MPI-WI Spring Education Day
May 13, 2010

Speakers Thursday, May 13, 2010 Marriott Madison West Middleton, WI Featured Keynote: Joanne Corby, Inspirational speaker, author & trainer The New Diversity: Generations Working Together Session: There’s a new buzzword on the lips of meeting professionals who, besides bringing people together, work with generational and cultural diversities: diverse-value. It’s more than a fad though—it is increasing productivity and creating more effective work teams worldwide. Learn how diverse-value is helping organizations move beyond equal employment opportunity, affirmative action and workforce diversity. Building a winning team requires removing old diversity labels and using an alternative approach to address worldwide business challenges such as, accountability, competencies, and diversities.    Learning Objectives: Understand the workforce diversity chain Modify your diversity objectives to fit your workforce and workplace needs Write your new diversity objectives Bio: Joanne Corby is a national keynote speaker who teaches business audiences how to Look Inside the Box. This outside-in approach focuses on the outsider’s perspective and will transform the way you do business. Joanne founded U Expansion, Inc., in 2002, after twenty years in the healthcare industry developing multiple corporate training centers and creating revenue generating programs. Using her own personal experiences, she uses her outside-in approach to work with employees, executives, and community leaders to elevate their competency level, and improve processes for organizations and associations. She holds a masters degree in human resource development and public administration. Joanne has a down to earth presentation style. She challenges the norm and puts forward innovative solutions to break through traditional business practices. Her honesty, simple strategic vision, and dash of humor reinforce the organization’s future and stimulates the core of audiences. Her programs are filled with substance, practical take-aways, encourage accountability, and improve individual competency levels.

Breakout One — 1:00-2:30

James Schneider
Exceptional Customer Service: It’s Not a Goofy Thing

Certain businesses are noted for their exceptional customer service.  Names like Disney, Nordstrom’s Southwest Airlines and Lands’ End quickly come to mind. Their customers are fiercely loyal, their staff members are enthusiastic and the results are directly shown in their bottom lines. But what are they really doing that sets them apart? More importantly, what secrets can we learn from them that we can apply in our own workplace or day-to-day business operation? Together we’re going to explore the world of exceptional customer service.

A closer look at these businesses and others will reveal a number of basic tools that your business and you personally can quickly put to work. We’ll explore the benefits of creating a genuine ‘customer friendly’ experience that can set your business apart from the competition. We’ll learn how exceptional businesses ‘set the stage’ for customer service moments that cement future customer loyalty and even make our day-to-day customer dealings more enjoyable and less stressful.

While the results will be a better bottom line, this is NOT about sales. In fact, agencies or departments within a business that may not come in direct contact with ‘outside’ customers can benefit as well because one of the secrets of truly customer oriented organizations is their focus on bringing exceptional customer service to ‘internal’ customers as well. It is no accident that these same companies are seen as exceptional places to work, with high employee morale, low turnover and higher employee satisfaction rates.

Bio:
James Schneider is a professional speaker and experienced business trainer who firmly believes that “Excellence is not achieved by doing exceptional things, but by doing small things exceptionally well.”

As a trainer, he has developed innovative learning sessions that have helped over 1800 audiences examine the many aspects of leadership, personal motivation and customer service that must be combined and nurtured if our businesses and organizations are to prosper.

Mr. Schneider’s personal background includes over 20 years in the field of economic development where he worked with communities and businesses to help form successful partnerships that would create jobs and generate dollars.  His enthusiastic and entertaining presentation style is derived from a combination of theatrical experience, rural perspective and personal passion.

But his real claim to fame is that he lives in Gotham, just two blocks from the Bat Cave…no kidding!

Panel
How to get the most out of your MPI Membership
Jen Hlavachek moderator

Are you getting the most out of your MPI membership?

If the answer was no or a wavering maybe, you need to attend this breakout session!  There will be a panel of six “experts” in our field from the Planner and Supplier side to answer all of your questions about how you can give and get more from your membership. 

Platinum Speaker: EJ Siwek, CMP
Enhancing Your ROI through Event Management Tools

Session Description: 
Event  spend and proper budgeting is essential in today’s business climate.  This session will teach you how to enhance your budgeting capabilities by using and refining budget templates for simple to advanced events.  Valuable strategic management tools will be introduced that will complement event management techniques.

Session Learner Outcomes: 

• Learn how to access existing budgeting templates from the Internet and how to refine them for your use
• Learn the importance of tracking event metrics and they can help to make strategic change
• Learn the language of senior management and how to tie your event to a strategic plan

Bio:
EJ Siwek, CMP is President and Founder of FLASHpoint Technologies, a company providing research, training, consulting and articles on technology solutions to the meeting industry. 
With a diverse background in association, event and corporate planning, EJ has a personal perspective on the unique problems that meeting professional face in applying technology to their processes.

