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Today was the final day of MPI MeetDifferent 2010. And, it started with keynote speaker, Marty Neumeier, author of The Brand Gap and The Designful Company.

Mr. Neumeier’s mission is to incite business revolution by unleashing the power of design thinking, a creative process based around the “building up” of ideas.

According to Mr. Neumeier, clearness, simplicity and utility are the three cornerstones of success. To improve your business, you have to know, make and do

Branding, says Neumeier, is the biggest barrier for competition. Brand is not a logo or trademark. Neither is brand an identity or a product.

Brand is a person’s gut feeling about a product, service, or organization. It’s a gut feeling because people are emotional intuitive beings who make their decisions without much logic. The brand is created in the customer’s mind. A brand is not what “you” say it is. It’s what “they” (people outside the company) say it is. This puts the emphasis on customers who are the driving force behind company’s these days.

Brand is important because people have too many choices and too little time. Most offerings have similar qualities and feature so buying choice is based on trust.

Mr Neumeier also talked about the ways that business needs to change in order to be successful. Following “best practices” is an old idea because they are set-up to follow, which means that someone else has already done it. To be successful, business needs to be good — and different. To really start a business revolution, companies need to be radical. Neumeirer gave as the examples of Apple, FedEx, Virgin, Google, Orbitz and Dell as companies who are successful.

To sum up, businesses can start their own revolution by completing the following statement: My company is the only _________ that _______.

MPI has posted a conversation with Marty Neumeier. You can listen to it here.

Paola Osorio (@HTOMpaola) is a post graduate student at Toronto’s Humber College and a guest blogger for “The Meeting Planner’s Best Resource.”

Just back from “E-mail as a Sales Tool: Prospecting and Building Profitable Relationships.” This was my second session of the day and I must say my favorite. Sue Hershkowitz-Coore was the presenter and she provided many good examples on how to use e-mail as a sales tool.

First, the do’s:

* Make it about them. The purpose of the e-mail is to get your clients excited about what you have to offer.
* Be concise. According to a Microsoft Office survey, 52% of e-mail users read only the first three lines of an e-mail message.
* Give your prospects full control of the message. Provide a mobile version and allow for opt-out and forwarding to a friend.
* Encourage trust. Mention how you met them or where you got their e-mail address.
* Respect people’s time.
* Follow-up. Follow-up. Follow-up.
* Always say “thank you”.

Now, the don’ts:

* Don’t use any unnecessary or cliched phrases such as “reaching out”, “reminder”, “touch base”.
* Don’t be too cute…
* Don’t forget to include your name.
* Never use CAPS (it could be construed as shouting).

Most of the attendees at this session were sales people for the lodging-meetings industries and the rest independent event planners.

Paola Osorio (@HTOMpaola) is a post graduate student at Toronto’s Humber College and a guest blogger for “The Meeting Planner’s Best Resource.”

This afternoon I attended the knowledge session, “This is not your mother’s green meeting! How to make your green meetings fun and inventive”, presented by Cathy Kretz of Travel Portland, Cindy Wallace of the Oregon Convention Center, and Joanna Kysler of Doubletree Hotel Portland.

This session was all about new and innovative ways to incorporate exciting green elements into meetings. From venue selection to recycling programs, the presenters covered the many ways that a meeting could be make more eco-friendly. We were advised to make demands of our suppliers and to let them know that if they wanted our business they would have to develop better practices and be more environmentally friendly.

We also heard about some fun and inventive green ideas:

* Ask attendees to bring their own bottle of water.
* Do double-duty with your desserts by using them as center pieces.
* Involve attendees in charitable outdoor activities such as cleaning-up local parks or painting schools.
* Bus attendees to a local farmer’s market and encourage them to buy local foods.
* Award attendees by giving away green pins decorated with your logo or the logo of the venue.
* Hire local artists to draw your event signage.
* Collect left-over pens, markers, notepads and conference bags and donate them to local community centers or schools.

All of these practices are cheap to execute and could event warrant an additional discount from the venue as you’re helping to reduce waste.

One of the most important things…we were told…was to market the process to attendees by carrying the “green” theme throughout the entire event.

Session attendees were very interested in learning more and many added to the discussion by talking about some of the practices they already have in place.

Paola Osorio (@HTOMpaola) is a post graduate student at Toronto’s Humber College and a guest blogger for “The Meeting Planner’s Best Resource.”

Last evening was the “Welcome Reception” for MPI MeetDifferent 2010. It took place at the Hilton Cancun Golf & Spa Resort and was very exciting.

Attendees were transported from the Moon Palace property to the Hilton in approximately 12 shuttle buses. The weather (of course) was warm, the attendees were excited, and the good vibe was running everywhere.

