in january the chicago area chapter of meeting professionals international hosted a full day project management workshop with franklin covey. the workshop was hosted by facilitator coral rice who took us through the project management process. as we began we were all asked to share about a project that we were working on and how we hoped this course would impact us. most of the group struggled with issues regarding time management - particularly prioritization and dealing with distractions. the course gave us the tools we needed to overcome these obstacles and to become better project managers. one of the biggest take aways for me was that we often skip the critical steps in the planning process and go right from visualization into implementation and later realize that the project should have 'died' before we even got started - "you need to begin with an end in mind".

the committee decided not to include lunch as part of the program to keep costs down and their efforts were appreciated by all attendees. not only did i get to catch up with some of the other members during this informal break but it only cost me $7.00! hinton+grusich partnered with food box, the corporate drop off divisions of food for thought, part of h+g's partners+ collection, to provide the breakfast and the breaks that were enjoyed by all. as both a sponsor and a educational programs committee member i am proud to have been part of a chapter program that met both the financial and educational needs of our membership!

i am pleased to announce that we'll be continuing our complimentary webinar series in partnership with one smooth stone, part of h+g's partners+ collection, in 2010. we kicked things off with our first webinar, virtual events - fad or fabulous? on february 18th. many of us are wondering if virtual events are a passing fad or a fabulous event tool that we need to fully embrace. this webinar discussed its application and the latest insights into the creation, execution and experience of virtual events.

our 100+ participants learned why to consider a virtual event as part of our overall event strategy. if you were unable to attend, full audio with powerpoint slides have been posted here for viewing: http://www.onesmoothstone.com/virtualdemo/virtualdemo.html 

and a pdf of the session slides can be downloaded here: 
http://www.box.net/shared/7gqameteg8.

feel free to pass this link on to others who might benefit from the content. click here if you have an interest in pursuing virtual events further or have a suggestion for a future webinar topic.

february in cancun is compelling - just ask the nearly 1,000 attendees of the recent mpi meetdifferent conference http://www.mpiweb.org/events/md2010/home.asp that was held at the moon palace resort just off the cancun hotel zone in the riviera maya. i found the mexican spirit of hospitality refreshing, and i asked one member of the mexico tourism board if he was pleased with the event's attendance. he smiled broadly saying that he had been waiting 8 years for this moment - he was thrilled!

mpi created a truly unique format for this conference (it was also announced that this will be the last meetdifferent conference from mpi). there were general sessions each morning - held to a power-packed hour. innovation, risk-taking, support from corporate leaders and the importance of differentiating yourself/your company were the main themes, and the speakers (jeremy gutsche, monica harrington, marty neumaier) were just what we needed. you can find out more about these presenters and their powerful messages here - http://www.mpiweb.org/events/md2010/mdschedule/keynotespeakers.aspx

mpi tried out a "hosted buyer" program that included 80 suppliers and 100 planners and was considered a success. this program certainly helped attract planners who otherwise would not have been able to attend. the vibe at this conference was positive - better than a year ago - with cautious optimism and a prevailing attitude. the vibe at the evening events was as spirited as ever as we all enjoyed the beauty of mexico and the power of face-to-face.

vancouver had a strong presence at the conference - with a pod in the lobby where the olympics were being shown. also because mpi's next north american conference will be held in vancouver. the world education conference (wec) is july 24-27, 2010 in vancouver. get the details at http://www.mpiweb.org/Events/WEC2010/SaveTheDate.aspx.