eVision  Newsletter
The Official Publication of the MPI Utah Chapter
July 2006

MPI Utah Looks Ahead to the New Year

Message from our new president, Elizabeth Payne.

By MPI Chapter President, Elizabeth Payne
Vision Event Productions

As I step into my role as your new Chapter President, I am honored to be a part of the dynamic group of meeting professionals who make up your 2006 – 2007 Board of Directors. They are: Heidi Hughes with Summit Events DMC as President Elect, Pauline Gunn with Unishippers as Immediate Past President, Jed Hansen with the Salt Palace Convention Center as the Vice President of Finance, Robbi Hogan with Sheraton City Centre as Vice President of Membership, Deb Kosaka with Westgate Park City as Vice President of Professional Development, Karen Pena with Turnkey Events as Vice President of Communications, Kim Duffett with the Yarrow Resort and Conference center as Vice President of Special Events and Amy Folker as Chapter Administrator.

Together, we are committed to creating another successful year for our chapter.

As we look to the future of our chapter, we should also look to the current status of our industry as a whole. The goal of MPI International from its inception, was to be the leading task force that would shape and define our industry. In the beginning we were often viewed as a sidebar of the marketing departments. There were no standards to measure our success by and no defined job descriptions. Fast forward to today, and now the meeting and event industry is a strategic marketing force to be reckoned with.

The more efficient we are in providing a top notch experience for the attendee from the hotel accommodations, to the audio visual and production elements, to the food and beverage, the more successful we are in delivering a powerful message. Through MPI international, we are charged with the goal of constantly expanding our own personal levels of education, so that we continue to reach new heights of professionalism and streamline and define best practices for our industry.

On the local level, it is our commitment to continue to strive for excellence in our own educational offerings and networking opportunities.

We have said it a thousand times, but you do get out of this organization what you put into it. For the first time, in the history of our chapter, not only do we have all of the board positions filled, but we also have a majority of the committee chairs in place. I would like to extend a personal thank you to all of our volunteers for the next year. Your enthusiasm for giving of your time and talents and being actively involved in the chapter is infectious. I know that as we move forward and the committee leaders call upon others of you, we will continue to see an outpouring of generosity from the membership. Our chapter has been diligently working to streamline our internal best practices, so that we can now focus on being more strategic and bringing more of the international message to the chapter level. Each of you is vital to the success of this goal.

I was amused when I learned about the Elizabethan theme the committee chose for the Awards Gala to kick off the year. Though I know the statement, “Elizabethan Era” is very tongue in cheek, I will take the challenge. By definition, the Elizabethan Era in England was the age of Renaissance, of new ideas and new thinking. But it is important to remember that it wasn’t because of Elizabeth that this was such an amazing historical period. This was the time of William Shakespeare, Leonardo Divinci, and Sir John Harrington (inventor of the flush toilet), and countless other inventors and forward thinkers.

For our “Elizabethan Era” I am looking to you, the membership, to be our forward thinkers. My charge to you for this year, and the years to come, is step up and be a part of the Renaissance of the meeting industry in our local community as well as in the international community.

Salt Lake City will be hosting the World Education Congress in July of 2009. Meeting professionals from across the country will be coming to our city and looking to see what type of experience we can create together. What we do today as an organization will have a great impact on what our strength will be when the meeting professional world looks in on us in 2009. The future leaders of our chapter who just now may be working on the committee level, will hold board positions at this time. We need your talents.

Now is the time, to get in and get involved and be an active part of our community.

Thank you for entrusting me with a position of leadership for the chapter. It is going to be a great year!

2006 Annual Awards Gala & Board Installation

Congratulations to the 2006 Chapter Award Recipients

The Annual Awards Gala & Board Installation was held on Tuesday, June 20th, at the beautiful Hotel Park City. This very special evening began with a cocktail hour held on the patio overlooking the golf course, the melodic sounds of Pianist Rich Wyaman and a delicious, unique dinner provided by The Sleigh Restaurant. The program for the evening included the award and recognition presentations as well as the installation of the 2006 – 2007 Board of Directors. Thus began the “Elizabethan Era”. The 2005 – 2006 Board of Directors want to thank our many sponsors, the Awards committee and the many guests who made the evening such a success. Our event sponsors included Cornerstone, Diamond Rental, Hotel Park City, Iceworks, The Leading Hotels of the World, Richard Johnson Photography, Summit Printing, Speaking Roses, Spike Productions, and Sync Creative.

