It's been several years since I've attended the New England MPI Chapter's annual NEMICE show in Boston, and I have to say that my experience yesterday was one big pleasant surprise. The education in the past had been of the OK-but-basic variety, which is why I'd stopped going in for it--wasn't hearing anything new. But all three sessions I went to yesterday (one on creating career success in tough times, another on leadership, and a panel on what makes a meeting a good piece of business) were excellent. Great speakers, including Terri Breining, CMP, CMM, who just rocked the house on her leadership session!
Loved that it was at the Seaport Hotel and World Trade Center, too, instead of the Hynes. I don't know why it worked better there, but it just seemed to fit the space like a glove. I didn't stick around to wander the expo opening for long last night, but from sticking my head in briefly, that looked great too.
I spoke briefly with a couple of the organizers last night, and cannot believe that they managed to get 85-90 percent of their registrations in in the past two weeks! Two weeks, people! They must have been sweating bullets, but they said as of yesterday they were well on track, and that they expected to have 400 or so planners by the end of the day today, which while not what they had hoped for pre-economy crash, is enough to keep exhibitors and sponsors happy and hopefully break even. They said the Seaport and their AV partners have been unbelievable in helping to pull it all off. As with all successful shows, from an attendee point of view, it was seamless.
Can't stress enough how impressed I was with this show, from the redesign of the logo to the show floor to the speakers. My only quibble is with the food, which was a bit scant and scarce (no break chow at all, even coffee, and lunch was not exactly lavish). But we all understood, even as we grumped about having to be healthy about dessert at lunch (apples?), that spartan is something we all need to get used to.