C. James Trombino, CAE, 1992-1993 MPI president--one of the outstanding MPI members recognized this year in its "Legacy Contributors" list--reflects on a very important debate and success from the time of his MPI leadership.
Thanks for the opportunity to provide my reflections on this historic occasion and especially the role we played during my era as we helped shape this organization and its profound role on our profession.
I was fortunate to be a part of a remarkable group of individuals who, collectively, became a cohesive force taking MPI to the next step in its formative years. As our 20th Anniversary president, in 1992, I welcomed our 10,000th member—our first major membership milestone. My motto that year was “MPI Matters – MPI Works!” I suspect it holds to this day as we celebrate our 50th year.
I think the most important organizational success achieved back then was when, in 1988, a small group of leaders started the process to change the governance structure from a massive-size board of directors comprised of two members from each chapter to a more efficient and responsive board of 18 individuals representing various segments within our membership. After developing the “controversial” plan, we then had to sell it to convince our then-unwieldy 86-member board to vote itself out of office in favor of the smaller, more effective group still in place for the most part today.
Congratulations MPI on our 50th Anniversary: MPI Still Matters – MPI Still Works!