Active in industry for 25 years as a planner, publisher, and consultant, EJ was selected by Meeting News as one of the Top 25 Influential Leaders in the industry for his efforts in educating and informing meeting professionals on meeting technology.  He is co-author of The Meeting Spectrum published by HRD press.

In 2000, Mr. Siwek served as Conference Director for the International Laboratory Accreditation Council’s conference (ILAC 2000), a biennial international conference with delegates from 62 world economies and hosted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

He has held positions with Juran Institute as the Director of the Meetings Department (1986-1996) and as Director of Marketing for Excel Partnership (1998 – 2000) overseeing department wide activities for 500 meeting per year. 

Breakout Two — 3:00-4:30

James Schneider
Exceptional Customer Service: It’s Not a Goofy Thing

Certain businesses are noted for their exceptional customer service.  Names like Disney, Nordstrom’s Southwest Airlines and Lands’ End quickly come to mind. Their customers are fiercely loyal, their staff members are enthusiastic and the results are directly shown in their bottom lines. But what are they really doing that sets them apart? More importantly, what secrets can we learn from them that we can apply in our own workplace or day-to-day business operation? Together we’re going to explore the world of exceptional customer service.

A closer look at these businesses and others will reveal a number of basic tools that your business and you personally can quickly put to work. We’ll explore the benefits of creating a genuine ‘customer friendly’ experience that can set your business apart from the competition. We’ll learn how exceptional businesses ‘set the stage’ for customer service moments that cement future customer loyalty and even make our day-to-day customer dealings more enjoyable and less stressful.

While the results will be a better bottom line, this is NOT about sales. In fact, agencies or departments within a business that may not come in direct contact with ‘outside’ customers can benefit as well because one of the secrets of truly customer oriented organizations is their focus on bringing exceptional customer service to ‘internal’ customers as well. It is no accident that these same companies are seen as exceptional places to work, with high employee morale, low turnover and higher employee satisfaction rates.

Bio:
James Schneider is a professional speaker and experienced business trainer who firmly believes that “Excellence is not achieved by doing exceptional things, but by doing small things exceptionally well.”

As a trainer, he has developed innovative learning sessions that have helped over 1800 audiences examine the many aspects of leadership, personal motivation and customer service that must be combined and nurtured if our businesses and organizations are to prosper.

Mr. Schneider’s personal background includes over 20 years in the field of economic development where he worked with communities and businesses to help form successful partnerships that would create jobs and generate dollars.  His enthusiastic and entertaining presentation style is derived from a combination of theatrical experience, rural perspective and personal passion.

But his real claim to fame is that he lives in Gotham, just two blocks from the Bat Cave…no kidding!

What you need to know but were afraid to ask about getting your CMP

CMP coordinators from MPI Chicago will lead this lively panel to discuss all of your questions, concerns and helpful hints when sitting for your CMP.

Questions can be asked in advanced on the registration page.

Click here to submit your questions in advance.

Marge Anderson
Project Green – Make it Work!

Join us for a sneak peak at the new APEX green standards and interactive discussion on how to bring green into your meeting contracts and RFPs.

Bio:
As a member of the Energy Center’s Leadership Team, Marge’s responsibilities include strategic planning, financial management, Board of Directors relations, new initiative creation, curriculum development, and education and outreach for the organization.
 
Marge is a recognized meetings industry leader in corporate social responsibility and return on investment for meeting professionals.  Her teaching and speaking work in North America and Europe covers energy and climate change issues, meeting measurement and evaluation, program design, sponsorship development, and leadership skills.

From 2006-2009, Marge served on the International Board of Directors for Meeting Professionals International (MPI), the largest trade association for the global meetings industry, with 22,000 hospitality, corporate and association members and over 70 chapters worldwide.   Marge has a long history of volunteer leadership involvement with MPI, including serving as Wisconsin Chapter President in 2002-2003. Marge is MPI’s Special Advisor on Corporate Social Responsibility.  Marge also contributes to the APEX/ASTM Green Meetings standards development work, and belongs to the Green Meetings Industry Council.  The Energy Center’s case study on meeting return on investment was published in Proving the Value of Meetings in 2006.  The Energy Center’s Better Buildings, Better Business Conference was the MPI 2007 Global Paragon Award winner, in part because of its successful green meetings strategy.

Marge’s also serves on the Board of Directors of the New Buildings Institute and on the Professional Development Committee for the U.S. Green Buildings Council.