Oracle your chapter newsletter
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Hello and Happy Fall--
As I write this, I am listening to the combo of the rain on the roof and Martin (our dog) snoring at my feet. I am so happy that the rain has returned to Oregon, and along with the rain, we have the return of some of our favorite MPI Oregon events! We have an evening at Argyle in Dundee in November and a fantastic December education event in Vancouver, Washington. I hope to see you at one of these upcoming events.
In July, Martin, Steven, and I joined MPI Oregon members from across the Metro area and beyond for our first “Yappy Hour” in Multnomah Village. We had a great couple of hours with members and their dogs—whom all got along, just like we do! Because we spent so much time laughing and talking, we didn’t even get many pictures! Keep an eye out as I will be planning another one once we hit a dry stretch this winter!
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I also had the opportunity to head out to Oahu and meet up with a group of our MPI Oregon members from the islands. I get to say “islands” because we had people fly in from other islands to attend. Steven and I were welcomed with open arms and multiple lei by our new friends. More on the Pau Hana later! The energy and enthusiasm to relaunch the Aloha Chapter is alive and well in the Pacific. Steven and I plan on heading back this winter to meet up again.
As I am sure you have seen, we have launched our Yellow Brick Road Fundraiser. 2023 will be our 40 th anniversary as a Chapter and to celebrate our “Ruby” Anniversary we’re building the road to the Emerald City. You can be a part of this special anniversary by buying a “brick” for $40 dollars and “inscribe” personally. These “bricks” will be used at our 40 th anniversary gala in June. Buy yours today! Click here to be a part of history!
Cheers!
Greg
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Celebrate MPI Oregon’s Ruby Anniversary
and build the yellow brick road
with us to the Emerald City
in June at the annual Awards Gala!
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Buy a brick and become an MPI Oregon “Ruby Donor!” Your contribution will make a lasting impact by allowing us to offer more support, collaboration, and comradery as we prepare for the next steps in our industry. There’s no place like home with our MPI family!
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Bricks are $40 each in honor of our 40th anniversary
- Purchase as many virtual bricks as you like
- You can purchase a brick in memory of someone or include a short saying or quote
Bricks purchased by donors will be featured virtually at our education sessions. At the end of the year, make sure to come to the awards gala to see your brick in person!
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November Social
Wine Tasting at Argyle Winery
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Welcome to Oregon Wine Country! We are so excited to host the November MPI social event here at Argyle Winery, located in downtown Dundee. Argyle was founded in 1987 by winemaker Rollin Soles and is Oregon’s original sparkling wine house. Sparkling wine is now quite the trend in wine country but you will find that Argyle has one of the most extensive sparkling wine offerings including Extended Tirage and single vineyard sparkling wines from the Dundee and Eola-Amity AVA’s. If bubbles aren’t for you, don’t worry! We also make some amazing still wines such as Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Rose & Riesling. You might want to stay at the nearby boutique Dundee Hotel or splurge for a night at the Allison Inn & Spa because we will be serving a lot of our fantastic wines as well as offering small bites from some of our favorite vendors in the valley.
Upon arrival at our crush pad, you will be greeted with a glass of bubbles and Rex, the big green truck from Red Hills Market which serves as their mobile kitchen for events. We will take a quick tour of the property, starting with our Spirit House which was built in the 1800’s and served as our tasting room until 2016. If you’re lucky, you might get to experience a visit from Argyle’s very own ghost, Lena. Moving over to our Tasting House you will see our indoor/outdoor event spaces and our newly updated meeting space, the Riddling Room. While in the Tasting House you will enjoy more wine and food from Sprig & Spread, Wooden Heart & O Horizon Provisions. Don’t forget to participate in our fundraiser and buy a key for a chance to win a wine cooler and some Argyle wine! Let’s all enjoy this time to socialize and treat ourselves before what I’m sure will be a bus.
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Solutions: Our Gift to You This Holiday Season
The dramatic return of business and travel, which our industry definitely appreciates, comes with myriad challenges for many of us. One of the best things about being involved with MPI is the ability to reach out to other members (your industry peers) to see how they handle different situations.
That is why we have asked, facilitator and speaker extraordinaire, Tara Liaschenko, to bring us her “Solution Circle” Program in December. Using the collective knowledge of your peers, experience an enhanced experientially charged brainstorming session. Through collaborative co-creation, you will not only obtain potential solutions to your challenges but have the opportunity to share your experiences and help your peers with their challenges. This solution-focused, problem-solving session will provide everyone with multiple solutions and demonstrate how you can use this exercise within your own organization. Solution Circle is a customizable, shareable program that can be applied to your office, meeting, or conference.