The Winners Circle

	Planner of the Year Lynn Brothersen Senior Meeting Planner Investools
	Supplier of the Year Debra Kosaka Group Sales Manager Westgate Park City Resort and Spa
	Supplier Company of the Year Cornerstone Technologies AV Todd Mortensen, Co-Owner Chad Fraughton, Co- Owner Award Accepted by Robert LaSpina
	Rising Star Award Sharon Lusienski Sales Manager Casa Blanca/Oasis Resorts
	Beth Belt Leadership Award Vicki Berntsen, CMP Group Sales Manager Hilton Salt Lake City Center
	Fellowship Award Salt Lake Convention and Visitors Bureau Award Accepted by Scott Beck, President and CEO Beth Belt, CMP, Director of Conventions
	President’s Award Kim Duffett Director of Sales Yarrow Resort Hotel & Conference Center

9th Annual Chinese Auction

The evening was a huge success thanks to our many sponsors.

There was a buzz in the air, the excitement was high, silent auction bids were being carefully placed and there was chatter among the guests on what was to come. It was the long anticipated MPI Utah Chapter's 9th Annual Chinese Auction!

On April 11th, the 23rd Floor was transformed with lights glittering in the background, paddles waving in the air and the “Chinese Gong” sounding out for our annual fundraising event. Once again, the evening was a huge success.

Thanks to the overwhelming generosity of our membership we were able support the Children’s Justice Centers with donations over $6,000. The Children’s Justice Center’s goal is to provide a comfortable, child-friendly atmosphere during the interview process of child abuse investigations, to decrease secondary trauma that may be caused by the criminal justice and child protection systems, to focus on what is in the best interests of the child by providing opportunities for service protection and to assist with the prosecution process when appropriate.

Proceeds from the evening also benefited the MPI Utah educational program and scholarship fund that provides member opportunities for education advancement.

A special thank you to our many sponsors, who truly went above and beyond the call of duty to make this event a success.

Message from Past-President

By Pauline Gunn, Unishippers, Inc.

As I neared the end of my term and looked at where we are as a Chapter today, I am pleased to report on the many successful programs and highlights during this past year. A few are…

• We began the year with the Educational Kick-off program at Snowbird, in August, where over 35 members participated and discovered what the year ahead would bring for their education, networking and professional development.
• The 14th year of the Annual Fall Outing, brought together three key industry organizations who joined forces to make this year’s event a great success. Members from MPI, Utah Society of Association Executives (USAE) and Utah Business Travel Association (UBTA) spent the day networking, playing golf, riding horseback and enjoying spa treatments.
• There were many educational opportunities during November’s Professional Education Day (PED) “It’s All About You.” Our Platinum Keynote Speaker, Jane Sanders - President, Authentic Leadership Resources, presented, “Gendersmart: Influencing Up For Results and Career. It was very well received and very educational. It was one of many educational moments throughout the day.
• We completed our 2nd Annual Member Showcase at FastKart Indoor Speedway. It was a very successful event showcasing our many supplier members and it again generated at least 6 new members to the Chapter.
• March brought us another Platinum Series: “The Industry’s Future: Expectations and Preparations,” presented by Joan Eisenstodt. A much to quick but very necessary risk management program. Think flashlights!
• May brought us Terry Breining to our Chapter again. Former Chairwoman of Meeting Professionals International presented a Platinum Series: Strategic Meetings Management. Her powerful presentation, for all Meeting Professionals, encourages us all to step up and take a seat at the table to influence our industry.
• The MPI Utah Chapter has contributed $500.00 to the American Red Cross for Katrina victims in New Orleans.
• Utah Chapter donated $2,000 In support of the MPI Foundation making us a Gold Sponsor.

One of the most exciting announcements this year that has the potential to effect all of the MPI Utah Chapter membership and the local hospitality industry is that Salt Lake City has been awarded the Meeting Professionals International’s (MPI) 2009 World Education Congress (WEC). MPI members are currently responsible for more than 700,000 meetings annually and have a buying power of more than $10 billion. The WEC conference is a coveted industry opportunity, enabling Salt Lake City to be showcased as a destination for future meetings and incentive trips being planned by MPI members.

When I began the year I had a goal to put into place a succession development program that would continue to grow and support all of our needs into the future. Within that goal I wanted to have more people want to be involved in the structure of our chapter.

