Volunteering for the MPI Ottawa Chapter – What’s the Benefit?

“Volunteering can be an exciting, growing, enjoyable experience. It is truly gratifying to serve a cause, practice one's ideals, work with people, solve problems, see benefits, and know one had a hand in them.” – Harriet Naylor

As a non-profit professional association, the Ottawa Chapter of Meeting Professionals International (MPI) relies on its volunteers to help deliver on its commitment to its membership. The Chapter depends on the knowledge, experience, and business insight of volunteers to provide educational and networking experiences in addition to other services to its membership.

Conversely, as a member of a professional association such as MPI, the benefits of volunteering for the Ottawa Chapter contribute to one’s sense of belonging and success in the events industry. Consider the following:

• Build an industry network.
  Volunteering develops a network within the industry, which contributes to job success. It exposes us to many potential partners, leaders, and mentors. It can help us develop our careers and, the bonus, make friends along the way.
  
  
• Gain a new skillset.
  Working on a committee helps learn/develop new skill sets in a non-judgemental environment. Learning ‘on the job’ surrounded by industry colleagues while taking on new experiences is the best way to consider stretch goals*.

• Grow leadership skills.
  The more stretch goals that we attempt, the more experience we gain, which leads to the development of leadership skills. Progression in volunteering can also be an opportunity where one contributes to solutions and/or the decisions related to governance, finance, and ethical decisions that an association such as MPI Ottawa must make from a business perspective. Start at the committee level and consider progressing to a leadership role on the board of directors in the future.
  
  
• Develop personally and professionally.
  In addition to continuous learning and skill-based hands-on experiences, volunteering contributes to one’s self-esteem. It also provides commitment to continuing education, which can be invaluable when considering applications to accreditations such as the Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) and Certified Meeting Management (CMM).

• Become an advocate.
  Volunteering enables you to learn about the event industry and, subsequently begin to understand the role and importance of raising the profile of the event industry.

While the association benefits greatly from volunteers, the benefits of volunteering can be limitless.

Reach out to Allison Collins, Director of Leadership and Volunteer Management (leadership@mpiottawa.ca) to learn more about volunteer opportunities in the Chapter. Join us in our commitment to support an award-winning Chapter.

*A stretch goal is an ambitious and challenging target that individuals or teams set, usually exceeding their current abilities and resources. It's a type of goal that isn't meant to be 100% completed.

Article edited by Cynthia Beaudin, Canada Foundation for Innovation