May is a great time of year: the school year is winding down, the weather is warm but not crazy hot yet, pool season starts, Memorial Day weekend and graduations for some! At MPI, it is also getting close to our year-end. Taking a look at what I wanted to accomplish this year, one of the programs is I Buy MPI. I love this idea of connecting suppliers and planners; one of the reasons our members join MPI is to make business connections. Though you can do this through networking at events, it can be hard. Some people are shy and not good at meeting people, and unless someone introduces you to the right person for what you are looking for, the chances of making the right connection are not great. I definitely think events are great places to cement partnerships and friendships, but wouldn’t it be helpful to have a list of companies you can call on when you need something?

Some ideas would be a registry, perhaps housed on our website. Member suppliers could fill out a Google form to add their company names and list their products/services. Perhaps there could be special discounts or gifts with purchase for MPI members. We could push this program on social media to spread the word and get I Buy MPI buttons made so the users stand out at our events. I think it is a simple idea that could have a great impact on our members. What do you think? Are you interested in serving on a committee to get this off the ground? If so, contact me at president@mpithcc.org.

The other thing that I want to talk about is TEC. At our board’s mid-year retreat this year, we decided to rethink our annual conference. In 2020, we went virtual and attempted a live, in-person conference in 2021. We made the bold decision to not offer a hybrid conference in the hopes that the desire to come together as a group would drive attendance. Perhaps the location in Austin, where the majority of our membership lives, was not a good choice. Perhaps people are too busy in their jobs, staff shortages being what they are. Perhaps people were/are still concerned about being in group settings. Perhaps budgets are the issue and people can’t afford to go. There are many reasons that attendance could have been low, but what became apparent to the board is that we need to rethink the vitality of TEC. What can we do to revamp this conference and make it a fresh, exciting event that membership wants and needs to attend? In my opinion, a Texas-wide conference in conjunction with the DFW and Houston chapters of MPI is the solution. What I see is a rotation every three years for each chapter to host and expense.

Honestly, this idea lights me on fire! How exciting would it be to collaborate statewide? Think of the ideas, the creativity, the suppliers and the solutions. I believe this event could become a premier conference for the meetings industry in Texas. If this idea also lights a spark in you, then I ask you to join the TEC Planning Committee and get this idea off the ground by contacting me at president@mpithcc.org.