Join us, on December 6, at the Historic Fort Vancouver Artillery Barracks for this interactive program, networking, lunch, and some holiday cheer. Because we know time is especially tight during the holidays, our Finance Committee will also be providing an opportunity for you to purchase and decorate a wreath to take home. How fun is that?
Register before November 30 to avoid a late registration fee. We hope to see you there!
Education Timeline:
11:00am -12:00 pm – Registration, Networking, Wreath Building, Lunch
12:00 pm – Welcome, Committee Announcements
12:30 - 2:00 pm – Solution Circle Program
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On a sunny September day, members of the MPI Oregon Chapter from the Islands came together for a President’s Pau Hana. Members from throughout the state came to raise a glass and reconnect. We were lucky that Chapter president, Greg Heinze, and his husband took time out of their vacation on Oahu to join us! Thanks to the generosity of the Prince Waikiki and their team, we enjoyed a welcome beverage and delicious pupus. The energy was palpable as new friendships were formed, new members were recruited, and plans started to form to relaunch the Aloha Chapter.
Several volunteers are in place now, and we’re about to have our first “build-back” committee meeting. This is exciting as is part of the overall plan to relaunch Aloha as their own, independent Chapter. We look forward to working hard to make this reality!
Thank you to all who celebrated with us in Hawaii!
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MPI Oregon Education: Keeping It “Reel”
By Anne Hallinan, CMP, VP of Education
In-person education returned in September with an informative social media presentation by Jarrod Lyman, Founder of Mt. Hood Marketing. Being a more “seasoned” member (i.e. older), I’m not ashamed to admit that I didn’t quite understand the reason “Reel” was spelled this way in the title. It’s not that I’m not on social media, I just never noticed this option at the top of my newsfeed!
Needless to say, I learned a lot from Jarrod. Not only how the “Reelz” function can help us market, but how the algorithms work, how to manage them, and a whole lot more. It was great to be in a room with other meetings industry colleagues, enjoy lunch at a venue I hadn’t been to before (Holiday Inn Wilsonville) and buy raffle tickets for a chance to win cash. Just like the "before times!" Woo Hoo! Hope to see you at the next one!
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Progressive Dinner Shows Off
Downtown Beaverton’s Progress
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Monday, September 26th was an evening filled with fun, food, fundraising, and fancy! Thank you to our partners at Washington County Visitors Association (and Wendy Popkin) for coordinating and sponsoring a night of networking and new adventures for our chapter members. It was wonderful to see (and taste) just how much downtown Beaverton has changed over the last few years.
We took a quick stroll through the BG Food Cartel with 31 food carts, a tap room, and axe throwing on our way to See See Motor Coffee and Binary Brewing which treated us to some delicious snacks and beverages. From there, we walked through downtown Beaverton’s Dining Commons where the streets have remained closed since the pandemic to allow for extra outdoor seating of local restaurants. This space features a small playground, oversized lawn chairs, and extra covered seating.
We ended our night with dinner at Top Burmese where robots will bring you the Southeast Asian flavors of Burma (or the more modern - Myanmar). The night ended with a sweet treat and delicious glass of wine from Syndicate Wine Bar and fun prizes!
It was wonderful to connect with new and old friends at a legacy event that we have not been able to host in a few years. Another thank you to Wendy and her team for putting on this event that helped us raise $1,450 for our chapter to continue providing amazing education and networking opportunities throughout the year!
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Save the Date for the 20th Cascadia Educational Conference
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MPI Oregon Needs You
“You get what you put in is so true. The opportunities to volunteer with MPI Oregon are vast with varying levels of time commitment. There is something for everyone and I continue to encourage everyone to get involved. You won’t regret it.” – Amy Hildahl, Oregon Chapter volunteer
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It is no surprise that our chapter couldn’t find the success we have had without our amazing volunteers. We have had so many volunteers throughout our almost 40 years (more on that to come!) and we would love to add your name to the roster. There are opportunities in Finance and Fundraising, Membership, Communications, and Education. If you’re interested, please reach out to President Elect, Jessica Johnson, for a conversation and together we’ll find a place that fits you!
