February Monthly Meeting Report

By Hitomi Gent

The February Monthly Meeting took place on February 3rd at the Allstream Centre, Exhibition Place. The meeting was full of everyone's laughter and smiles right from the beginning! Our president, Kelly Shannon, shared a cute story about her daughter being confused about her Mom and President Barack Obama having the same role as the "president" and thus got the first meeting of the year off to a cheerful start. She also announced the 5 Star nominees at the start of dinner.

Ethical behaviour is often seen differently in different cultures, generations and occupations. This meeting provided some great insights on ethical behaviour, one of the hot topics in our industry. The moderator, Tyra Hillard, CMP of the University of Alabama, led a discussion that was very engaging and full of laughter! Thanks to the audience response device provided by AVW-TELAV Audio Visual Solutions, everyone in the room participated by voting on a number of ethical questions such as the idea of giving/receiving gifts, idea theft and company policies. Our panelists included Michelle Gravelle of the Canadian Medical Association, Moira Hearn of Select Group Marketing, Yola Marshall of InterContinental Toronto Downtown, Kelly Porter of Manulife Financial, and Les Selby, CMP, CMM of Carlson Marketing. Our panelists all shared different opinions from different parts of the events industry and many good opinions and ideas were exchanged among planners, suppliers, hoteliers, DMCs, and others. Thank you to Porter Airlines for providing airfare for one of our panelists.

At the end, the one thing everyone agreed on was that everyone should share a Code of Ethics (or the company policies) and act accordingly. Also, if you decide to accept gifts, consider how the whole team could benefit from it. The discussion could have gone on for another couple of hours and I'm sure everyone in the room gained new insights on ethical behaviour.

The meeting concluded with laughter when the panelists were provided with small gifts thanking them for their participation, despite some having just recommended against accepting gifts. Finally, the winner of the Valentine's Day Bon Jovi tickets (donated by The Stronco Group who also provided furnishings for the event) was announced. Congratulations Jessica Ambrose!

Stay warm everyone, and see you at the Annual Award Gala on March 10!

For more information about this meeting, read What is the Ethical Culture of the MPI Toronto Chapter? by Kristina Sammut, CMP

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