With any major event there are countless hurdles to jump over in order to ensure the success of your event. As industry peers we can all relate to the hectic, spur of the moment decisions that can either make or break an event. Now sometimes the hurdles are short and you can quickly move forward, but there are also those times when each hurdle seems to take all your energy to leap over. But what happens when that hurdle is replaced with a ring of fire? Getting past that obstacle requires years of professional experience and expertise. This is just the case with Mark Wallissa and his staff’s efforts that enabled the 2010 MPI MidAmerica Conference to overcome a fire scare at the Savannah Center prior to Monday morning’s opening session in West Chester, Ohio.

This years MidAmerica host facilities consisted of the Cincinnati Marriott North along with the Savannah Center which housed the opening reception and the majority of the educational sessions. Both facilities proved to be wonderful partners for the event as the level of service received was spectacular. Many guests commented on the Marriott front desk service as each guest was personally walked to the elevator as the attendant discussed the fine points of the facility. The Savannah Center’s staff certainly left their mark on the event as well with the way that they dealt with the fire scare as well as their overall service to the attendees throughout the conference. Also a key sponsor for the event was the Butler County Convention & Visitors Bureau with Executive Director Mark Hecquet. 

The educational sessions kicked off Sunday afternoon with a trip to IKEA featuring “The Power of Being Organized” by professional organizer Stephanie Denton. The session was followed by the first time attendee reception in the lobby area of the Marriott North. This was a great way for first timers to mingle with board members from both the Kentucky and Ohio Chapters.

The MidAmerica attendees all came together Sunday evening at the opening reception held at the Savannah Center. The event featured an “around the world” wine and food tasting with various stations representing seven different countries. A live jazz fusion band set the mood early with a few soft piano numbers, but gradually worked into an array of pop hits from almost every genre and decade. So much in fact the sound of “baby got back” could be heard during the request portion of the performance. A few energetic attendees even made their way stage front to dance until the lights came on. The silent auction was also a popular attraction during the opening reception, which featured over 60 items including everything from weekend overnights in the Florida Keys to Coach Purses and Bracelets. Attendees were defiantly pleased with the selection of choices and the great value for their purchases. Black Diamond Casino Events provided gaming tables for the event, which really became popular as the evening wore on. The winner of a ticket drawing which were won through the casino games took place at the end of the evening, with an attendee coming away with a Marriott North overnight and two great bottles of wine.

Monday morning started off with the CMP/CMM breakfast which was fittingly sponsored by Quest Business & Conference Centers in Columbus which houses the MPIOH CMP Study Group and Boot Camp. During this session MPIOH VP of Education Anne Dufort discussed changes and important factors to the application, testing, and recertification processes.

During the CMP/CMM breakfast, attendees learned that there had been a fire at the Savannah Center. No one was hurt and the damage was minimal, but the schedule was thrown off a little and the breakfast plans were accommodated by the Marriott North’s hospitable staff. Guest arrived to the Savannah center which had a slight trace of a smoky smell, but the work that the local fire department along with Mark Wallissa and his staff did to get the facility ready to go for opening session in just a couple of hours was fantastic.

The conference emcee Jon Petz with Bore No More greeted attendees and started the event off with his exuberant personality. Opening session began with the speaker showcase portion featuring Patrick Henry, a former professional songwriter and musician turned speaker. Mr. Henry made his way on stage with his guitar and immediately pulled the audience in. He continued to perform hilarious topical songs geared toward showing audiences how to make sure your talents stick out of the crowd. One of his more comical bits discussed his hatred for cliché and boring key note speakers; Mr. Henry defiantly does not fit that description.

Jeff Pedan followed with his presentation of “The Biggest Pay-Off”. Mr. Pedan discussed the value of customer satisfaction to a business. He passionately preached that going above and beyond for clients is the driving force behind word of mouth referrals; the most important marketing aspect that you can have. Pedan also discussed that trust is the key factor to selling a client on your services and is what will continue to bring them back for more. Customers must feel that you truly care about their needs; Pedan argued that, “Your best chance to make a customer for life is when their hair is on fire.” When you improve your personal dependability, you improve your customer relationships, and in turn your fiscal gain.      

For Monday mornings break out sessions I decided to attend “The Hidden Rules of Leadership-Four Ideas for World Class Results” featuring Dr. Todd Dewett from the Wright State University Department of Management. Dr. Dewett proved to be the most popular breakout session of the week, and for very good reason. His sense of realism, comedy, and innovative ideas made for one of the best sessions of the event. Dr. Dewett discussed how ones ideals on life are a driving force as to how one goes about taking a leadership role. Dr. Dewett felt that you must improve yourself before improving others. Leadership is not about everyone else, it is really about you.

