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A Message From MPI- THCC President:
As we're doing all the countless things that demand our attention this time of year, I hope we take time to enjoy the wonder of the season. Check out the kid whose face is lit with merriment as she gazes at the lights. Look at the beautifully decorated tree, and enjoy the scents of the season. Most of all, I hope this finds you healthy and happy surrounded by friends and family who love you.
Here's wishing you a happy holiday season and a prosperous 2008!
Donna Harbers, CMP
MPI- THCC President 2007/2008
Registration for Professional Education Conference-North America
PEC 2008 is in Houston, Texas…. Let’s make ourselves a CONVOY and head on over!
We are close enough that we can all almost walk!!! Let’s help the great State of Texas make a great showing at PEC!!!
The online registration for PEC-North America is now open. Be sure to visit the MPI website, www.mpiweb.org often for the latest information on the conference. Hotels, networking events, the most up-to-date educational sessions, the MPI Foundation silent auction and so much more! This meeting is in Houston, Texas which is real close to all of us, so let’s all make plans to attend and have a nice Hill Country Chapter representation.
Registration Now Open for 2008 Southwest Showcase
Registration is now open for the 2008 Southwest Showcase, being held January 31, 2008 at the Austin Convention Center. Southwest Showcase is a partnership between MPI THCC, IAEE-CTC, and TSAE. No other show offers organizations the level of education, networking and productivity packed into one day. Three breakout educational sessions offer choices of topics that address leadership, meeting planning, exhibition managing and marketing education. There is something for all levels of staff in an organization. Visit http://www.southwestshowcase.org/ to register online or to learn more about exhibiting.
Member Notes
We still need YOUR input for information to be included in the Hill Country Spotlight!!!!
All comments can be directed to Dayne Sullivan, MPI-THCC VP of Communications (email: Dayne@Adventuresinsa.com) , or Terry Hix, MPI-THCC Director of Advertising/Publications (thix@satx.rr.com) or email it directly to commteam@mpithcc.org.
Remember.....you CAN make a difference! All you have to do is speak up!
New Planner Orientation Panel
MPI THCC is hosting a New Planner orientation panel in Austin, Texas at the Doubletree Guest Suites, Sponsored by Linda Walden and the Doubletree Guest Suites, 303 W 15th St. Tuesday, February 12th, 2008, CMP Certified Planners will present to meeting planner members new to their position and answer their questions over lunch.
Save the Date 2/12/08 11am to 1pm, more details to follow. Contact Joyce Scott for more details - 512.445.8380, clientservices@superbspeakers.com
MPI Texas Hill Country – Community Outreach Project:
‘Tis The Season…..!!
It’s time once again for the annual Senior Companions Community Outreach “Thank You” Christmas party for Senior Companions! The party will be held on Thursday, December 13, 2007 at The Historic Sunset Station Depot. The theme this year is “A Christmas Carol”!
For those who don’t know, Senior Companions is a group of Senior Citizens that spend at least 20 hours per week helping other disabled or immobile Senior Citizens. They help by running errands, fixing meals, or just spending time keeping other Senior Citizens mentally active and involved. These Senior Companions are paid a pittance for the hours that they work and most subsist on Social Security checks or fixed incomes. This is our way of saying “Thank You” to them for doing what we as a society sometimes are neglectful in doing……taking care of the generation that has helped us to become what we are today.
For the past four year, MPI has hosted a very special Christmas party with the help of MPI members and many hotels and restaurants in the San Antonio area. The hotels and restaurants donate the food items that we need to serve a scrumptious meal to the Seniors and Historic Sunset Station very graciously donates the use of the Depot in which to hold the event and the use of their kitchen and catering facilities for serving this incredible feast!
How can you get involved? Glad you asked! Every year, Santa arrives down the Grand Staircase at the Sunset Station Depot and hands out gift bags to each of the Seniors. These bags are donated and filled with the generosity of MPI members like you! Each of the bags contains soaps, shampoos, lotions, etc., and a $25 gift card to help these Seniors with whatever needs they may have (food, clothes, medicine, etc.). We need volunteers to help serve the meal, clean the tables, hand out gift bags, and take photographs and a myriad of other duties the day of the party. More importantly, we need donations to help pay for the $25 gift cards that MPI gives to the Seniors to say “Thanks” for the work they do throughout the year.
