Sara Bennett Wealer, MPG Senior Writer, recently took on a new title: published author. Her first novel for young adults, RIVAL, was released Feb. 15 by HarperTeen, an imprint of HarperCollins.

RIVAL is the story of two girls, once friends, now enemies, who are getting ready to go up against each other in a major singing competition. Reviews for the book have been outstanding, with Kirkus advising readers to “Think Glee, only with chamber music.”

Sara held a launch party for RIVAL at the Blue Marble Bookstore in Fort Thomas, Kentucky. Speaking to an audience of friends, family, readers and book bloggers, she talked about the inspiration for the book and her journey to publication, with a bit of advice for aspiring novelists thrown in for good measure.

“We’re extremely proud of Sara,” said MPG Vice President Kimberly Moening. “She worked so hard to achieve this goal. It really shows the depth of her abilities, and demonstrates to our clients that MPG works with the best of the best!”

RIVAL is on sale now.

Our hearts are heavier as we head into this year’s holiday season because we do so without one of our beloved team members. Jean Carey, who most recently acted as MPG’s Finance Director but has been a dear friend and colleague for more than 20 years, passed away early this month after a brief illness.

Those who knew and loved Jean have been mourning her passing but also celebrating her life. Of course, we remember the many ways she touched us personally, but we also remember how wonderful she was to work with. Jean taught us so much about professionalism and attention to detail—she was one of the best in her field, and we all benefited from her advice and expertise.

We loved working with Jean, and we know she loved working with our team members. As we celebrate her contributions to MPG during this season of Thanksgiving, we also want to celebrate the other talented people who help us succeed and grow and provide the best possible service to those who entrust us with the job of putting their messages in the spotlight.

Our creative team – From concepts, scripts and graphics to video, digital and décor, we live for the ideas! And we never cease to be amazed at what comes out of our brainstorms. One thing’s for sure: we’ve got some big thinkers on Team MPG.

Our amazing producers – They not only execute the big ideas, they contribute a few of their own—all in the name of delivering unforgettable experiences. Our producers get the job done and make sure it exceeds expectations. They aren’t satisfied until a project is flawless.

Our incredibly talented presenters – Simply put, we hire only the best, and they deliver for us—time and time again. Whether they’re singing and dancing or talking hard science with industry professionals, our people have a special ability to connect with audiences and make a real impact.

Our world-class hosts and hostesses – In many ways, these team members are the face of MPG and our clients. They go the extra mile at events, troubleshooting, educating (sometimes even selling), and making sure all goes smoothly. They work with class and discretion to make sure everyone has an outstanding experience.

The partners who help us shine – We know we can count on these folks to bring a little something extra—to complement our skillsets, make us look good on the show floor, and help provide our clients with the latest event marketing solutions.

And finally… Our clients – They provide us with wonderful stories to tell. They push and challenge us. And they allow us the privilege of continuing to do what we love best. We’ve made some great friendships within the companies with whom we work, and we’re proud that we can continue to give them our very best.

Thanks to everyone who helps makes MPG a special team to work with. We value you more than we could ever express!

Well, it’s all coming together now. The cast of our “American Dream” American music showcase is in Cincinnati, and we’re getting ready to take the show to China! Our eight singers and dancers have been learning music and dance steps for the past week, and we’re so impressed with the energy and heart that they bring to this project. Although we’ve only known them for a few days, this cast already feels like family. During the audition process each was chosen not just for his or her talent, but for personality, warmth and excitement. While in China they’ll be representing Cincinnati and the U.S. to choirs and spectators from 70 countries, and we know they’ll do us proud!

While our cast moves quickly through vocals and choreography, our costumers are hard at work altering hundreds of pieces needed for the production. (We feel fortunate to be able to rehearse in Cincinnati’s new School for the Creative & Performing Arts – otherwise known as SCPA. The facilities are first class!) On Thursday, July 15th, we’ll welcome the media and public for a dress rehearsal. We can’t wait to give them a preview of “The American Dream!”

And then… we’re off to Shaoxing, where we’ll perform for participants in the 2010 games, giving them a taste of what’s to come when they visit Cincinnati in 2012.

Want to know more about the World Choir Games in Cincinnati? Here are the basics!

WHAT: The World Choir Games (WCG), the largest choral competition in the world, takes place every two years and is the signature event of INTERKULTUR, a Germany-based organization that produces international choral events. Inspired by the Olympic ideal, the goal of the WCG is to unite people from all nations through singing in peaceful competition.

WHEN: The 2012 World Choir Games will occur July 4-14, 2012.

WHERE: Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. This will be the first time the event is held in North America.

