Juli Wagner Joins Minnesota MPI Board of Directors

Juli Wagner, a longtime meeting planner for The Grain Elevator and Processing Society (GEAPS), has joined the Meeting Planners International Minnesota Board of Directors for 2009-2010 as director of membership.  In her position with the volunteer organization, she will act as liaison to the Membership Committee and report to the vice president of membership as well as the Board as a whole.

Wagner has been a member of the Minnesota chapter’s Membership Committee for eight years and spent three as a Membership Committee chair.  Recently, she was the chapter’s recognition chair, organizing recognition for local chapter members’ efforts on behalf of the organization.  As membership chair, she oversaw a longevity pin program, new member welcome program, and the Excellence in MPI (EMPI) awards, given annually to members in categories such as Meeting Planner of the Year or Best Supporting Company.

As director of membership, Wagner will collect team status reports from committee chairs within the Membership Committee and compile them for the committee’s vice president.  She will also organize collateral and volunteers for a membership information table at all monthly meetings, as well as order membership collateral for potential new members at trade shows and in prospect packets. Additionally, she will maintain the Committee’s roster and roster of sub-committee volunteers.  She will succeed to the position of vice president of membership in the 2010-2011 year.

In addition to her appointment to the MPI MN Board, Wagner experienced another success recently, when she was named the recipient of a MPI MN $2,000 scholarship to attend the MPI World Education Conference (WEC) in Salt Lake City, Utah, in July 2009. 

The WEC is an annual conference and showcase for products and services for the meeting and event industry such as lead retrieval, audio/visual and registration services.   Representatives from cities all over the world attend to network with meeting planners and discuss potential event sites.  The conference also boasts a large selection of educational sessions.  While at the WEC, Wagner attended sessions on contract negotiation, budgeting strategies, maximizing ROI, and gaining information and tips to obtain a CMP (Certified Meeting Planner) certification.  As part of her scholarship criteria, Wagner contributed an article detailing her conference experience for the MN chapter’s newsletter.