Since 1991, with the launch of the Italia Chapter, MPI’s first chapter outside of North America, Europe has been integral to the strength of the MPI community. Today, with 12 chapters and more than 1,200 members across Europe, our MPI community is strong, vibrant and tightly integrated into the global meeting and event industry.
Consistent with our strategy in North America, our recent success in Europe has been built on the active engagement of our volunteer leaders, developing and growing collaborative partnerships and leveraging the reach of the MPI chapter network. A recent example was February’s very successful European Meetings & Events Conference (EMEC) held in The Hague—a new concept offering rich content delivered in innovative learning formats and completely designed and executed by the MPI Netherlands Chapter. Another good example is the Global Forum, held in Rome in 2018 in partnership between MPI and the Society for Incentive Travel Excellence (SITE), bringing together the power of both associations’ communities for learning, networking and professional growth.
In addition to expanding our partnerships with leading industry organizations and supporting our chapter network, MPI is also making significant investments in our European community targeted at increasing industry awareness, developing and/or tailoring content for the unique needs of the market and investing in a marketing program that will raise MPI brand awareness across Europe. And we are very excited to have engaged Angeles Moreno, a respected member of the European meeting and event community, longtime MPI volunteer leader, chapter president and former chair of MPI’s European Advisory Council, as MPI’s senior advisor in Europe. Angeles will be charged with directing our investments and representing MPI in Europe.
To increase engagement with our community and introduce MPI’s European investment strategy, MPI’s senior staff and volunteer leadership has been engaged in a European listening tour—“MPI’s European Road Show”—designed to engage industry leaders and influencers, share industry trends and research and bring awareness to the personal value of actively engaging with a professional association such as MPI.
During the interactive town hall-style meetings, insights were shared about MPI’s leadership in advocating for the value of the meeting and event industry; the personal benefits of involvement in a professional association through networking, best practice sharing and educational opportunities; and unparalleled access to impact-generating events such as EMEC and the World Education Congress. In addition, we shared details about the growth of our global partnerships, such as the recently formed Global Mice Collaborative—our partnership with IAEE and SITE—formed to foster the development of MICE professions in emerging markets.
To date, the Road Show has visited Barcelona, Spain; The Hague, The Netherlands; Brussels; Köln, Germany; and London. In addition to MPI European chapter leaders and MPI staff leadership, presenters have included Steve O’Malley, MPI International Board of Directors (IBOD) chair, and Miguel Neves, MPI European Advisory Council IBOD liaison.
As an international association, it’s important to raise awareness of the value of our community and the impact of an MPI membership. The unparalleled access to MPI’s latest educational and networking opportunities has proven so important to our members that we want to ensure that industry professionals from throughout the world benefit from all that MPI offers its members.
We wouldn’t be where we are today without an engaged global community, a passionate and committed European Advisory Council and a strong chapter network in Europe. I look forward to working with all of you as we nurture an increasingly stronger and more engaged MPI community in the months and years ahead.
Paul Van Deventer
MPI President & CEO
pvandeventer@mpiweb.org
Follow me on Twitter @MPICEOPaul
Consistent with our strategy in North America, our recent success in Europe has been built on the active engagement of our volunteer leaders, developing and growing collaborative partnerships and leveraging the reach of the MPI chapter network. A recent example was February’s very successful European Meetings & Events Conference (EMEC) held in The Hague—a new concept offering rich content delivered in innovative learning formats and completely designed and executed by the MPI Netherlands Chapter. Another good example is the Global Forum, held in Rome in 2018 in partnership between MPI and the Society for Incentive Travel Excellence (SITE), bringing together the power of both associations’ communities for learning, networking and professional growth.
In addition to expanding our partnerships with leading industry organizations and supporting our chapter network, MPI is also making significant investments in our European community targeted at increasing industry awareness, developing and/or tailoring content for the unique needs of the market and investing in a marketing program that will raise MPI brand awareness across Europe. And we are very excited to have engaged Angeles Moreno, a respected member of the European meeting and event community, longtime MPI volunteer leader, chapter president and former chair of MPI’s European Advisory Council, as MPI’s senior advisor in Europe. Angeles will be charged with directing our investments and representing MPI in Europe.
To increase engagement with our community and introduce MPI’s European investment strategy, MPI’s senior staff and volunteer leadership has been engaged in a European listening tour—“MPI’s European Road Show”—designed to engage industry leaders and influencers, share industry trends and research and bring awareness to the personal value of actively engaging with a professional association such as MPI.
During the interactive town hall-style meetings, insights were shared about MPI’s leadership in advocating for the value of the meeting and event industry; the personal benefits of involvement in a professional association through networking, best practice sharing and educational opportunities; and unparalleled access to impact-generating events such as EMEC and the World Education Congress. In addition, we shared details about the growth of our global partnerships, such as the recently formed Global Mice Collaborative—our partnership with IAEE and SITE—formed to foster the development of MICE professions in emerging markets.
To date, the Road Show has visited Barcelona, Spain; The Hague, The Netherlands; Brussels; Köln, Germany; and London. In addition to MPI European chapter leaders and MPI staff leadership, presenters have included Steve O’Malley, MPI International Board of Directors (IBOD) chair, and Miguel Neves, MPI European Advisory Council IBOD liaison.
As an international association, it’s important to raise awareness of the value of our community and the impact of an MPI membership. The unparalleled access to MPI’s latest educational and networking opportunities has proven so important to our members that we want to ensure that industry professionals from throughout the world benefit from all that MPI offers its members.
We wouldn’t be where we are today without an engaged global community, a passionate and committed European Advisory Council and a strong chapter network in Europe. I look forward to working with all of you as we nurture an increasingly stronger and more engaged MPI community in the months and years ahead.
Paul Van Deventer
MPI President & CEO
pvandeventer@mpiweb.org
Follow me on Twitter @MPICEOPaul
