The conference will incorporate new and unconventional elements such as an engaging general session room design, more active audience participation and exclusive senior meeting professional education opportunities. WEC 2016 will be held at the newly opened Harrah's Atlantic City Waterfront Conference Center, and Meet AC will be providing with complimentary ground transportation service from both Philadelphia International Airport and Atlantic City International Airport to WEC host hotels.
WEC is MPI's annual signature event through which it delivers premier education, business and networking opportunities to MPI members and the wider meeting and event community. For more than 3 days, WEC participants will be immersed in a program designed to energize and inspire a re-imagining of what's possible with meetings and events.
This year's conference will deliver more than 80 education sessions focusing on four main topics: Leadership & Strategic Planning, Supplier Focus, Meeting Planning & Project Management, and Meeting & Event Design. Sessions will deepen international meeting planning, event security, trends in convention center sales, cloud computing, attracting and retaining millennials, risk management and meeting planning.
At WEC, the MPI Academy will deliver several certificate programs just prior to the conference. These include the Healthcare Meeting Compliance Certificate(HMCC) course; Meetings & Events at Sea presented in partnership with Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA); Going Local: A Roadmap for Inspiring Sense of Place; and ColorUP!™It's Time to Think Creative, Be Creative and Plan Creative Experiences.
“Rewrite the rules” is both the conference theme and the approach to meeting design led by MPI Senior Director of Events Matthew Marcial. “This year is all about doing things differently,” Marcial says. “In our general session redesign, in how we’re using the space … we’re taking the risks so you don’t have to.” When participants enter the general session, the first thing they’ll notice is the staging—four screens and stages scattered throughout the space so there’s not a bad seat in the house. It’s Marcial’s hope that attending meeting and event professionals look at the design experiments integrated into WEC as case studies on addressing trends and finding creative solutions to their own logistical challenges.
As in many conferences, learning happens between sessions as well. No matter where participants look, Marcial hopes they find examples of things they can implement in to their upcoming programs. From keynotes to Flash Point sessions, certificate courses and deep-dive sessions, attendees have several formats and learning tracks to enrich their professional development.
This year for the first time European Chapters' President starting their term in July will attend WEC16 thanks to an MPI Foundation grant.
To learn more and register for WEC 2016, visit www.mpiweb.org/wec16.
The MPI in Europe Team
Interested in speaking at next MPI EMEC17 in Granada call for proposals close on May 11 click here for more information.