Some 1,800 meeting and event professionals convened in San Antonio from June 2 to 4 for Meeting Professionals International’s (MPI) World Education Congress (WEC), an annual conference designed to inspire attendees with meaningful learning experiences and hands-on activations. This year’s WEC was anchored at the Henry B. González Convention Center, with off-site experiences held at other venues around San Antonio. And as the city welcomed the first two games of the NBA Finals that same week with the San Antonio Spurs taking on the New York Knicks, the energy in the area was palpable.
It was a sultry 90 degrees on the evening of June 2 as I walked from my temporary home for the week, The Monarch San Antonio, Curio Collection by Hilton, to the convention center for the conference’s opening event, which was sponsored by Visit San Antonio, MPI’s Texas chapters, and several of MPI’s Texas destination partners. Aptly named “Revelry: The Confluence of Culturas,” it celebrated the rich and diverse heritage of San Antonio and was held along a portion of the San Antonio River Walk that winds through the convention center campus. Included were plenty of food and beverage vendors, hands-on activations like a leather-branding station with Visit Houston (during which attendees created personalized leather products using metal stamps), and a parade along the San Antonio River.
Other highlights of the conference were 124 breakout sessions, ranging from educational panels on sustainability to engaging Q&As with planners; entertaining general sessions with lively keynote speakers; immersive “Learning Journeys” that took attendees to notable San Antonio sites like the river walk, Aztec Theatre, and The Alamo; and wellness experiences like puppy yoga and sound baths—not to mention Visit Galveston’s puppy cuddling booth on the exhibitor floor. Additional elements included the President’s Dinner that honored MPI chapter leaders and 2026 MPI Rise Awards winners, plus the MPI Foundation’s Rendezvous fundraising event held at 1902 Nightclub.
MPI WEC concluded on the evening of June 4 at Mexico Ceaty, a Mexican food and retail destination inside the Shops at Rivercenter mall. Dubbed “Viva San Antonio,” the conference’s final event was hosted by Visit San Antonio and showcased the city’s Mexican heritage with vendors serving up a menu of regional food and drinks (the folks making the flautas saw me at their stand more than a few times), plus several retail stands with Mexican goods like colorful ceramic tiles, woven blankets, cookbooks, and cultural apparel.
Next year’s MPI WEC will be held in Las Vegas from June 28 to 30, with subsequent host cities including Denver (2028); Anaheim, California (2029); and Tampa Bay, Florida (2030).