We would like to send out a big “Thank You” to all those who have given to the MPI Senior Charity gift card program. Currently we are at $2,140.00. Thank You!!! The gift cards that we give to the Seniors are especially helpful during the Holiday Season as they use it for to assist them during this special time of year. If you have already given…. Thank you! If you haven’t had the opportunity to give yet, we still need a few more dollars, as the number of Seniors is up this year. If you can afford $25, then you’ve paid for a gift card that for many Seniors will pay for a month of medications, a month’s bus pass or groceries for a week! We raised $640 at the last MPI Noontime Network in San Antonio, $100 at the Monthly Meeting in Fredericksburg, and another $1500 at CAMP MPI. If you can help us to meet our obligation to sponsoring this event for the Seniors, every dollar helps!
If you would like to donate your time, money or supply food for the Senior Companions Christmas Party please call, fax or email the information sheet to:
DuWayne Greene
Phone: 210-733-8368
Fax: 210-738-3153
Email: duwayne@adventuresinsa.com
THCC Members Holiday Spirit with Favorite Moments:
* Hire a professional. The lady I’ve used for the last two years is coming today. She’ll spend about 4 hours doing everything but the tree (we do that as a family). It’s a relief to have it done so fast and it looks terrific! (email me if you want her name). –Melissa Takamatsu
* We have two traditions that spring to mind: 1) my girls (now ages 4 and 6) and I make a gingerbread house each year. We’ve gotten better about not eating all the décor but it’s still a pretty crazy craft! 2) My dad makes a very complicated eggnog recipe every Christmas (recipe below). But that’s not the tradition. The tradition is that my dad somehow messes up some part of it every year and my parents argue about how to fix it. My mom doesn’t help, she just mumbles about what my dad is doing wrong. It’s become a huge joke in our family and drinking the potent eggnog helps all the rough edges smooth out after the stuff is finally made!
* New pajamas (usually Christmas themed) - the only gift we were allowed to open on Christmas Eve when our children were at home. It was so much fun for everyone in the family to have their new pajamas on in the family Christmas photos!
* Soup and cornbread on Christmas Eve (recipes to follow tomorrow)
* Mailing Christmas cards on the day before Thanksgiving - my daughter and I race to see whose cards arrive first. We always include a family newsletter with the card and have another family member (in another town) declare the "winner" of the Christmas card arrival race. Cheesy.
* Of course, church on Christmas Eve is an every year event (followed by the soup and cornbread). We used to go to midnight services at church but now with small grandchildren we opt for the family service earlier in the afternoon/evening.
* Shopping hints:
-shop online
-we only buy one gift for each of the grandchildren because they get so much - grandparents, Santa, aunts/uncles, godparents, etc.
-my husband and I select four or five charities each year that we contribute to instead of buying gifts for each other (we have more than enough)
-also like to get gifts for children from the Angel Tree (usually the one at the Capital) - makes Christmas much more special
-instead of giving co-worker gifts I donate to a charity in their name and give them a card letting them know about the donation
* Christmas Carols - love them all, especially the traditional ones. – Debbie Farnum
Check Out some MPI – THCC Ideas for Holiday Celebrations
A Shopping Tip for all you Shopping Diehards:
* Shop early online and have it all delivered to your house!
* Shop with a friend it makes spending more fun
* Wrap your packages when you get home it will be less stressful the Christmas Eve
* And always remember to say Thank you to the person behind the counter. You might make their day.
Get the MOST out of your MPI Membership!!!
2008-2009 Nominations for MPI-THCC Board of Directors are underway. Remember your involvement in your chapter allows you to network with all the people in your industry. Even if you can't serve on the Board, you can still be involved!! Join a committee!! Learn more about how you can help make this year successful for MPI THCC!
Current 2008 / 2009 Board Positions up for nominations:
President-Elect, VP of Education, VP of Finance (Trainee 1st Year); VP of Membership, VP of Communication, Director of Strategic Alliances, Director of Advertising / Publications, Director of Member Care, Director of Member Recruitment, Director of Special Education Projects.
