with your local Destination Marketing Organization when sourcing a program.  DMO’s keep track of who the main point of contact is for each hotel or venue, have an idea of demand on the city over various dates and can help find the best possible option to meet your meetings goals and objectives in your desired destination.

As an exhibitor, I loved having time to see old friends and meet new ones.  It is always fun to discuss future opportunities, strategize on existing programs and share what is new and exciting in San Diego.  Many thanks to my fellow exhibitors:

Hampton Inn Rancho Cordova
Hyatt Regency Sacramento
Live Nation Special Events
Marriott Rancho Cordova
Monterey County CVB
San Diego Tourism Authority
San Mateo County CVB
Sheraton Redding Hotel at Sundial Bridge
Visit Pasadena
Visit Sacramento
Wyndham Sacramento

Check out photos from Steve Pate-Newberry here!