I think this has happened this year. It has been exciting and very rewarding to see the development of our members and the participation within the Chapter. I have seen many new faces contribute their talents to our many events in both short-term and long-term volunteer efforts. I see many of these members continuing on into leadership roles within the chapter. This is truly succession development in action.

I want to thank all of the many efforts of our members and sponsors and let them know they have been noted and appreciated by me. Your Board of Directors has represented Utah well and they have worked for the betterment of all of you. I truly could not have completed this year without their many uphill struggles.

I now want to extend a welcome to all incoming 2006-2007 Board of Directors! 2006 – 2007 will be an exciting year, full of opportunities to learn and grow within your volunteer, professional and personal lives.

2006 Platinum Series Wrap-up

By Heidi Hughes, CMP
Summit Events DMC

March 2006 Platinum Series Meeting in Review: "The Industry’s Future: Expectations and Preparation"

Red Lion was the very gracious host of MPI Utah and Utah Business Travel Association's annual joint meeting on Tuesday, March 14. The enthusiastic group of over 70 business travel and meeting professionals were enthralled by industry icon Joan Eisenstodt's presentation "The Industry’s Future: Expectations and Preparations". Groups formed to discuss and create strategies for dealing with the challenges facing our industry including Core Competencies, Demographic Changes and Privacy.

Snowbird Ski & Summer Resort’s Emily Jones said, "I thoroughly enjoyed the presentation by Joan Eisenstodt. She provided many helpful bits of information on emergency preparedness which is a hot topic in today's world. The ifferent scenarios that were presented were very informative. It was educational to hear other industry professional’s points of view on demographics, core competencies and privacy issues."

Ms. Eisenstodt’s presentation was part of Meeting Professional International’s Platinum Series. The Platinum Series offers local chapters the opportunity to bring in speakers and presenters who are recognized industry experts. Such is definitely the case with Joan Eisenstodt. Her expertise is in facilitation and training, and for meetings, program planning, facilities contracts, negotiations, and meeting management training, brings more than 30 years of experience to her work. She founded Eisenstodt Associates, a Washington, DC-based conference consulting, facilitation and training company, in 1981.

In every year of the list since its beginning in 1995, she was named "One of the 25 Most Influential People in the Meetings Industry" by Meeting News magazine. Successful Meetings Magazine named Joan one of the "Power Players" ("10 Women Who are Changing the Industry.") She was named “e.communicator" by meetingmed.com. Corporate Meetings & Incentives magazine featured Joan on the cover as one of "The 'A' List 10 Women Meeting Industry Leaders."

Joan Eisenstodt was inducted into the Convention Industry Hall of Leaders in July, 2004. She is one of only 8 women (of 86 total inductees) so honored in the lifetime of the Hall of Leaders

Special thanks to Canadian Tourism Council, the International sponsor of the Platinum Series, and our local sponsors, Red Lion Hotel, Executive Services Group and Zermatt Resort & Spa.

May 2006 Platinum Series Meeting in Review: "Strategic Meetings Management Professional Development Program"

Utah Cultural Celebration Center was the stunning setting for Utah Chapter MPI’s final education program for the 2005 – 2006 year in May. Through the MPI Platinum Series sponsored by American Express, former MPI Chairwoman of the Board Terri Breining presented the stimulating program “Strategic Meetings Management.”

The group of over 40 planners and suppliers were engaged by this course, and learned to define and explain the eight steps needed to implement a strategic meetings management program through analysis of several case studies. Attendees were given the tools to create and implement an action plan to demonstrate their value within an organization.

Along with Utah Cultural Celebration Center and American Express, Marriott Downtown, 5 Star Platinum and Alliant Technology were sponsors of this event. Diamond Creations provided the delicious and hearty breakfast buffet. Stein Eriksen Lodge and Utah Cultural Celebration Center donated door prizes for several

Do You Have Any??

Photos, Clothes, Historical items, Records

Sounds Like a Garage Sale but it Isn’t!

The Utah Chapter has secured a Storage Unit and is looking to fill it up.

If you want to clean out your home, office or car of MPI items, please contact

Amy Folker at amy.folker@mpiutah.org or Pauline Gunn at Pauline.gunn@mpiutah.org

Pick-up will be arranged.

Welcome to Our Newest Utah Chapter Members