Go Ahead, I Dare You To Click On the Link !!!!
This is a reminder to check your contact information on www.mpiweb.org to make sure you are up-to-date. Don’t miss out by not having a current email address or phone number listed! Any updates done are then forwarded onto the Texas Hill Country Chapter so we can update our records. Just check it out and see if you are up-to-date.
MPI Has A Great Opportunity For Showcasing Your Venue!
We’re looking for Venues to Host CMP Study Weekend 2008!
January 2008 CMP Study Weekend
We're looking for a home for this year’s 2008 CMP Study Weekend to be held January 4-5, 2008. Want to spotlight your hotel or city? Download the RFP, and email or call Jacquelyn N. Noack, CMP at 512.795.6007 with questions.
MPI has several events we are still looking for in 2008. If you would click on the link and see if you can maybe show off your venue.
Monthly Meetings on Hiatus until March
The MPI THCC Monthly meetings will take a break after our Holiday party on December 11. We will not meet in January due to the Southwest Showcase scheduled for Jan. 31 in Austin. Will not meet in February due to MPI’s PEC Conference in Houston Feb. 2 – 5. Our meetings will resume in March with both San Antonio and Austin meetings. Please mark your calendars for the March 4 luncheon in San Antonio with the topic How You Can Be a Major Part of the Solution to the Growing Crisis of Global Warming presented by Andy Cotton, founder of Thundercloud Subs. Also mark your calendars for the March 18 dinner in Austin with the topic ICS - Incident Command System presented by MPI Platinum Speaker, Joanne Corby.
Join an MPI THCC Committee Today!
Learn more about how you can help make this year successful for MPI THCC!
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European Digest
On DATE, MPI launched The Meeting Professional European Digest, the organization’s latest communication channel for the meetings and events industry. The Meeting Professional European Digest will be published quarterly as an extension of MPI’s core magazine, The Meeting Professional (TMP), which reaches more than 30,000 readers each month. The TMP European Digest is the only pan-European publication for the meetings and events industry. This is the most recent step in MPI's ongoing global community outreach, giving the nearly 2,000 European MPI members a publication that specifically addresses their professional growth and development needs. The inaugural issue will reach readers in November. The primary audience will be MPI’s European members and planners and others who conduct business in Europe. The online version of the publication will be available at www.themeetingprofessional.org.
Singapore
Eight months after announcing our ambitious global strategy to support the organization’s new vision to build a rich global meeting and event community, MPI officially opened its Asia-Pacific office in Singapore. The announcement was made Oct. 25 at a joint press conference held by MPI and the Singapore Exhibition & Convention Bureau.
The Asia-Pacific office will complement MPI’s global presence that currently includes its global headquarters in Dallas, Texas, U.S., a Canadian office in Toronto, Ontario, and a Europe, Middle-East and Africa office in the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg.
The Singapore office will support MPI members currently doing business in the region through new meeting and event industry connections. Singapore’s regional-hub position, long-term expertise in the industry, and multi-cultural workforce provide the perfect location for MPI’s new management structure. Our goal is also to expand marketplace and knowledge relationships in the region and explore ways MPI can deliver its value propositions within the Asian meeting and event industry.
Michael Tay has been appointed as director of operations, Asia-Pacific for MPI. Michael is a native Singaporean with an extensive background in marketing. He is an adjunct professor at the University of Las Vegas, Singapore campus, teaching MICE. He earned his MBA from Warwick Business School, U.K., and is fluent in English and Chinese (Mandarin), including two Chinese dialects.
FutureWatch 2008 Survey
Invitations to participate in MPI’s FutureWatch 2008, sponsored by American Express, were e-mailed to a sample of MPI members on Oct. 22. The important research outlined in FutureWatch identifies the issues that will affect the meeting and event industry in the coming year.
Please remind your members that in appreciation for taking the time to share their opinions, they will be entered into a drawing for a free, three-night stay at the historic and newly renovated Casa Marina Resort and Beach Club in Key West, Florida*, and a second drawing will be held for a complimentary registration to attend The European Meetings and Events Conference, co-created by MPI, April 18-20, 2008, in London (www.mpiweb.org).
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MPITHCC PO Box 49135 Austin, TX 78765-9154
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