Deep Dive: Increase Your EQ With Positive Intelligence™

Areas of Interest: Strategic Thinking & Impact
CMP-IS Domain E: Human Resources 

Speakers:

• Rachelle Stone, PCC, CPQC, Coach, Speaker Advisor, R Stone Consulting

• Vimari Roman, CMM, CGLC, CPQC, Founder & CEO, Be Productive Coaching

Whether we realize it or not, all too often teams are underachieving their potential due to various elements of conflict, friction, stress and being overworked. Thin resources, higher costs and multiple generations in the workforce are bringing new challenges to the meetings industry. You have the power to manage these challenges more effectively with a positive mindset.

Raising your Positive Intelligence™ and emotional intelligence enables you to lower stress, improve communications and relationships, increase sales and better manage differences in conversations and volatile situations.

What You Can Expect:

• Prior to the Session: Complete this assessment to help identify your blind spots, how you self-sabotage and how to recognize the signs that your “saboteurs” have taken over
• During the Session: You will work in a small breakout based on saboteurs to gain a deeper understanding of how your saboteurs show up, interact and impact real-time experiences
• After the Session: You will walk away with a better understanding about yourself, your saboteurs and be able to immediately apply that understanding for professional and personal success

Learning Objectives:

• Gain a deeper understanding of EQ and why it’s important to succeed in today’s market
• Receive a high-level introduction to the Positive Intelligence™ framework, which organically raises one’s EQ through mental fitness gym activity
• Meet your top saboteurs and learn how they prevent you from tapping into your full potential and creativity, achieving peak performance and well-being
• Discover how to leverage your new knowledge to lower stress and improve your communication and innovation

Deep Dive: Let's Talk Budgets

Areas of Interest: Strategic Thinking & Impact
CMP-IS Domain D: Financial Management 

Speakers:

• Meredith Buggelli, Corporate Vice President – Corporate Events, Head of Industry Relations & Administration, New York Life Insurance Company

• Taylor Laws, CMP, DMCP, Regional Director of Sales, Destination South Meetings & Events

• Jeff Silva, Senior Sales Executive, The Vinoy Resort and Golf Club, Autograph Collection

Moderator:

• January Cantrell, CMP, Director of Meetings and Events, Corebridge Financial

Budgeting and sticking to a budget might be one of the more challenging tasks for meeting professionals and hospitality partners, especially in today's climate.

In this session, our presenters will talk through scenarios of how to keep budgets low while still offering high-quality meetings. They will share how to ask budgeting questions to benefit you, your partners and stakeholders.

Learning Objectives:

• Understand different types of questions to ask partners when discussing costs
• Identify innovative ideas to keep costs low

Deep Dive: Mission-Based Teams: Reinvent the Way You Work 

Areas of Interest: Strategic Thinking & Impact
CMP-IS Domain A: Strategic Planning 

Speaker:

• Bill Fournet, Founder and Navigator of Chaos, The Persimmon Group

Constant change is here to stay, and the demands on our workforce in a 24/7 world are increasing. The old models of efficiency and “do more with less” are no longer attainable when teams are unable to respond to the speed of change fast enough. We need a new approach.

In this deep dive session, Bill Fournet will show leaders how to create empowered teams that can rapidly confront whatever comes next using Mission-Based Teams™. This revolutionary management approach will increase your organization’s agility while maintaining focus and alignment.

Leveraging lessons from “apex” performing teams, Bill equips leaders and organizations to not only survive — but thrive — even in volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous conditions.

Learning Objectives:

• Understand how today’s speed of change demands a new model
• Identify the surprising secrets to extraordinary team performance
• Uncover strategies for how to build your team’s momentum to achieve strategic priorities faster
• Learn how to create Mission-Based Teams™ that are resilient in the face of change
• Become a stronger leader for tomorrow

Meetings Professionals Exchange 

Areas of Interest: Meeting Planning Trends & Solutions
CMP-IS Domain G: Meeting or Event Design

Speaker: 

• Heidi Carlisle, Second Vice President, Travel, Meetings & Incentives, Aflac

During this hour-long conversation, in conjunction with breakfast with other meetings professionals, you will have the opportunity to discuss the burning questions you have, important topics related to the industry and much more.

Heidi Carlisle, Education Forum Event Team Chair, will lead the discussion based on topics YOU identified as important to you. 

HP-Only Session 

During this hour-long conversation, in conjunction with breakfast with other hospitality partners, you will have the opportunity to participate in small-group discussions to understand what is new in the industry and how suppliers are navigating the challenges and opportunities 2023 is facing.