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MPI Oregon
Member Spotlight
Meet Lauren Manuel
Partner
Makana Hawai’i Incentives
Bucket List: Traveling the world and exploring through food & culture - eating sushi and noodles through Japan, street food through Thailand, pasta through Italy, and salmon fishing in Alaska! I'd take all of my family and close friends with me to experience destinations together and create priceless memories.
Lauren grew up in Lahaina, Maui, and graduated from Lahainaluna High School and Oregon State University. She spent six years between Oregon and Southern California before she was recruited back home to Hawai’i where she worked for almost a decade at the Mauna Lani Bay Hotel 7 Bungalows. At Mauna Lani, she worked in weddings, catering, leisure, and group sales before joining a local Hawai’i DMC. After six years and a half years, she and her colleague, Whitney Niemi, opened their own DMC, “Makana Hawai’i Incentives.” In her free time, she also is passionate about supporting her community by serving on the Waikoloa Dry Forest volunteer committee, West Hawai’i Explorations Academy Governing Board, and volunteers of the MPI Oregon/Aloha Chapter.
The scariest thing that Lauren has done is rappel down waterfalls in East Maui…she is afraid of heights! But says it was an amazing experience and is so thankful that she had the opportunity to do it!
On a deserted island, Lauren would take her entire family, friends who want to go, farmers with animals, plants & seeds, doctors, scientists, inventors, fishermen, and anyone awesome who could help start a small self-sustaining community!
Lauren’s best holiday memory is Christmas at her grandparent's house where her entire family gathered to spend time together and be thankful for each other. She will never forget those memories when all four of her grandparents were still alive and her kids could hug all of them. As she says "Those memories live in my heart forever and I'll treasure them always."
Her perfect job……well she said "My job now! I absolutely love designing programs, supporting our community, and helping to create memories for people that will be everlasting! My dream is to semi-retire one day and take small groups to all my favorite places in the world to experience all the things I love and each destination."
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MPI Oregon
Member Spotlight
Meet Susan Adkins
Owner/Event Coordinator
Class Act Events
Bucket List: Travel to Australia, Italy, and Greece, revisit England, and Build another home
Susan was born in Los Angeles, CA, and grew up in West Covina, CA she now resides in Salem, OR. For fun, Susan spends time with her grandson. As she says “Anyone who is a grandma will relate to that” She loves to pick her grandson up from school and spend a few hours with him before he goes home to mom and dad. They like to read, go on walks, play with cars, chase bubbles and draw with chalk on her driveway. They are looking forward to the holidays with trips to the pumpkin patch planned, and baking (he loves helping Grandma make cookies and pies). When not having a blast with her grandson she enjoys traveling with her husband, meeting friends for coffee or a meal, gardening, decorating, or watching Hallmark movies. (Yes she is one of those people, which is lovely.)
Susan is the Owner and an Event Planner with Class Act Events. Susan started the company in 1987 (35 years ago!) and they are still going strong. The Pandemic was quite challenging, and they were fortunate and have come out on the other side busier than ever. Class Act Events coordinates all types of events from private weddings and other family celebrations to corporate events to non-profit fundraisers to conferences to public parades and festivals. The eclectic nature of her business is what has kept her excited about planning and coordinating events for so many years. She is constantly learning and developing new relationships and sustaining and appreciating existing ones.
Susan says the scariest thing she has done is when she quit her job at a local law firm that she had been with for 10 years to start her own business.
Susan's must-haves on a deserted island - a suitcase with clothing, toiletries, essentials, and bottled water. She is not sure how long she would be planning for, but if she was going to be there for an extended length of time she would bring some food items that have a long shelf life. If planning for a short stay she would bring her husband and they would approach it like a fun getaway. However, if it were for an unknown length of time she would do some research and find someone with excellent outdoor survival skills.
Susan's best holiday memory would have to be the first Christmas her grandson could really appreciate it. She said, "It was so fun to see it through his eyes and experience the excitement!”
As for the perfect job, Susan is doing it with a job that matches her interests and talents.
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Welcome New MPI Oregon Chapter Members |
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Susan Adkins
Hualani Baptiste
Liv Bourne
Jenn Carpenter
Taissa Christino
Beth Garcia
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Lisa Going-Green
Amanda Houghton
Caroline Justice
Jason Murray
Jouline Trotic
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Q2 Anniversary Milestones |
40 years
Delia Chang
30 years
Lisa Chen
10 years
Kathleen Lin-Hurtubise
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