2017 Toronto Education Conference Highlights

The Toronto Education Conference (TEC) is one of my favourite events organized by the MPI Toronto Chapter. This year it was my fifth TEC I’ve attended and each year the conference gets better and better! This year’s TEC was held on May 7-9 in JW Marriott The Rosseau Muskoka Resort & Spa. 

So what keeps me coming back to the TEC and why I enjoyed the event so much?

• Changing the air and daily routine and being able to get out of the city. The JW Marriot is located in the ‘cottage country’ and surrounded by lots of greenery, overseeing the lake. The great experience started with the way to the venue, admiring the picturesque views and scenery.
• The amazing line up of speakers, providing variety of topics suitable to the junior members of the industry up to senior planners. There is always so much to learn, with sessions suitable to the suppliers as well as planners. I especially love to participate in the interactive sessions because I learn and have so much fun at the same time! (Such as the The Battle of the Bands Lip Sync Contest and Green Meetings).
• One of the highlights was Bruce Kirkby’s (the opening speaker) presentation, which kept us on the edge of our seats with his stories about climbing the mountains, traveling around the world with his young family, and living in a Buddhist monastery.  
• Tony Chapman’s ‘Start Storytelling’ closing session taught us how to engage our client’s story and incorporate it into our business, instead of just selling our stories. 
• In between we’ve learned about new event related technology and its impact on the industry, F&B budgeting, how to deal with money blocks, how to be a Resiliency Ninja, leadership, risk management, life balance, and many more. 
• Plenty of opportunities for collecting CE hours towards my carrier enhancement. Most of the TEC sessions were applicable towards different CMP domains.
• A huge reason is networking: being able to catch up with old friends and industry colleagues, meet previous committee members I worked with, and create new connections. I LOVE meeting new people, especially if they share the same passion for events as I do! This also translated into me winning a 1st place in the networking game via the Event Mobi app, which I enjoyed so much. 

Even though this was the very last TEC, as the doors are closing, new ones are opening for The Event, a new combined initiative of the Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal MPI Chapters. I can’t wait to see what surprises await for us in our capital city next year! Will you join me? 

Lucia Al-Zaiatova 
Event Operations Manager
St. James Cathedral Centre 
65 Church Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5C 2E9
Tel: 416-364-7865, ext. 231 
Email: lalzaiatova@stjamescathedral.ca 
Web: http://www.cathedralcentre.ca/