Dr. Dewett also discussed that many working relationships are torn because both parties are not able to relate to one another, when in actuality there is always something that you can learn from someone else and in turn make for a better work environment. To be an influential leader you must see people for what they are, as unique individuals. Good leaders find ways to connect with their employees. Dr. Dewett asked the question “What are you missing about people you work with everyday?” He spoke how “Leadership is not always a perfect job. People need to look at leadership not as a sprint, but a marathon.” Building a positive working relationship does not happen in a day, it is a lengthy progression.

The most well received speaker of the week might have been day one afternoon keynote speaker Steve Rizzo. Mr. Rizzo holds his Masters in Theater Arts and has more than 15 years experience as a professional headline comedian, with opening acts such as Dennis Miller and Drew Carey. Steve walked away from a flourishing comedy career to achieve what he really wanted to do; Steve now travels the world sharing his experiences while teaching people to be happy and successful regardless of their current circumstances, while doing so he achieved an induction into the National Speakers Hall of Fame. Mr. Rizzo discussed that laughter is scientifically proven to relieve stress. Attitude affects every decision you make in both your professional and personal lives. People who enjoy what they are doing bounce back challenges, perform better, and are more creative. Mr. Rizzo preached “The time to enjoy yourself is in the now, even in tough times. You can seize the day, or the day will seize you.” For every incident in your life, you are the one that controls your reaction; no one made you do anything. Overall the message that he left behind was that; “Your sense of humor is your sense of perspective.” Looking around throughout his performance, he had many audience members crying with laughter and certainly left attendees pepped up and ready for action.

The evening reception took place at EnterTRAINment Junction just north of the conference facilities. Guests roamed over 80,000 sq. ft., of the worlds largest indoor train display, that is so realistic in design that it could easily be used as miniature movie set. The facility was recently voted "Ohio Best Family Entertainment Center". EnterTRAINment can accommodate groups from 10 to 300 guests with catering provided by Elegant Fare. Attendees were able to participate in a scavenger hunt where they had to pick out MidAmeirca logos inside the display. Many of the attendees were blown away by the hard work and dedication it took to build this intricate, labor intensive piece of art work.
 
The closing keynote session featuring Michael Cerbelli’s: Hot Event and Entertainment Ideas 2010 was one of the more anticipated and discussed sessions of the week. Mr. Cerbelli is the President of Special Events for Total Entertainment based out of New York/New Jersey and also travels the country sharing his ideas and expertise in special events with his industry peers. Right off the bat Mr. Cerbelli’s presentation got off to a fast pace and never slowed down. It was evident that he did a great deal of work to whittle down his full presentation which he debuted at Special Event Magazines “The Special Event” in January. 

The presentation began with discussing his partnership with Brett Culp, a well respected event industry photographer and filmmaker for celebrities and other large scale entertainment events. Mr. Culp has intergraded 3D animated photos and videos into visual presentations during events. He is passionate about brining events to life, so much that his company sells their filmmaking services during the event, will edit the work onsite, and hand out electronic copies of the film as mementos at the end of the event. This idea is popular with smaller concert venues, but to bring it to the event market is beginning to change the way that people look at documenting events.

When Mr. Cerbelli brought up the idea of the “Living Red Carpet” a buzz went through the audience. Imagine going to a red carpet event, getting out of the car, walking the red carpet to the facility, and as the carpet comes to an end you realize that all the while the carpet was the train of a models dress. Mr. Cerbelli discussed how this idea receives amazing feed back from attendees who are taken back by the creativity.

Another product/service that received an array of responses was the “Happy Hour Chandelier” which consists of a female acrobat hanging from a large chandelier which acts as a bar and the acrobat the bar tender. The acrobat becomes surrounded with attendees holding their glasses up as the acrobat pours their drinks from above.

As far as technologically advanced ideas, Cleveland, Ohio’s Digital Illusions holographic projection system knocked many attendees back in their seat. Digital Illusions has crafted their services to combine out of this world holographic projection with live special events. With this technology the sky is the limit, planners have the option of using pre-filmed pieces or using live video. A person can speak at one location and have their holographic image presented at various locations around world as if they were in the room.

Overall the MPI MidAmerica Educational Conference was an immense success. The MAC committee lead by Ohio Chapters Wendy Nicodemus, CMP and Kentucky Chapters Tina Bowling did a fantastic job during the planning process to ensure that the event went smoothly. Thank you to all of the sponsors, vendors, speakers, and attendees for their participation in the conference. We hope to see you all next year in Louisville, Kentucky for the 2011 version of the MidAmerica Conference.

**This article will be featured in the April/May issue of MPI's Define Newsletter.