WHO: The 2012 World Choir Games is expected to:

• Host 400 choirs from more than 70 countries.
• Bring together 20,000 participants, including performers, staff, delegations and international jury members.
• Deliver up to 200,000 spectators at the WCG events.

DETAILS: There will be 22 different musical genres evaluated by an impartial international jury.  Categories include: barbershop (for the first time in the WCG history), folklore, jazz, pop, gospel, spiritual and more.

FACTS:

• Cincinnati USA was selected over 20 cities to host the 2012 World Choir Games.
• This will be the largest and most significant international arts event ever in the history of Cincinnati USA.
• With an estimated 45,000 contracted room nights, this is the largest hotel booking ever by the Cincinnati USA Convention & Visitors Bureau.
• The event is expected to generate $73.5 million in economic impact.
• Hundreds of “Friendship Concerts,” free, public performances by WCG choirs, will take place throughout Cincinnati USA.

FOLLOW US AT:

• 2012worldchoirgames.com
• facebook.com/world.choir.games.2012
• twitter.com/worldchoirgames
• flickr.com/2012worldchoirgames
• youtube.com/2012worldchoirgames

We can’t believe how fast the year has gone! In a little more than a month we’ll be presenting our American Music Showcase, titled “The American Dream: A Musical Journey,” in Shaoxing, China.

To meet the young stars of our show, check out this new update at our website.

And for more updates on this exciting project, check out our special World Choir Games news page!

China, here we come!

It’s shaping up to be a busy and exciting year for our MPG team, so we thought we’d share just a bit of what we’re up to at the moment.

We’re now moving full-steam ahead with creating a Broadway-caliber revue of American music to be performed as the Cincinnati showcase at the World Choir Games this summer in Shaoxing, China.

The World Choir Games, for those who aren’t familiar with them, are billed as the Olympics of choral music, with choirs from around the world converging for two weeks of competition and camaraderie. In 2012, Cincinnati will be the first American city ever to host the games.

But first, there’s Shaoxing! When the 2010 games take place there, Cincinnati will be represented in a spectacular intended to give attendees a preview of what’s to come. MPG is working with the Greater Cincinnati Convention and Visitors Bureau and other city leaders to create a show celebrating the rich history of American music and the influence it has had on music worldwide.

We’re crafting the show from start to finish with world-class writers and musicians, and currently are interviewing choreographers. Next up: auditions for singers/dancers in Cincinnati and NYC. Make sure to check back at our blog, where we’ll be documenting all the fun.

MPG is so proud to be bringing the spirit of American music and Cincinnati’s spirit of camaraderie not just to China but to World Choir Games attendees from across the globe. More soon on this exciting project!

Closer to home, our team is hard a work putting the finishing touches on the TechOlympics Expo 2010, which will bring Greater Cincinnati’s  brightest technology minds together with business leaders in the technology field.

MPG is handling all logistics for this three-day competition, which takes place March 5-7 and is presented by INTERalliance of Greater Cincinnati, a non-profit collaborative of regional businesses and educators dedicated to promoting careers in the local technology industry.

Pre-qualified students from the Cincinnati/Dayton/Northern Kentucky region will participate in events ranging from today’s most popular video game challenges to programming-based competitions designed to showcase their knowledge and skill in technology-related endeavors.  It culminates with presentation of the INTERalliance cup, awarded to the school whose team earns the highest number of points across the full range of technology-based events.

We’re so excited to be working with the best and brightest IT minds our region has to offer, bringing them opportunities to showcase their talents and seizing the opportunity to learn from them as well! This incredible event is sponsored by several amazing companies, including Procter & Gamble and Kroger.

Check back soon for more MPG news!

It’s New! It’s Whiz Bang! And Your Guests Might Just Ignore It.

The Consumer Electronics Show was last weekend and like the rest of the world, we were excited to get a glimpse of the gadgets that just might change our world.

CES always brings new ideas to our MPG team, plus a renewed excitement about the job we do, helping clients engage their audiences with memorable, interactive experiences.

It also reminds us of conversations we have from time to time with clients who are curious about the latest presentation technologies. They wonder if they can save money by using touchscreens, for example, and reducing or eliminating live presenters and hosts at their tradeshow booths. They get wowed by bells and whistles and wonder if their guests will be wowed as well.

We are always happy to discuss new technologies. And we never hesitate to propose them or incorporate them in our experiences if they’re the right solution to help clients achieve their goals. But we also feel a responsibility to educate clients about the drawbacks of using technology for technology’s sake or of relying on technology as a cost-cutting tool.

