Fall is upon us, and it’s my favorite time of the year. It’s the season of harvests, festivals and championship baseball—college football is peaking and the college basketball season is tipping off. But, most importantly, fall to me is the season for spending time with family, reconnecting with friends and, in my house, celebrating the November birthdays of my wife, father and my middle child. And, as we approach the end of the year, November is also a time of reflecting on this past year and looking ahead to 2020.

Former American educator Booker T. Washington’s quote rings true about striving for your best: “You measure the size of the accomplishment by the obstacles you have to overcome to reach your goals.” I am constantly humbled and impressed by the tireless efforts of MPI’s volunteer leaders and staff to advance MPI and our community in the face of countless economic and social challenges.

At MPI, we empower individuals’ professional growth so that our community can reach its goals. We do that by connecting the connectors to learn, innovate, collaborate and advocate. The strength of MPI is our passionate and diverse community, and the dedication we share for investing in ourselves and this tremendous industry. Together, we subscribe to the belief that live, face-to-face events inspire the world, drive change, shape our communities and are a catalyst for innovation.

At MPI, we have a lot to be proud of! Over the past year, by leveraging connectivity, engagement and collaboration with peer associations, we were able to grow the MPI Academy and deliver nearly 50,000 hours of education to our community, while bringing awareness to the pressing fight to end human trafficking and inspiring more than 3,000 attendees at our signature events—the World Education Congress in Toronto and European Meetings & Events Conference in The Hague.

We consistently hear from you that education and networking are the core benefits you value in being part of the MPI family. So, as I reflect on our recent accomplishments and look forward to what is in store for MPI and for you in 2020, I get very excited. MPI will bring you innovative, new and cutting-edge professional development programs delivered by the MPI Academy to enhance your career, and our live events will yet again bring one-of-a-kind authentic experiences while motivating you both professionally and personally.  And, we remain committed to supporting our chapters and investing in the tools and resources to support our volunteer leaders in maintaining operational efficiencies and high standards of excellence in the chapter experience.  

Thank you for all you do for MPI. It’s your high levels of engagement, involvement and passion that strengthen our community and drive its enormous success in helping to make a positive impact worldwide.

Because when we meet, we change the world.