Our first speaker session of the year: Networking for Dummies workshop!

"Networking is fun!"

And fun it is! We had a blast with Heidi Hughes joining us Thursday afternoon to give us expert advice and tips on professional networking in a business environment.

Heidi is the Manager of Conference Sales & Marketing at Anvil Centre, a brand new conference centre opening in New Westminster in 2014. She is also affiliated with our Parent Chapter as Director of Student Affairs for MPI BC.

Heidi talked about her networking experiences in the industry and how networking opportunities have helped her with employment later on. To quote her words of wisdom: "It's not about what you know. It's not about who you know. It's about who knows you."

The MPI BCIT team would like to thank Heidi for sharing her experiences and providing the students with 16 helpful tips for networking. We appreciate her recommendations and taking time to answer students' questions.

Now that we've gained insights from a business expert, it's time to get ourselves out there and make those connections!

Want to know more about Heidi? Check out her Twitter handle here: @hhh3events

Also many thanks to our new sponsor, KIND Healthy Snacks for providing everyone with granola bars!

2013/2014 Executive Board

EXECUTIVE BOARD 2013/2014

President: Shivani Mukerji
Vice President: Nina Davidson

VP of Finance: Andrew Heung
VP of Marketing: Dalvinder Kular
VP of Events: Jennifer Wong
VP of Sponsorship: Adrienne Regier
VP of Corporate Relations: Jason Ip
Secretary: Naomi Sambrook

BOARD OF DIRECTORS 2013/2014

Director of Marketing: Idy Wong
Director of Social Media: Annie Sheng
Director of Digital Media: Chris Thuong
Director of Sponsorship: Anna Dachuk
Director of Professional Events: Carly Anderson
Director of Social Events: Ethan Schrum
Director of MPI Forum: Amy Tsai
Director of First Year: Kylie Marshall

Experiential Marketing with West Trek

West Trek Tours is known as "Western Canada's #1 Tour Company". Established in 1998, West Trek Tours is Vancouver's #1 budget tour provider and services the international student community, backpackers and locals. They provide affordable tours to the Rocky Mountain, Whistler, Seattle Victoria, Tofino and Portland. West Trek Tours was recipient of the Vancouver Tourism Award in March 2012 and took part in money raising initiatives for the Japan Relief Fund following the devastating earthquake and tsunami in 2011.

We are excited to announce that MPI BCIT has connected with West Trek Tours and will be helping them develop an experiential marketing plan during this upcoming school year. To find out how you can get involved with this project and to add experience to your resume, speak to one of our executive members or come to our first educational seminar on Wednesday September 11th for more detail!

September 2013: First Year Panel

Are you a first year marketing student?
Do you have questions regarding what to expect during your first year at BCIT?

MPI BCIT is again hosting the First Year Panel. Many BCIT students know that our program can be very intense and challenging. This is a great opportunity for new students to interact with former first year marketing students about their experiences, as well as gain tips on how to make the year fun and memorable. Attending the First Year Panel is also a great way for students to meet and connect with each other.

This event will be held on Wednesday September 18th at 2:30pm in SE6 208.

World Education Congress - WEC 2013 in Las Vegas!

On July 20 - 23, four lucky MPI BCIT students had the wonderful opportunity to travel to Las Vegas to attend MPI's annual World Education Congress. This four-day event consisted of networking, educational seminars, workshops, fun activities, and many more.

Upon returning home, Shivani, the President of MPI BCIT, and Jennifer, the VP of Events were buzzing with excitement and stories about WEC 2013. Here is what they have to say about this memorable experience:

"These past few days, I was lucky enough to meet and learn from members of MPI from across the world at the WEC 2013 conference in Vegas! Along with Jennifer Wong, Vivek Punwani and Wilfred Chan of MPI BCIT, we heard some great speakers, grew our international professional network and talked to people with the most interesting jobs. 

MPI member jobs spanned across tourism industries, but a lot of the people I talked to were involved in hotel sales, corporate travel, and event planning. 

Absolute highlights include talks from these powerful professionals, and I encourage everyone to check them out! 

1) Candy Chang, artist and urban planner - gave a heartfelt talk on designing spaces to make them more social and human. Check her out here. 

2) Jessica Jackley, founder of KIVA micro-financing corporation. She taught us great lessons on how to use business to solve poverty, and reminded us that we can pull business lessons from any source. Check her out here.

