NEW YORK - July 19, 2005 - Opts Ideas wins the Meeting Professionals International (MPI) Global Paragon Award, the association's most prestigious award. Opts Ideas grabbed the award for organizing the 2005 Washington Mutual State of the Group Annual Company Meeting. It's the seventh award that Opts Ideas has won for its work with Washington Mutual.
The award-winning event, "WaMu Challenge" is the second annual company meeting for top Washington Mutual managers produced by Opts Ideas. The conference was a hit among employees and management. It inspired, entertained, and informed both attendees and non-attendees alike. Opts successfully achieved the company objective of communicating corporate messages; an employee survey showed that 97% of employees correctly cited the intended messages.
Formerly an events planner, last year Opts Ideas began billing itself as a "publisher of live content," with the event being the medium, and the clients as subscribers. Washington Mutual's annual company meeting was among the first clients to prove the new model.
"Washington Mutual fully embraces the concept of the events being a medium and the audience being the subscribers," said Michael Christman, CEO of Opts Ideas. "We collaborate with our clients to produce the content, and the attendees Ôexperience' rather than read the results."
About Opts Ideas
Opts Ideas has more than 20 years experience in developing original "live" experiences that communicate its client companies' marketing messages. The company creates customized solutions that surpass audience expectations that realize ROI. Opts Ideas has offices in New York City and the San Francisco Bay Area.
About Washington Mutual
With a history dating back to 1889, Washington Mutual is a retailer of financial services that provides a diversified line of products and services to consumers and commercial clients. At March 31, 2005, Washington Mutual and its subsidiaries had assets of $319.70 billion. Washington Mutual currently operates more than 2,400 retail banking, mortgage lending, commercial banking and financial services offices throughout the nation. Washington Mutual's press releases are available at www.wamunewsroom.com.
About MPI
Established in 1972, Meeting Professionals International (MPI; www.mpiweb.org) is the largest association for the meetings profession with more than 20,000 members in 66 chapters and clubs. As the global authority and resource for the $102.3 billion meetings and events industry, MPI empowers meeting professionals to increase their strategic organizational value through education and networking opportunities. Its strategic plan, Pathways to Excellence, is designed to elevate the role of meetings in business via: creating professional development levels to evolve member careers to positions of strategic understanding and influence; influencing executives about the value of meetings; and ensuring MPI is the premier marketplace for planners and suppliers.
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