News
TURKEY- MPI touts new features: more networking during 2014 European Meetings & Events Conference
Meeting Professionals International (MPI) has unveiled the programme
for its 2014 European Meetings & Events Conference (EMEC), which features distinguished presenters
from the region and premier education focused on new business development. In addition, MPI has
redesigned the EMEC format with the addition of sunset sessions and MarketSquare – a special
expanded area for meeting planners and suppliers to network and explore business opportunities.
The upcoming conference will be held February 23-25, 2014, at the Haliç Congress Center in Istanbul,
Turkey. More than 23 different education sessions and 16 campfire sessions will be offered, covering
topics such as leadership, sales, innovation and business performance, Strategic Meetings
Management, and more.
Following is a sample listing of the sessions scheduled:
– Meeting Design Across Cultures: Does One Size Fit All?
– Transform from EGOtiation to NEGOtiation
– Creating Magic: What Meeting Planners Can Learn from TED and TEDx
– From Paper to Digital: How Meeting Professionals Can Go Paperless Using the iPad and Apps
“Our goal with EMEC 2014 is to leverage the transformational power of meetings to help attendees
learn new skills and generate new ideas and business leads,” said Pierre Fernandez (image), senior director of
European Operations at MPI. “With our new European team in place, we are working diligently to
deliver value to our members in the region at the chapter level and through our redesigned EMEC.”
Keynote speakers for EMEC 2014 include Peter Hinssen, the author of The New Normal and a leading
thought leader on the impact of technology on society; Christopher Barrat, a business management
guru, author and trainer; and Melek Pulatkonak, curator of the Turkish Women’s International
Network and former member of the Strategic and Emerging Business Team at Microsoft in Istanbul.
Scheduled for the opening general session, Hinssen will discuss how companies must transform their
business model in order to remain relevant in the today’s technology-driven society. Together, Barrat
and Pulatkonak will deliver an engaging presentation on networking techniques at the second general
session, and immediately afterwards, attendees will have the opportunity to apply the key learnings
during a networking luncheon. During the closing general session, two guest speakers will highlight
new trends and ideas for the meeting industry.
Also, the MPI Foundation will host Rendezvous on the evening of February 24th. The funds raised from
this signature event will be invested back in Europe towards grants, scholarships, and pan-industry
research – all of which help secure the future success of the meeting and event industry.