• You may be able to fit more content into a kiosk than, say, a live presentation, but how can you guarantee your guests will stick with the touchscreen long enough to absorb all of that information? Think about the amount of time you personally are willing to stand and interact with a computer. It’s easy to walk away if you get frustrated with the interface or if you hit a section of content that you find less intriguing.

• The experience can be made more interactive when it’s set up as a game, but many of these interfaces are based on a trivia question model. Is that the most effective way to communicate a sophisticated or more nuanced message?

• Technologies such as touchscreens can be used to collect data that you can use to continue marketing to and interacting with prospects after the show. But how qualified are those leads if the guest did little more than surf around and then walk away?

• How will you entice guests to approach and interact with your technology? Too often we have seen tradeshow booths filled with an array of slick, high-tech experiences—that nobody was using. Computer screens just aren’t that inviting. And if you think about it, these kinds of experiences are actually quite commonplace. You encounter them at the bank, at the grocery self-checkout, in your favorite video games. Tradeshow attendees are seeking something different from what they experience every day. Ironically, more traditional, human interactions might just be seen as unique amid a sea of impersonal machines.

All this is not to scoff or turn our noses up at technology. We’ve done some amazing projects that have woven together new technologies and human interaction. However, it’s the human touch that, we feel, is key to a successful booth experience.

• You can make certain that your entire message is heard and absorbed. Certainly, a live presentation accomplishes this, but you also can get the best of both worlds when a touchscreen or other high-tech experience is guided or otherwise facilitated instead of left for booth attendees to interact with as they will.

• You can carry on real conversations, answer questions and offer more in-depth insight when, for example, professional hosts are enlisted to provide hands-on demos.

• You don’t have to limit yourself to a traditional live presentation (though we demonstrate time and again that a professionally produced show is a proven method for delivering motivated, qualified leads to sales representatives). The right creative concept can create interactivity in lieu of having people sit and listen passively to a message. Plus, technology can still play a role when you incorporate Twitter, for example, or other methods for getting guests into the action.

CES was exciting for anybody who is interested in how we will experience the world in the coming years. And it reminds us that, in an age when everything seems to be automated, self-serve and computer-based, you simply can’t do without a human touch. The experiences that will truly stand out and be memorable will be the ones that engage people on a personal level.

Greetings from MPG! We’d like to open our blog with a quick report from team members who’ve been in Frankfurt, Germany, this week, talking with leaders of The World Choir Games about our involvement in helping produce shows for Shaoxing, China, and Cincinnati when the games come here in 2012.

It’s been an inspiring couple of days, and a wonderful collaboration. Lots of work to do, but we’re up for the challenge. Singing together brings nations together!

Dental professionals who visit P&G Professional Oral Health (Crest + Oral-B) at 2009/2010 trade shows, found a new, more interactive experience in an exciting new environment, thanks to MPG and design partner Inter-Global Exhibitions (IGE Group).

“Breakthrough.” “Incredible.” “Flawless Execution.” Those are just a few of the words used by P&G Oral Health leadership to describe the new experience, which combines hands-on science and opportunities for professionals to try featured products for themselves — all in addition to the engaging presentations and world-class hospitality that visitors have come to expect from P&G and MPG.

P&G shattered its sales goals at the American Dental Association meeting, launching its Pro-Health System initiative for dental professionals with an interactive experience that included

a clinical plaque-imaging study conducted live on-site.

Responding to today’s demand for lighter, more flexible booths that are easier and less expensive to ship and assemble, IGE worked with MPG to house the new experience in an environment that brings P&G Professional Oral Health’s equity of science and innovation to life.

“We’ve established a track record of delivering unprecedented success for P&G Professional Oral Health through our live presentations over the years,” said MPG President Scott Moening. “But MPG is much more than live presentations, and we’re thrilled for the opportunity to bring an even more interactive, hands-on experience to dental professionals this year.”

MPG successfully defended its account with P&G Professional Oral Health after an intense RFP process that pitted the agency against some of the giants of the experiential marketing industry.  Our winning formula included top-notch creative, a true understanding of the dental professional, and our ability to deliver the new experience within a tight budget.

“We combined fresh thinking with the learning that can only come from a long-term client relationship,” Scott Moening said. “We’re gratified to have been asked back, and we look forward to continuing our work with our friends at P&G Professional Oral Health.”

MPG helps Crest + Oral-B introduce hygienists to the Triumph with SmartGuide with a live show and giveaway

When Crest + Oral-B wanted to introduce a game-changing new product in a way that key influencers wouldn’t forget, then turned to Moening Presentation Group. The Triumph with SmartGuide launch was so successful that Exhibitor Magazine took notice. Read the article here!