Leadership training, inspiration and networking were key themes Sunday when European chapter leaders for Meeting Professionals International gathered during the European Meetings and Events Conference (EMEC) in Sevilla.
Nearly 30 chapter leaders participated in the day-long European Chapter Leader Forum designed to help the volunteer leaders gain new tools for engagement with their chapters.
“Europe is important for MPI and we’ll never take Europe for granted,” Steve O’Malley, chair of MPI’s International Board of Directors, told the chapter leaders. “We will continue to invest in Europe.”
O’Malley greeted the chapter leader along with other members of the IBOD, MPI’s Global Board of Trustees (GBOT), MPI Foundation chair Chandra Allison, and members of MPI’s senior leadership team including Paul Van Deventer, president and CEO, and Darren Temple, chief operations officer.
Allison encouraged the chapter leaders to keep the MPI Foundation in mind when working with their chapters to help raise funds for industry scholarships, grants and research.
Van Deventer addressed the chapter leaders, reinforcing the message of MPI’s commitment to initiatives in Europe. He first thanked the Netherlands Chapter for its work in hosting EMEC in 2019. The event received the Best Conference Award by Best Events Award (BEA) World for the innovative event held mostly in The Hague.
“There are a lot of the ideas captured from your event that you’ll see there,” Van Deventer said. “We’re going to also learn from this (EMEC) and take all those ideas to Brighton next year.”
EMEC will be in Brighton, England, in 2021.
Van Deventer said that Angeles Moreno, who was appointed MPI's strategic development senior adviser for Europe during last year’s EMEC, will leave that role as her private business demands have increased.
“We want to recognize her for all the work she’s done,” he said. “We’re looking for new ways to support Europe.”
Moreno previously served as chair of the European Advisory Council, which is now chaired by Pieter Allaerts (MPI Belgium Chapter). Europe also has representation on the IBOD through board members Miguel Neves (MPI Scandinavia Chapter) and Antonio Dusseschi (MPI Italia Chapter). Krzysztof Celuch (MPI Poland Chapter) serves on the GBOT.
“Europe is critical to us,” Van Deventer said. “We’ve looked at new ways to tailor education for Europe and continue to invest resources.”
He added that the success of the European Advisory Council has led to the development of similar councils in Canada and Latin America.
The chapter leader’s forum then featured several members making short personal or business presentations, including Rocio Gomez Cuevas (MPI Iberian Chapter), Maddalena Milone (MPI Italia Chapter), Ciara Felly (MPI United Kingdom and Ireland Chapter), and Celuch.
