Paola Osorio, a post graduate student from Toronto’s Humber College, will be our eyes and ears on the ground at MPI’s MeetDifferent 2010, which takes place place February 20 - 23, 2010 in Cancun, Mexico. Paola will be contributing blog posts and tweeting from the event. Follow her here or on Twitter @HTOMpaola.
A native Mexican, Paola studied gastronomy at college and Business Administration (Hospitality and Tourism) at the University of Mexico. After arriving in Canada two years ago, she enrolled in the Hospitality and Tourism Operations Program at Humber College. In addition to her studies, she interns with the Mexico Tourism Board in Toronto.
Paola will be attending several sessions, including:
* Must do strategies to grow small businesses
* Planning international meetings
* Meeting management in Latin America
* CSR unplugged
* This is not your mother’s green meeting: How to make green meetings fun and inventive
* Software trends for today’s meeting planner
* Mexico’s great diversity of destinations for international meetings
As well, she’ll be taking part in Make a Difference Day - Supporting Save the Children Mexico. MeetDifferent attendees are being asked to sort and organize much needed educational equipment and supplies used in the “Ludotecas” or Playing Centers where girls and boys can go to before and after school. Save the Children Mexico operate 11 Ludotecas in Cancun and the surrounding area, which are attended by more than 1,000 kids.
Real relationships are most often the result of face-to-face encounters in the real world according to a new study by Oxford University anthropologist Robin Dunbar. Good news for those of us in the meetings and events industry where real people meeting in real places is our raison d’etre.
Back in the 1990s, Dr. Dunbar carried out research showing that the part of the brain responsible for thinking and language cannot accommodate more than 150 friends — defined as a people a person cares about and makes contact with a least once a year. That figure has since been known as “Dunbar’s number.”
Now, Dr. Dunbar’s new reasearch suggests our ability to maintain friendships is just as limited on the Web as in the real world.
“People obviously like the kudos of having hundreds of friends but the reality is that they’re unlikely to be bigger than anyone else’s.” Dr. Dunbar says.
Dunbar’s study is due to be published later this year.
It’s the product that every meeting and event planner loves to love — Bubble Wrap. From PriorityPaks® to cell phone protectors and stress relievers to pop-able place mats, Bubble Wrap has made our jobs easier and our lives better.
Today is the 10th anniversary of Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day and the 50th anniversary of the invention of Bubble Wrap. And, there are lots of fun ways to celebrate the event.
“Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day” is already the 8th most popular search on Google. But you may want to start with Bubble Wrap Fun, a Website filled with online games, trivia, and more, all related to Bubble Wrap.
There are also hundreds of bubble wrap Facebook groups, and lots of bubble wrap Twitter chatter. For the mobile types, there is a Bubble Wrap iTunes app (a personal favorite) available through the iTunes store. And to celebrate the golden anniversary, Sealed Air, makers of Bubble Wrap® brand are conducting a special limited run of gold Bubble Wrap® cushioning. For one day, the factory lines in the company’s Saddle River, N.J. facility will change from the popular clear to gold to commemorate the historic occasion.
MPI (Meeting Professionals International) is supporting a number of agencies involved in the Haitian relief program. Among those the association has listed as “confirmed legitimate” are The American Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres and The Salvation Army. MPI Foundation is also donating US$5,000 to aid relief efforts.
The MPI Montreal Chapter has made a substantial commitment to relief efforts, matching dollar for dollar (up to $5,000) any donation made via their Website. The money is targeted for the Red Cross. Deadline to donate is January 31st. Montreal has the largest Haitian community in Canada with over 100,000 members.
Meanwhile, the Red Cross continues to accept micro-payments through it’s text giving program. To participate, text the following numbers (Canada and US):
In the US - ‘HAITI’ to ‘90999′ and a donation of $10 will be given automatically to the Red Cross to help with relief efforts, charged to your cell phone bill.
In Canada - ‘HAITI’ to ‘45678′ and a donation of $5 will be given automatically to the Red Cross to help with relief efforts, charged to your cell phone bill.
We’ll be taking a break from blogging over the holidays and enjoying a bit of down time. We encourage you in the event and planning business to do the same.
The Meeting Planner’s Best Resource will be back in the New Year with more helpful tips and opinions from our partners and guest bloggers. Until then have a happy and safe holiday.
