MPI Keynote Speaker — Performing “The Cost of Paying Attention” for Meeting Professionals International Philadelphia
Being the MPI keynote speaker is its own kind of test: you’re performing for the people who hire performers. On February 22, 2024, I delivered “The Cost of Paying Attention” to the Philadelphia chapter of Meeting Professionals International — a room full of event planners, sourcing managers, and meeting designers. You don’t get tougher critics, and you don’t get more rewarding feedback when it lands.
About the Event
Meeting Professionals International (MPI) is the global association for the meetings and events industry. Its Philadelphia chapter brings together event planners, hotel sales leaders, AV producers, and the people who actually build the meetings the rest of us attend.
The February 22, 2024 chapter event featured my keynote “The Cost of Paying Attention” — a session that mixes mentalism, storytelling, and a usable framework for the most undervalued currency in event design: human attention.
The booking ran through Danielle Horwitz (Detailed Event Group, a Philadelphia-based event production firm) on the client side, with Christopher Kissel at IMS handling production. AV was produced by Advanced Staging, with the team coordinating opening slides and run-of-show in the days leading up to the event.
My Role at the Event
This wasn’t a stand-up magic show. “The Cost of Paying Attention” is a keynote — a 35-to-45-minute talk built for industry audiences who want both an experience and a takeaway. The mentalism is woven through the content; the content sits underneath the mentalism.
For an MPI keynote speaker engagement specifically, I tightened the framework around event-design language: “attention as a scarce resource,” “what gets remembered vs. what gets seen,” and “designing for the moment after the moment.” The customizations included references to Philadelphia’s meeting-and-event scene, MPI chapter dynamics, and one example built specifically for event-planner audiences who have all run a room where attention drained at exactly the wrong time.
Why Hire an MPI Keynote Speaker
If you’re producing an industry association event — MPI, PCMA, ILEA, ASAE — and considering a keynote-with-mentalism format, here’s what that combination uniquely delivers:
- It earns the room’s trust through demonstration, not credential. Event planners have heard every speaker bio in the world. A mentalist-keynote demonstrates the idea live, in real time, on someone in the front row.
- It gives a working takeaway. “The Cost of Paying Attention” leaves the audience with a framework they can apply to the next event they design. Not just a story.
- It compresses well. Need 30 minutes instead of an hour? Need a 60-second hit at a sponsor activation later? The format flexes without losing the through-line.
- It respects the audience’s expertise. MPI chapters are full of senior meeting professionals. A speaker who pretends to be teaching them their job will get politely ignored. A speaker who treats them as collaborators gets quoted in chapter newsletters.
- It travels. Same keynote, same impact, in Philadelphia, Atlanta, Dallas, or wherever the next chapter event sits.
Client Feedback
[TESTIMONIAL PLACEHOLDER — Danielle Horwitz, Detailed Event Group, MPI Philadelphia chapter]
Watch the Show
[VIDEO LINK — “The Cost of Paying Attention” MPI Philadelphia keynote highlights, February 2024]
Takeaways
A few things I’m carrying forward from being the MPI keynote speaker in Philadelphia:
- Performing for planners is the best free education in the industry. Watching how Danielle, Chris, and the Advanced Staging crew ran the room taught me more about event design than any course I’ve taken.
- Earn the framework, then deliver the moment. The audience needs to trust the thesis before the mentalism lands. “The Cost of Paying Attention” works because the framework comes first.
- Show up early. AV teams are running cues you don’t see. Be the speaker who arrives during their setup, not during their stress.
- Honor the chapter dynamic. MPI chapters are professional communities. The keynote is one moment inside an ongoing relationship between members. Speak to the community, not just the lectern.
Book Me for Your Next Event
If you’re producing a chapter meeting, regional conference, or association event and you want a keynote that demonstrates the idea instead of just describing it, use the form below and tell me about your event. I’ll be in touch.
