In
mid-October, five members of MPI BCIT were given the opportunity to fly down to
Las Vegas and attend the IMEX-MPI-MCI Future Leaders Forum at the IMEX America Exhibition.
The lucky students who attended the conference were Jennifer Wong, Leslie
Lessard, Vivek Punwani, Joanna Lam, and Albert Yee. All of the attendees from
BCIT are either an MPI BCIT executive member or in a director position.
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| The MPI BCIT members with Jordan Clark |
The first
day of the conference didn’t have any activities for the Future Leaders Forum,
but we were invited to attend the tradeshow floor and see what IMEX America was
all about. The conference took place in the Sands Expo and Convention Center at
The Venetian and The Palazzo.
We were all
excited to the see the very prominent Vancouver booth on display. While, we
ended up missing out on the bike powered blended beverages that were being
given away, it was great to see Vancouver coming up with creative ideas to
entice buyers to visit the booth.
Other memorable
exhibitors included Meet Minneapolis, who had a Prince impersonator walking
around and performing, and Korea who capitalized on the recent popularity of
Psy by playing his hit song, Gangnam Style, on repeat.
It was a
great opportunity to be able to walk around the exhibition and meet people from
all over the world and discover their career paths.
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| The Vancouver booth at IMEX |
On the
first day of the Future Leaders Forum, we enjoyed a Welcome Breakfast in one of
the beautiful conference rooms at the Venetian/Palazzo Congress Center. Dale
Hudson and Miguel Neves, from IMEX Group, and Charles Massey, from Synaxis
Meetings and Events, were the moderators for the forum. They were all very
personable and captivating. One of the first things we did was to scatter
ourselves around the floor to make sure we weren’t sitting with anyone we knew.
We got to
hear from a lot of different and amazing speakers throughout the first day.
Each speaker truly brought something unique and different to the table. Some of
the topics included a Visionary Showcase, The Future of the Meeting
Industry, What Employers are
Looking for, and Five Things Professors Haven’t Told You.
Hotel staff
took us on a behind the scenes look at the Venetian’s “Heart of House,” where
we were able to see the great benefits that the hotel offers its employees and
how it makes it all run smoothly.
We finished
off the day with a reception, where we were able to connect with the students
who we had spend the day with and many of the presenters.
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| The MPI BCIT members on the final day of IMEX |
Day Three
The final
day of the forum provided us with more great speakers and topics. I really
enjoyed the sessions on Social Media Etiquette, and How to Make Sustainability
Happen.
One of our
last activities was a guided tour of the tradeshow floor. We broke off into groups and conducted
a scavenger hunt on the floor. It was a great way to push ourselves into
talking to more companies on the floor and learn about what they offered.
The IMEX
America Exhibition offered a shuttle from the event to the airport, which was a
nice way to end the trip.
The Future
Leaders Forum was an amazing experience and we are all glad that we were given
the opportunity to attend the event. We hope to make it a recurring event and
continue to send MPI BCIT members each year.
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