Kicking off March with yet another event, our team had an absolutely incredible time in Traverse City at the 2025 mParks Conference & Trade Show! We had to the opportunity to connect with attendees at our booth, during our educational session, as well as through some friendly—yet highly competitive 🙌—games of Connect 4 and cornhole.
After such a memorable experience in Michigan, we just had to share some of our highlights and key takeaways from the event with you. Read on to find out more about our time in Traverse City—including who won our 2025 mParks iPad Air Contest!
🌿 Event Highlights at the mParks Conference & Trade Show
🚀 Key Takeaways from Our Conversations with Attendees
🎁 Congrats to Our 2025 mParks iPad Air Winner!
During our time in Traverse City there were many memorable moments but, without a doubt, one of the top highlights was having the opportunity to connect with so many incredible Michigan parks and recreation professionals. A huge thank you to everyone who we chatted with and to the amazing mParks staff for making it such an incredible conference. In particular, a huge shoutout to Tina Nowakowski, Shannon Coker, and Kelsey Chapman for putting on such a flawless event!
At this year's show, we were also given the opportunity to present an educational session on the topic of online registration and some of the common pitfalls that many agencies experience. Presenting the session was our VP of Marketing, Datis Mohsenipour, who shared how much he enjoyed the engaging conversations that resulted from the Q&A. Thank you to everyone who joined Datis for his session!
Our team also had a great time participating in the social event, which we were proud to sponsor! Throughout the evening, many attendees took part in the various games that were offered, including a Connect 4 tournament. Although we lost in the first round of play—don't worry, we'll be back for redemption next year 😉—we had such a great time participating in the games. Shoutout to Ashley Stokes from West Bloomfield who came away as the evening's Connect 4 Champion!
Once again, we have to take a moment to say a huge thank you to those who stopped by our booth! We really appreciate you taking the time to come check out what our all-in-one recreation management software can do.
During our time on the exhibit floor, we also had the privilege of having some really inspiring conversations with each and every attendee who chatted with us. While our discussions varied from person to person, below are a couple major themes that emerged throughout the event.
Similar to our time in Texas at the 2025 TRAPS Institute & Expo, we found that a lot of our conversations focused on the significance of innovative tech. Folks shared how important it is to them that the industry starts to catch up when it comes to technology and innovation—especially, in terms of the software and solutions that they rely on every day.
Through these discussions, our team was proud to share how we're constantly evolving our offerings not only to keep pace with modern tech and advancements but to push past them. We were able to demonstrate some of this right on the exhibit floor by walking folks through our custom, native mobile app and self-serve kiosk.
Find out more about how we help customers bring innovation to their agencies by reading our case study featuring James City County, Virginia.
While the print brochure has been a staple for parks and rec agencies for a very long time, many folks shared that they think the time has come to do away with them. This wasn't all that surprising, considering how many people also emphasized the importance of innovation within the industry, as mentioned above. In fact, our own 2025 Parks and Recreation Trends Guide even predicts that this will be the year that printed brochures begin to disappear.
We’d also like to take a moment to congratulate Angela Verges from City of Southfield, Michigan on winning our iPad Air Contest! Thank you to everyone who entered.
The 2025 mParks Conference & Trade Show was a fantastic way to kick off the month of March for our team. We can’t wait to head back to Michigan in 2026 and connect with y’all again!
Book a free demo with a member of our team to learn more about how Xplor Recreation can support your agency in staying ahead of customer wants and needs in 2025.