MPI ’ s European Meetings & Events Conference ( EMEC ) – a regular on the global MICE calendar – is going virtual this year . The conference , which has taken place in Seville and The Hague in recent years , will take place on 15 June , preceding MPI ’ s World Education Congress . CMW spoke with Paul Cook , executive producer of EMEC 2021 , who told us a bit more about the event , and what we can expect .

What does the event programme look like ?

It ’ s an eight-hour event taking place over one day , with plenty of breaks in there . There ’ s going to be a mix of different sessions , with practical takeaways for people to put to immediate use . Then we have sessions for deeper thinking about what ’ s going on with the industry , and where

we go from here .

The theme of the event is ‘ Make your future ’. It ’ s very much based around the idea that we have to take control of where we are right now . Because we ’ ve had a number of months where we ’ ve been moaning about things we can ’ t control – through no fault of our own . This is the pack of cards we ’ ve been dealt . How are we going to play them ?

It ’ s a packed schedule , but there ’ s room for people to wander around and explore . We have a main stream of sessions and then two tracks , one for business development and one for personal development . People can choose whichever one they would like to join .

EMEC is a very hands-on style of event , with previous years running treasures hunts and other experiences . How do you

Above , right : Brighton , sea front , England

Left : EMEC took place in The Hague in 2019

There have been several versions of EMEC21 mooted : in person in Brighton ( England ), hybrid in Brighton , hybrid co-located during IMEX Frankfurt and now , fully digital .

Annette Gregg , senior vice-president of experience for MPI , says : “ Like most conferences during this pandemic , we ’ ve needed to stay nimble enough to adjust our plans to the circumstances . We are fortunate to have a European community that understands the fluid nature of event planning .

“ With countries at different stages of travel protocols , a digital experience will allow everyone to participate . We ’ ve also lowered the cost because so many in our industry are still recovering . I look forward to the engagement and energy from a well-produced and fully accessible event .”

EMEC will be returning to its next planned in-person location , Brighton , for 2022 .