Oracle your chapter newsletter
SPRING 2023
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Hello MPI Oregon!
I can’t believe I am writing my final 2022-2023 president’s letter to you for the Spring Oracle. It’s been an amazing year in which our chapter has accomplished some great, new things! However, I do have the honor and pleasure of serving another term as your chapter president through 2023-2024. We have new goals and new exciting plans for next year!
This year our finance team has pulled off successful chapter fundraisers throughout the year and we received cash sponsorships from CVBs throughout the country. I can’t thank you, our members, enough for your constant support and participation in our monthly fundraisers. Don’t fret – moving into next year, we have new exciting fundraising opportunities for you to participate in. I also want to give a special shoutout to Travel Lane County for their sponsorship of the OWL—which provides us the opportunity to live stream our events in a more clear, consistent way for our members throughout the state and islands of Hawaii.
And speaking of Hawaii—we are 50% to our goal of re-launching the Aloha Chapter as its own, independent chapter. From the beginning when this idea was brought to our chapter, this was always the plan. This next year we are continuing to plan education and social events that involve our members from the islands. I also plan to head back to one or more of the islands to do at least one more Pau Hana with our members. This year I was able to participate in two Pau Hana events and meet our members and potential members from Oahu, the Island of Hawaii (Big Island), and even Maui. Our island-based members are excited to be back together at events in person and I know will continue to support, build, and relaunch in the next couple of years!
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Our membership team has done an incredible job of increasing our membership by 7% and continues to have a focus on retention as well. With an ear to what our membership is looking for I am excited to see where we go next year with fun membership events!
I am also thrilled to announce that decisions came from the Oregon and Washington chapter boards of directors to continue the Cascadia Educational Conference. We will be releasing the venue RFP soon, so if your destination is interested in bringing an amazing conference to our membership—keep an eye out!
We are pleased to be back in full force in person and continuing strong educational and social events. I look forward to seeing you at our next meeting or social event as we wrap up this year and head into the next.
Thank you!
Greg Heinze
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Follow the Yellow Brick Road! |
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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!
- 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
- To have your brick as part of the Gala photo-op backdrop please order by May 24th
- Bricks purchased after May 24th will be on display at 40th anniversary celebration in December 2023.
Bricks purchased by donors will be featured virtually at our education sessions.
At the year's end, come to the awards gala to see your brick in person!
Keep these character restrictions in mind when purchasing your brick.
Top line = 18 characters
2nd and 3rd lines = 24 characters each
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There's No Place Like MPI, There's No Place Like MPI, There's No Place Like MPI... |
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You’ve been helping us build the yellow brick road to the annual Awards Gala and Silent Auction taking place at Emerald City (aka the Hilton Downtown Portland) all year long! Come celebrate MPI Oregon’s Ruby Anniversary with fellow members and guests during a night of fun, annual awards, and our amazing auction items that will take you to places that make you think you’re not in Kansas anymore!
Tentative Schedule:
5:00 pm Registration, Reception, and Silent Auction Begins
6:30 - 8:00 pm Dinner, Live Auction, and Awards Ceremony
Seeking Silent Auction Donations:
For anyone attending or not attending our Annual Awards Gala, our silent and live auctions are a great, low-cost way to showcase your venue, destination, or services to attendees while helping MPI Oregon! This auction will take place online, so we will be sharing the link with everyone in the MPI Oregon Chapter.
We are trying to collect all items by Wednesday, May 31st!
Room Reservations:
Click here to make your room reservation today! Room rates are $159 per night plus taxes. Rooms will be released on May 26, 2023.
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April Oregon Industry Day and Marketplace |
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First, there was Cascadia, then there was GMID, and then, MPI Oregon had the Oregon Industry Day and Marketplace in April at the Oregon Convention Center.
What a fabulous showcase of our industry partners - Best Western Plus Hood River Inn, Embassy Suites Downtown Portland, Gordon Hotel and the Inn at 5th (Eugene), Hilton Portland Downtown, Salem Convention Center, Seaside Civic & Convention Center, RPS Events, Spirit Mountain Casino, The Party Team, Topgolf, Washington County Visitors Association, and The Ritz-Carlton, Portland. It was a true showcase of our industry in Oregon.
We had a great moderated panel comprised of sales managers and planners from the Pacific Northwest and Hawaii answering questions and providing insights from their individual perspectives on the state of our industry. Craig Stroud, Executive Director of our host the Oregon Convention Center, led the conversation for our panelists: Sherrie Holl (Gran Hyatt Kanua’I Resort & Spa), Natalie Nellist (Royal Sonesta Portland), Susie Schultz (HPN), Lisa Chan (Oregon Convention Center), Angela Haeder (PCG), and Jeffrey Eslinger (Hawaii Vistors and Convention Bureau).
They discussed and gave an overview of the latest hot topics affecting both planners and suppliers: timelines, staffing challenges, pricing, and DEI. Sustainability, and political climate in terms of planning and booking space/location.