The theme of the “Welcome Reception” reflected the Mayan culture, which is so much a part of the history of Cancun. The main walkway was dressed with Mayan décor, including Mayan-styled ruins, music and colorful lights. Exiting the walkway there was a beautiful garden with an ocean view, where the reception area was located — white seats surrounded by huge Mayan structures. Very impressive!

The opening remarks were delivered by Bruce MacMillan, President and CEO of MPI. The entertainment that followed included dancers and live music. The costumes were unique, colorful and very impressive as was the staging of the performances, which included Mayan rituals and dances. There was a delicious variety of Mexican appetizers, including guacamole, empanadas, tostaditas de tinga (chicken) as well as a variety of desserts and Mexican beer and wine. Staff and personnel were helpful and courteous at all times.

Overall, the reception rated a “10″ — a wonderful first impression for delegates arriving from across Canada and the United States.

Paola Osorio (@HTOMpaola) is a post graduate student at Toronto’s Humber College and a guest blogger for “The Meeting Planner’s Best Resource.”

Hello. My name is Paola and I’m a post graduate student at Humber College in Toronto, Canada. I’ll be attending and covering MPI MeetDifferent 2010 for WTTC.com and look forward to connecting with you either at the event or on Twitter. You can follow me anytime @HTOMpaola.

I have three reasons for attending MeetDifferent 2010. First is the chance to know all about the latest learning going on in the industry. Second, I’m eager to develop as a young professional and the congress is the best place to meet people at all levels in the profession. Finally, the Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR) sessions truly inspired me to attend.

One of my “must attend” presentations is Jeremy Gutche’s Day 1 keynote. Jeremy is an innovation expert, author of the #1 book Exploiting Chaos, and the founder of TrendHunter.com and someone I want to meet. One of the areas I’m very interested in is the The Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions (MICE) segment of tourism. Jeremy has lots of great ideas that can be adapted and applied to developing MICE strategies. Eduardo Chaillo, the Regional Director of the Mexico Tourism Board in USA, is another person I want to meet. I want to ask him about the efforts made in the USA to promote Mexico as a destination for the MICE industry.

As a Mexican, I feel very proud to have a unique country with charming cities, unbelievable cultural heritage, unique biodiversity, beautiful beaches, a delicious cuisine, and people who will always willing to help. Mexico has a real understanding of what the MICE industry needs, and I’m confident that the Moon Palace property will do an amazing job demonstrating why Mexico is one of the Top 10 international destinations in the world.

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.

Thursday, February 18th, 2010 at the Desert Ridge Corporate Center, 20860 N Tatum Blvd., Ste. 190,Phoenix, AZ 85050. The Seminar begins promptly at 1:00pm. Early Bird Registration Compliments of Wttc.com.

To Register Now go to http://ow.ly/16qHN

There are only 8 days left until MPI’s Meet Different 2010, which is being held, this year, in Cancun, Mexico. The event has always seemed very “left brain” in many respects, promising attendees “… better designs, more efficient practices and return on investment that’s clear and measureable.”

This year, however, the association is shaking off the cobwebs with several sessions that look at the future of the industry. In particular, you may want to check out One+ Magazine writer and editor, Jason Hensel’s take on what the event planner job of the future might look like:

Hologram Specialist —In a few years, let’s say less than 10, there will be a need for hologram specialists, people to work with and on holograms for meetings and events. In fact, there are already patents pending and trials taking place (e.g., Microsoft and Masergy Communications).

Director of Senses —Sense management and how to use it to amplify meetings and ROI will continue to grow in popularity and use.

Sustainability Compliance Officer —One field that’s gaining steam is sustainability compliance. In the future, the meeting and event industry will be (maybe lawfully?) impacted by strict environmental rules and regulations concerning conferences.

Cultural Guides — It’s not too much of a stretch to expect that within 10 years there will be people working as specific cultural guides for meetings and events to help prevent an embarrassing cultural faux pas.

Chief Connecting Officer —In 10 years, the term “meeting professional” will no longer be sufficient in describing what meeting or event planners and suppliers do. Our future fails or succeeds on what we call ourselves, so let’s propose a new C acronym: CCO (chief connecting officer).

Writers and marketing consultants Doug Stern and Jaclyn Landon have compiled a six-point article for Marketing Profs on how to write a great proposal in response to an RFP.

The duo advise not to get too creative but rather remember that you’re getting points for showing how well you color inside the lines — and how well you listen.

Bonus points are given for writing well and paying attention to the look and feel of the proposal. That could mean hiring a graphic designer to design a template and making use of forgotten space — like the back cover.