Conferences are great sources for inspiration, so I hope you get to dive into one soon!" -- Shivani

"The World Education Congress (WEC) 2013 in Las Vegas is definitely an event to remember. This was my first WEC I have ever attended and I was sure amazed! The keynote speakers and educational seminars were very insightful and interesting. 

My most memorable experience at WEC was the Helping Hands session. Together with Diane and Luke, two professionals I had just met, we were able to assemble a prosthetic hand. All the prosthetic hands assembled would go to victims of land mine accidents and amputees. After we assembled the prosthetic hand, we decorated the carrying bag and wrote a personal letter to the person that would receive the hand. It was very touching to know that we are able to change the life and build an emotional connection to a stranger across the world. In this one 2-hour session, we were able to assemble over 300 hands and in turn change over 300 peoples’ lives. Wow, now that is something to be proud of!" -- Jennifer

To read more about WEC 2013, you can visit MPI's events page here. Their MPI OnSite publication, WEC blogs and social media links at the bottom of the page give great details and highlights of the event. MPI HQ has already announced that next year's World Education Congress will be held in Minneapolis. If you were unable to attend this year, or would like to experience WEC again, WEC 2014 in Minneapolis is another opportunity!

2013 MPI Forum Speaker: Carly Wethersett

Carly Wethersett

Carly Wethersett - Director of Marketing & Communications, ShearForce Equipment and Work Truck West, Divisions of West Coast Machinery

A former BCIT graduate in the Marketing Management program, Carly moved her way up as a Marketing and Communications Strategist in the BCIT Marketing Communications department. Some of her daily tasks include working with internal clients including school departments, BCIT Foundation and Alumni Relations. Carly currently works as a Director of Marketing and Communications at ShearForce Equipment and Work Truck West, Divisions of West Coast Machinery, where she is responsible for  planning, development and implementation of all marketing strategies , marketing communications and customer relations activities. 


Join us April 17th @ 6:00 pm at BCIT Townsquare A for the 2nd Annual MPI Forum

BCIT Burnaby
3700 Willingdon Ave Burnaby, BC
V5G 3H2
(604) 434-5734

2013 MPI Forum Speaker: Mark Estrada

Mark Estrada

Mark Estrada - Marketing Manager, Western Canada, Nedco

Mark is a former graduate of BCIT. He started his career with Nedco in 2007 as a Marketing Coordinator.   Over his time as a coordinator his skills enabled him to coordinate marketing initiatives, maintain brand identity, cooperation with suppliers on promotions, assistance with internal client needs, and online integration. His passion and skills led him to his promotion as a Marketing Manager in February 2012.

Nedco, a leader in the electrical industry, is the largest distributor of electrical and telecommunication products in the world. Nedco is a division of Rexel Canada Electrical Inc. They operate with 2,200 locations in 34 countries.


Join us April 17th @ 6:00 pm at BCIT Townsquare A for the 2nd Annual MPI Forum

BCIT Burnaby
3700 Willingdon Ave Burnaby, BC
V5G 3H2
(604) 434-5734

2013 MPI Forum Speaker: Sabine Granoux

Sabine Granoux

Sabine Granoux -  Event Manager, Vancouver Convention Centre

Sabine Granoux graduated from the event management program at BCIT. She has now been part of the team at the Vancouver Convention Centre as an Event Manager for a decade, planning, executing and overseeing events of all sizes.

Located in the stunning downtown waterfront, the Vancouver Convention Centre is an award-winning facility with world class production capabilities, spectacular views and five-star cuisine. The Vancouver Convention Centre has a strong commitment to environmental, economic and social responsibility, helping many event planners organize and hold sustainable meetings and events. 


Join us April 17th @ 6:00 pm at BCIT Townsquare A for the 2nd Annual MPI Forum

BCIT Burnaby
3700 Willingdon Ave Burnaby, BC
V5G 3H2
(604) 434-5734

2013 MPI Forum Speaker: Alan Lee

Alan Lee

Alan Lee - Project Manager, Ovation Global

A BCIT graduate from the tourism marketing management program, Alan Lee now works as a Project Manager with Ovation Global, an award-winning Destination Management Company. Working in the Operations department, Alan Lee is responsible for checking and responding to client and supplier emails and constantly enhancing the programs he is managing. 

Ovation Global provides destination management services to groups of all business sectors. The Ovation team of experts offer destination knowledge, expertise, creativity and global reach. 


Join us April 17th @ 6:00 pm at BCIT Townsquare A for the 2nd Annual MPI Forum

BCIT Burnaby
3700 Willingdon Ave Burnaby, BC
V5G 3H2
(604) 434-5734