After the panel, we broke into roundtable discussions to continue these topics amongst ourselves and how each of these topics is affecting our everyday lives and our businesses. This allowed for a conversation around the questions of how are you specifically responding to RFPs. How are you communicating? How do you like to be communicated to? How are you addressing staffing? How are you addressing pricing and timelines? Etc…
Thank you to all our showcase industry partners who provided raffle items, which turned into a lively and competitive live auction!
Thank you to the Oregon Convention Center for hosting our meeting and hosting the wonderful reception afterward.
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Strictly Social Par-Tee at Topgolf Hillsboro |
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Written by: Tasha Graeff
It wasn’t the perfect day for golfing outside but luckily, it’s always a great day for golfing in Topgolf’s 102 climate-controlled bays. Topgolf was thrilled to host the MPI Oregon chapter for the first time in the venue’s 6+ years of operation for a night of fun, food, prizes, signature cocktails, socializing, and of course – Topgolf on April 18th.
Chapter President, Greg was dressed for the occasion (as per usual) in a fabulous pair of plaid skinny pants, which set the tone for an afternoon of competitive fun. Topgolf hosted a signature drink tasting, featuring two limited-time offering cocktails, the Key Lime ‘Tini rimmed with graham cracker crumbs and the Sunset Marg rimmed with Tajin. Topgolf also premiered a brand-new menu for the event, the Ultimate Bites. The menu featured heavy hors d'oeuvres like spinach artichoke dip, boneless wings, charcuterie, and more. Signature “injectable” donuts were a crowd-pleaser for dessert.
After a quick introduction from me (and a reminder that the venue can accommodate well over 1200 guests with hundreds of free parking spaces) and a few prize giveaways, Topgolf’s resident PGA-pro Melinda introduced the game and most everyone moved out to the bays for a Topgolf relay game. We had a few talented golfers in the bunch, and the “Portland Swingers” dominated the tournament. The “Upside Down Pineapples” would have won the award for the cheekiest team name, a category we’ll definitely need to include for the next competitive event.
One of my Sales Managers, Sarah had the opportunity to re-connect with some of our members by providing them with a full venue tour. She enjoyed re-acquainting and also introducing our guests to our 3 levels of Event Space, not to mention the 16+ different Topgolf games we currently offer with our Target and Tracer Technology. That time even gave Sarah the chance to connect the dots with our members about “that Midwest Life.” I heard there was even a fascinating discussion about 1920s Speakeasys and a curious case of Murder in the Wisconsin Dells!
Overall, a good time was had by all and we’re looking forward to hosting MPI again, hopefully for a sunny afternoon on the Rooftop Terrace.
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Rum, Mai Tai's, and Fun! Oh My! |
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We were so lucky to host a President’s Cocktail Hour when our Chapter President, Greg Heinze, and his husband were visiting in April. Keep in mind that they were the lucky winners of a gala auction package for a wonderful Hawaii stay; stay tuned for gala packages to come that might give you a chance to bid on a Hawaiian getaway as well! We had a great turnout for the event and had a wonderful time reconnecting with industry colleagues. We’re looking forward to many of our non-MPI guests considering becoming MPI members as we continue to focus on the goal of building back an independent Aloha Chapter. Watch out Oregon, Greg might just decide to stay in Hawaii with us! 😊
Our host for this event was the Kuleana Rum Shack on the Island of Hawaii, home of a world-class bar and their flagship retail shop in the Queens’ MarketPace in Waikoloa. What a perfect location to do a rum tasting and Mai Tai class! Chelsea Yagong, the talented Education & Experience Manager guided us through a tasting of a number of Kuleana Rum’s delicious rums and finished with a lesson on how to make a killer Mai Tai. Chelsea weaves her personal stories and experiences of growing up in the sugar cane days providing a glimpse of the history of Hawaii through her eyes. If you ever find yourself with a free afternoon on the Island of Hawaii, this is a great way to spend it! And stay tuned-their new tasting room will be opening soon.
It is always invigorating to see the people that MPI can bring together to forge new connections and strengthen existing ones. I can’t wait to see everyone at our next networking event and membership drive for Hawaii!
Photo Credit: Hawaii Media Collective
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Great Scott! It Was a Great Cascadia!
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The Back to the Future theme meant a chance for us to celebrate being BACK in person, a celebration looking BACK at 20 years of our MPI Oregon and Washington Cascadia Conference, and networking and education sessions to look to the FUTURE of our industry.
Semiahmoo Resort provided the perfect setting for us to be together. We lucked out with some good weather, and what a beautiful view of Semiahmoo Bay and Canada!
The hosted buyer program was back and bigger than ever. We knew people would be arriving early on Sunday, so we offered Fireside Chats at the actual fireplace for some informal education before our Opening Keynote panel.
The opening keynote panel (moderated by Tara Liaschenko with Anne Marie Mourhess (Visit Greater Palm Springs), Claire Smith, CMP (Vancouver Convention Centre, Dione Williams (Travel Portland), and Troy Anderson (Visit Seattle)) set the tone for the conference with the Meetings Industry Forecast.
