 What an incredible conference. If you missed WEC 19 in Toronto this year, you should have a major case of the FOMOS right now. Such an incredible event. The experiences, the sights, the sounds, the tastes, it all wove together to really feed into the theme of having shared, designed experiences. And today I want to share with you some of my favorite experiences from WEC 19. Everyone, it's Leanne and WEC 19 in Toronto this year did not disappoint. It didn't hurt that the Toronto Raptors had recently won the NBA championship and the celebration parade was during our conference. There was an energy in the city that was just electric. And be it the Raptors or be it all of the industry people that we saw, you couldn't help but get caught up in all of that energy. But aside from the Raptors being in town, the conference itself was definitely one of my favorite MPI events I've ever tended over the years and I want to tell you why. Number one rendezvous on the Monday night. Now typically rendezvous, which is the MPI Foundation fundraiser, it's typically held in bars, which it should be. But those bars tend to be dark and loud and it's just really not my jam. I'm really not much of a bar hopper where I can't have conversations with people. But rendezvous this year was at the Toronto Event Center and kudos to the team there. The event center was draped in this beautiful bright white decor from couches to drapes and curtains to these glittery chandeliers and it felt more like having a party in someone's living room. And it was so comfortable and there were places that you can get away to chat with people comfortably if you wanted to. And so rendezvous for me was actually a mood enhancer this year versus an energy drainer. So rendezvous, I'm really hopeful that they continue down this road of creating more of a family feel to the rendezvous event versus a bar feel. Number two, the activations. So all the events we went to had some activations of some sort and they were all exceptional. But the one I want to highlight was the one at the closing party. Closing party was at Rebel Toronto, which was an incredible venue. The venue was fantastic. But the dessert activation was what really caught my eye. And I filmed some video about the activation that showcased the gentleman on bicycles peddling ice cream treats around the drag queens on roller skates with the cotton candy umbrellas, the Drake cookies, nice touch, the maple donuts. It was really a scene and and of course it just made everything taste better as well. So that activation I felt was one of my favorites, but there were so many throughout the week. Number three, Vin Zhang. So he's the opening session keynote speaker. And this guy was electric. His opening address was so phenomenal. And so I made a point of going to his breakout session. And he has communication style and his way of engaging with people at such a relatively young age, such a polished keynote speaker. He got a standing ovation in a breakout session. I've never seen that before. So big fan of Vin. And if you have opportunity to book him or see him anywhere, I highly, highly recommend it. Number four, the event story. So the event, this is our Canadian pride story. The event was the collaboration of three MPI chapters that started back in 2018 in Ottawa, continued on 2019 in Montreal and now 2020 in Toronto. And the event won the rise award for innovation and from the chapters. And just so proud of my friends and the team that put the event together. So to watch them be recognized for all of their hard work and for all of the risks that they took, knowing that they might fail and fast forward, they didn't fail. It was phenomenal. But it's, you know, would they have gotten the award if they still failed? I sure hope so because they put so much blood, sweat and tears into the event. And I'm just, I'm so thankful that they're recognized and I'm just, I wish them nothing but the best for their future, the events as well. Number five, the village. So the village is kind of their take on a trade show, but not really. You have corners of the room set up in theater style for breakout sessions. And then you do have some meeting partners and different activations throughout the village. My favorite activation was probably the brand you corner where you could talk about your personal branding, which I love that kind of stuff. Look at your social media profiles and tweak them to be better, get your head shot done. So they had different activations throughout the village and it was really a welcoming place and I just loved hanging out there. Number six, the education was top notch. Huge shout out to two of the breakout session speakers that I went to and learned so much from Alex Plaxton and Heather Read. But there were so many great breakout sessions and you probably attended different ones as well. Really impressed with the education this year at WEC. And finally, inclusivity. So the MPI events of old, you would walk into the ballroom and find your chapter sign. So chapter leaders would stand there with a chapter sign and you would sit with your chapter. And that format never really resonated with me because how do you meet new people when you do that? Well gone are the chapter signs. Now it was more comfortable to walk in a room and meet new people. Granted for people who don't want to meet new people, maybe this format fell on its face for you. But for me it was such a welcome change and I was able to connect with new people. Something I couldn't really do before at WEC during mealtime. So I love that the inclusivity now and the removal of chapter signs. I'm a fan. So thank you WEC. If you missed WEC 19 this year, not to fear WEC 20 has already been launched for registration. We're heading to Great Find Texas the beginning of June. Hop on over to MPIweb.org to learn more and to register. Everyone probably got something different out of the show and if you were at WEC I invite you to join this discussion here on this video and tell me what you thought were the highlights for you. We've all had different experiences and I want to see what everyone else thought. Thanks to everyone in Toronto and everyone at MPI for a memorable WEC 19 and here's looking forward to the next one. Thanks everyone. Bye for now.