Corporate meeting buyers and suppliers last week met in Dallas for the annual World Education Congress of Meeting Professionals International—still without a CEO in place to head the association, though leaders assured members that they soon would fill the position. The association's new chairman said a number of internal changes and the addition of new managerial positions would help the rapidly growing organization to be more nimble and results-orientated.
Though he said his tenure will be characterized by consistency and continuing efforts to provide more custom solutions for members with the association's Career Pathways initiative, new MPI chair Mark Andrew said members can expect structural changes to the organization in the coming months. Andrew has served as the organization's interim CEO for the past three months. To do so, he took a leave of absence from Starwood Hotels & Resorts from his position of general manager of The Westin Bayshore Resort & Marina in Vancouver, B.C.
"There are a lot of different irons in the fire," Andrew said. "We have to keep it going forward while making sure that MPI maintains relationships outside of Dallas with all the other associations and people around the world."
MPI plans to roll out new membership categories on Sept. 15, Andrew said, including three divisions for buyers: corporate meeting planners, government meeting planners and association meeting planners. At the association's 2007 conferences, members can expect specialized education tracks focused on their category.
"As we roll this out, it's not something that's going to happen overnight. I look at is as like a university: Everybody goes to a university to get more education, but as you get to your third or fourth year, you want education specific to what you think or what you want to do," he said. "Our members have told us that they want something that's pertinent to them as a government meeting planner or a senior corporate meeting planner. It is like declaring a major."
The specialized educational tracks are recommendations, Andrew added, and members may continue to attend any sessions they choose at the annual conferences.
"People will be able to make sure that when they go to a conference they get the networking they love, they get the exhibits to see what's out there and can benchmark for their next meetings," Andrew said, "but they can also access educational offerings that are more specific to them."
The new membership categories are part of a number of structural changes the association plans for the coming months.
After former CEO and president Colin Rorrie abruptly announced his resignation earlier this year
(Meetings Today, April 3), association leaders announced they planned to shift to more of a corporate management structure. Along with a new CEO, the association opened positions for a CFO and a COO.
An association-management mentality is focused on the value of membership, and is not profit-driven, Andrew said, while corporate management tends to be more action-oriented and results-driven. MPI needs a CEO with both qualities, he said, due to the rapid growth in membership. "We're a big group—21,000 people—and it could be seen as a sort of elephant. We want someone to come in and teach this elephant how to dance," Andrew said.
Previously, the association had not defined its staff positions well, Andrew said, leading to inconsistencies. A more horizontal management structure will better serve the association, he said.
For members, "It's a much more transparent association, and it's a much more member-centric association," he added.
The growth and evolving needs of the association also reflects the industry at large, he said.
"The meetings and events industry is more technology-based. Members can get more data more quickly," Andrew said. "There is a lot of information out there: How do we make sure that it's available to the members when they want it and how they want it? Our focus on technology as an enabler has been dramatic over the past several years."
Such recent developments as a new Web site and an online skills assessment tool have helped meet members' needs, he said. "We're about elevating the industry," Andrew said. "We're about execution. We're about enabling the member and being member-centric. We have a great strategic plan and we're going to continue the direction we've been heading."
Andrew said Starwood still would employ him as he takes on the MPI chair position, but that his position has not yet been defined. Before his career at Starwood, Andrew for 25 years worked his way from banquet dishwasher to a general manager for Hyatt Hotels & Resorts. He has been a member of MPI for 13 years.