Then the fun began with our opening reception and the annual poker tournament. There was even a Jon Clark sighting, just like old times!
All the keynotes, the breakouts, and the fireside chats were informative and well-attended. Semiahmoo also had great space and little nooks for individual conversations that we’ve all been missing for far too long.
Of course, we added fun to the conference- especially with the inaugural 0.5k run/walk/stroll. Oh, let’s face it, it was a stroll!
Thanks to everyone who brought their puffy vests to stay on theme for the closing night gala, “Enchantment Under the Sea”. (FYI, that was the prom theme in the movie).
It was great to see everyone and be together again. In case you missed it or want to relive it, please check out the video and photo links:
And last, but certainly not least, a BIG shout out and THANK YOU to our sponsors:
Semiahmoo Resort, Big Rock Productions, Monterey Meetings, Seattle Convention Center, Washington County CVB, The Party Team, Visit Central Oregon, RPS Events, CORT Party Rental, The Jewel Tones, Visit Salt Lake, Seattle Center, Great Wolf Lodge, Travel Tacoma, Argyle Winery, and…more to come.
“Your future is whatever you make it,
so make it a good one.”
- Doc Brown
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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 40 years and we would love to add your name to the roster. There are opportunities in Finance and Fundraising, Membership, MarComm, 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 Aloha
Member Spotlight
Meet Brie Shimada
Regional Sales Manager
PRA Hawaii
Q. We want to know a little about you.
A. My name is Brie Shimada and I’m the Regional Sales Manager with PRA Hawaii. I’m a self-proclaimed foodie and love showcasing the best of our destination.
Q. Now we’d like to know about what you do professionally.
A. I’ve been in the hospitality industry for a decade and my favorite part about working for a DMC is curating elevated experiences while infusing the culture of our islands.
Q. What are a few things on your bucket list?
A. Snowboarding in Hokkaido and going to Oktoberfest in Germany are a few items on my bucket list.
Q. What’s the scariest thing you’ve ever done?
A. Starting as an unpaid intern for PRA right out of college, not knowing if chasing my dreams to be a corporate event planner would come true.
Q. What and who would you take with you on a deserted island?
A. I would take my partner and a record player and tons of records because we love listening to music together and would have a dance party the entire time!
Q. Best holiday (you pick the occasion) memory?
A. Christmas afternoon tea with my mom! She passed away last year, and I miss celebrating the holiday season with her. She always made that time of year magical for us!
Q. What would be your perfect job?
A. My perfect job would be a food and lifestyle photographer who gets to travel the world.
Thank you again for the opportunity to be featured!
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MPI Oregon
Member Spotlight
Meet Audrey Cook
Area Catering Sales Manager, Benchmark Pyramid Luxury & Lifestyle
Q. We want to know a little about you, where you were born, where you grew up, where you live, and what you like to do for fun!
A. I was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. I have been living in downtown Portland for six years. For fun, I enjoy getting out into the city by trying new restaurants, thrift shopping and seeing live concerts and musicals.
Q. Now we’d like to know about what you do professionally and how long you have been there.
A. As of April 2023, I am the Area Catering Sales Manager for Benchmark Pyramid Luxury & Lifestyle, representing Hotel DeLuxe, Hotel Lucia, and Dossier. I have been in hospitality since 2015 when I started as Catering Coordinator at the Hilton Anchorage in Alaska.
Q. What are a few things on your bucket list?
A. Travel is always at the top of the bucket list my top destinations I would love to see is Iceland, Netherlands, France, and China.
Q. What’s the scariest thing you’ve ever done?
A. The scariest thing I ever did was move from California to Chicago for College. I didn’t know the city or everyone who lived there, but I learned to adapt. I explored the city on my own and made lifetime friendships. I have never been afraid to pick up and move or travel by myself since then.
Q. What and who would you take with you on a deserted island?
A. My boyfriend, My Dog, Plenty of snacks, sunblock, mystery novels, and true crime podcasts.
Q. Best holiday (you pick the occasion) memory?
A. In 2016, my family and I took a Mediterranean cruise during the Christmas holiday. We ended up being in Florence on Christmas Eve and Rome on Christmas Day. It was amazing being surrounded by all the history and cathedrals during that time. Plus, the weather was so warm!
Q. What would be your perfect job?
A. I would love the opportunity to work as a catering professional in an art gallery or museum setting. My undergraduate degree is History of Art and Architecture, and it would be great to be back in the art field.
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Welcome New MPI Oregon Chapter Members |
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Amy Baldwin
Barbi Barclay
Katie Carver
Natalie Chang
Joely Jackson
James Jessie
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Jason Keen
Edita Kumar
Raysha Mamala
Jillian Martin
Erica Poulos
Romina Singson-Brightman
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Q4 Anniversary Milestones |
30 years
Jacquelan Harper
15 years
Amanda Eriksen
10 years
Jessica Johnson
5 years
Alex Finney
Margy Simco
Sandy Ryan
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