The HPAC will lead these discussions based on topics YOU identified as important.

Better Ways to Collaborate With AV Providers 

Areas of Interest: Technology Solutions
CMP-IS Domain D: Meeting or Event Design 

Speakers: 

• Courtney Bryson, MPA, CMP, Senior Event Manager, Prudential

• John Cruz, Senior Corporate Meeting Planner, BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina

• Nate Horne, Senior Account Executive, L!VE

• Joe Schmelz, President, Wolfgang Production Agency

Effective audio and visual (AV) support for in-person meetings is essential for a successful event experience. With that comes the need to create, strengthen and maintain strong partnerships with new AV companies and providers.

In this session, we’ll dig into the key questions you should be asking your AV provider when it comes to your meeting needs, what is actually needed to execute your event smoothly and how to discuss tight budgets to ensure a smooth event without breaking the bank.

Managing Stakeholder Expectations

Areas of Interest: Strategic Thinking & Impact
CMP-IS Domain A: Strategic Planning 

Speakers: 

• Meg D'Angelo, CIS, DES, AVP, Corporate Events and Hospitality, Lincoln Financial Group

• Sterena Strickland, VP, National Accounts, ACCESS Destination Services

Communicating with stakeholders about the current issues that meetings professionals and hospitality partners are facing can be challenging, especially when compounded with limited time and opportunities to present that timely and important information while simultaneously packaging it in a way that will get through to them.

Join our presenters as they share their tips and tricks for effective communication with stakeholders and how you can better help your stakeholders understand the current climate in the industry.

FICP Chat LIVE! All Things Sustainability 

Areas of Interest: Meeting Planning Trends & Solutions
CMP-IS Domain G: Meeting or Event Design 

Speaker: 

• Lindsay Maloni, CMP, DMC, Global Sales Director, DMC Network

We all want to be more sustainable but how can we effectively do so — and within budget?

In this FICP Chat LIVE! session, you and your peers will break into groups to discuss all things sustainability, including:

• The importance of it within your events,
• How to share the  benefits with your stakeholders,
• Creating a modest budget (while all budgets are tight) that supports sustainability efforts
• And more!

At the conclusion of this session, each group will report their top takeaways to determine best practices for incorporating sustainability into their events.

Inclusivity Within Meetings 

Areas of Interest: Meeting Planning Trends & Solutions
CMP-IS Domain G: Meeting or Event Design 

Speaker:s 

• Jill Lippincott, Program Manager - Supplier Diversity & Sustainability, Principal Financial Group

• Joel Tillirson, Events Director, TRUE Network of Advisors and Patriot Growth Insurance Services

The power of connection, exploration and education that meetings and events provide is an unmatched experience – especially when it’s supportive of everyone in attendance and empowers participation without barriers through diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).

Whether you’re currently integrating DEI in your event planning or looking for ideas to do so, join this session to hear real-life examples of how others are incorporating DEI into their meetings and events.

Your Essential Digital Toolbox: Making the Most of Tech Tools to Enhance Your Productivity

Areas of Interest: Technology Solutions
CMP-IS Domain G: Meeting or Event Design 

Speaker: 

• James Spellos, President, Meetings U

There are apps, web resources, digital shortcuts and thousands more tools and services designed to help enhance your productivity. How do you decide which ones you’ll actually use and that you actually find helpful in your role as a meetings professional?

In this session, we’ll explore some of the best (and free) resources — as well as tips and tricks — so you can narrow down and add to your essential digital toolbox. 

Whether you’re trying to build an app (yes, you can do that for free), ensure that your organization can optimize its social presence or be able to do something quicker and easier, this session is essential to enhancing your productivity.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify over 30 digital tools to enhance productivity
• Learn how to develop a conference app at no cost
• Understand critical desktop shortcuts and advanced mobile tips
• Use artificial intelligence tools to expedite workflow

Risk Management Business Plans

Areas of Interest: Meeting Planning Trends & Solutions
CMP-IS Domain C: Risk Management 

Speakers: 

• Yolanda Gonzalez, DMCP, National Sales Director, Discover Puerto Rico

• Meredith Hicks, Manager, Travel & Incentives

• Nicole Quattlebaum, Manager, Travel, Meetings & Incentives, Aflac

Moderator:

• Kristin Tacey, DMCP, Director of Sales and Marketing, Soutwest Conference Planners

Over the past three years, most risk management conversations focused on COVID-19 — and for good reason — but it’s time we continue the conversation around risk management with a new lens.

In this session, we’ll revisit the importance of a good risk management business plan, explore new tips and strategies to consider and more!