July 2022 - Melissa Legaux, CMP

Melissa Legaux, CMP - Director of Trade Show Sales at Cobb Travel & Tourism and MPI Georgia President

Welcome to the next chapter!

I’m extremely proud to serve as our chapter’s first African American female president. As we all know, representation matters. I personally thank my network of mentors, including many of you, for your support and encouragement to open the door for all those ahead. I’m forever grateful for the opportunity.

I hope that you’re just as enthusiastic for the year ahead as I am, as we embrace change with open hearts and open minds. We strive to continually provide an opportunity to nurture and develop our diverse future leaders. To do so, we are proud to welcome a new Director of DEI/Community Inclusion leadership role to lead the way.

We are extremely excited to welcome our new FY 2022/2023 board of directors. Many of which are returning board members who look forward to continuously seeing our vision forward. Your dynamic leadership team consists of the most talented and dedicated group of hospitality professionals in the business. I am thrilled to be a part of such an amazing team! I truly admire our leadership team, as they are a beautiful culmination of individuals who aren’t afraid to think outside of the box, embrace change, encourage growth, and most importantly, support success of our members with their whole heart. We are here to serve YOU! 

Our chapter’s goals can only be accomplished by activating a strong network of volunteers such as YOU. We appreciate you choosing to be a part of our chapter because of our mutual passion for the meetings and events industry. Your investment of time and talent will help us achieve our individual, as well as collective goals. More now than ever, we need each other which is why we are so happy to have you as part of MPI Georgia. I personally invite you to get the most out of your member experience, JUMP IN and join a committee on our fantastic team! 

Our organization is here to support and LISTEN to your needs to ensure you are provided the tools, resources, and opportunities necessary to be productive and effective within your professional careers and personal network. Our chapter has worked hard to create a platform to help us grow and experiment as we move ahead. YOU HAVE A VOICE HERE. There is no question or suggestion that is too big or small. Our team is always available to listen and discover new ways to grow and enhance our chapter’s efforts ahead.

We have a lot of success to rejoice and celebrate as we close out our past fiscal year under the direction of Madame President, Sharon Collins. Her leadership efforts raised the bar of the way we approach business by encouraging our leadership team to be strategic, work cross-functionally, and activate a strong succession plan within our efforts. We look forward to building upon her legacy to continue moving the pendulum forward as we embark upon diverse, creative, and cutting-edge events ahead.

As the hospitality continues to recover and emerge from the last two years, we will continue to strive ahead in a fiscally responsible manner. MPI Georgia continues to be a steady beacon of encouragement toward ever evolving goals and opportunities. Through challenges comes change and we look forward to embracing and overcoming any unexpected circumstances ahead.

I look forward to serving as your president this year and welcome each of you to participate in our educational programs, networking events and world-class special events. I encourage you to become, or continue to be involved, in the amazing volunteer opportunities for the chapter. There is an abundance of opportunities waiting for you. Lean into a volunteer role that you are comfortable with or even better, embrace a new role that challenges you and expands your professional assets. Ask yourself, are you are looking to grow, or quite simply give back and mentor a rising star ahead? My personal goal many years ago, was quite simply to be of service within this chapter by giving back to the industry which I love and adore. However, as life would have it, I was blessed and given more than I could have ever imagined possible at the time. Each unique member and beautiful experience we have embraced together, has nurtured, and developed me into the woman I am today. I am FOREVER grateful.

Thank you again for your commitment as a member of MPI Georgia. I look forward to serving alongside each of you! Cheers to our amazing success ahead, let’s GEAUX!