An update from MPI at IMEX Frankfurt

MPI (Meeting Professionals International) were in attendance on the first day of IMEX Frankfurt, to provide an update on what the organisation has been working on, and its plans for the coming year. Paul Van Deventer, President and CEO of MPI (pictured left) said that MPI is now an association with 18,000 members, with $26bn of global buying power. The association’s goal, as it reaches this size, is to ensure it can provide a personalised experience for members that will benefit everyone individually. MPI, he said, contains professional and personal networking pods, so members can meet in groups such as LGBT and female leaders, or by each regional chapter. It has also been building the Future Leaders Forum, to tackle what Van Deventer described as a “talent shortage crisis”. The forum aims to bring events to life as a career for students, alongside the MPI Foundation, which has already provided 300 scholarships for students to attend MPI events and help fast-track their careers. The association’s three primary goals, said Van Deventer, are pushing forward with sustainability, diversity, and thought leadership. MPI has set up a diversity and inclusion advisory board to that effect, and is weaving these themes closely into its events. Those events include the World Education Congress in Toronto later this year, and the European Meetings & Events Conference, set for Seville, Spain in February 2020. Seville was chosen after putting forward a strong bid that showcased the city and offered something different for attendees, said Van Deventer. It’s theme will be ‘Pushing the boundaries’. To read our writeup of EMEC 2019 in The Hague, click here.