MPI WEC 2022: Preparing for the Next Era in Events

June 15, 2022

MPI WEC 2022 — Meeting Professionals International’s World Education Congress — is planning an in-person event that shows how meeting professionals can “step into the next era of events” as the association celebrates its 50^th anniversary in San Francisco.

Meeting Professionals International has big plans for its signature event, the World Education Congress, or MPI WEC, which this year will be held June 21-23, 2022, at Moscone Center West in San Francisco. After two years of disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the business, work and event environment has changed. More people continuing to work from home, and events that went fully virtual either coming back fully in-person or in some flavor of hybrid — which MPI is doing after hosting its 2021 hybrid WEC for 2,000 in-person and online attendees at Caesars Forum in Las Vegas.

The intent of MPI WEC 2022 is to give attendees an experience that will help them recover their equilibrium and, at least as importantly, figure out what they need to do to prepare for whatever the future may hold.

On the general session stage, this will play out each day in a theatrical way — even the daily sessions are named Act 1, Act 2 and Act 3. According to MPI, each day’s act will include “vignettes, scenes and conversations that take our participants on a cognitive journey. Among the general session speakers who will be playing starring roles are Riaz Megjhi, a broadcaster and author who will explore how to hold smart conversations that will help participants make every conversation count. Megjhi will be followed by a conversation on event tech, starring luminaries from Notified, Freeman, Cvent and New Relic.

Day 2’s main act will be Denise Soler Cox, a filmmaker, podcaster and speaker, followed by a roundtable on designing experiences that deliver by a high-powered cast of characters from Cisco, Salesforce, George P. Johnson, and Google.

Act 3 on the final day will star Brian Allan, the Scottish CEO of Rock Your Business, a singer/songwriter who uses music to engage an audience’s passion — including helping Ukrainian refugee children who are fleeing the war. The conversation portion will explore how meetings and event will change the world moving forward, led by experience design experts and thought leaders from tech companies, CVBs, and the IMEX Group. The benefits of beta testing and radical innovation are likely to be on the agenda.

But the action isn’t limited to the main stage. As has been the case for several years, MPI WEC 2022 will feature a variety of session formats, including the popular curated docent tours of the Tech Zone, Make Your Own (MYO) Wellness Campfire Experiences, Valuegraphics Workshop with 1:1 appointment, and a live data set collection, VR Immersion Experience and the Playground Solution Room.

MPI WEC 2022 also plans to offer some heavy-hitting networking events to extend the conversations started in the general sessions, breakouts, tours and hallways. Among the many networking options are the opening night celebration at Oracle Park; the President’s Dinner honoring ConferenceDirect CEO and former MPI leader Brian Stevens at the Hilton San Francisco Union Square; and the closing night celebration at San Francisco City Hall.

New this year: Those who don’t want to commit to the full experience can purchase one-day passes. For more information or to register, go to the MPI WEC 2022 website.