MPI Rocky Mountain Chapter History

The Meeting Professionals International Rocky Mountain Chapter (MPIRMC) officially weighed in at 7:15 pm on Tuesday, November 13, 1973 at Stouffer’s Denver Inn (now the Denver Doubletree Hotel) as the Rocky Mountain Area MPI (RMAMPI).

Paul K. Barsaloux, President of MPI, officially designated RMAMPI as the first of its kind to be spawned by the international organization, as he cited the need to bring “…more professionalism into the field of meeting planning by uniting together to develop our own expertise as meeting planners.” A year-long 25th-anniversary celebration of MPI’s first chapter, MPI Rocky Mountain Chapter, took place in 1997 headed by the Dream Team 25!

The first newsletter, the INTERCOM, was begun in 1974. 1977 was a big year for RMAMPI. First, a Bibliography Committee was formed to research and then maintain a listing of all known publications, periodicals and educational materials related to the field of meeting planning. The project soon expanded to include negotiating with the Denver Public Library to institute a special section for meeting planning (MPI assumed oversight of the Resource Library in 1987). Secondly, the MPI Fall Conference was held at the Antlers Plaza in Colorado Springs.

1982 brought the 10th Annual MPI meeting (now WEC) to Denver with a record-breaking attendance of 1200+ registrants. The two headquarter hotels were the Denver Marriott City Center and The Fairmont (now the Hyatt Regency Denver Hotel). June of 2004 brought MPI back to Denver with the WEC (second highest attended conference in MPI history). The two headquarter hotels were, again, the Marriott and the Hyatt.

The Meetings Industry Council (MIC) of Colorado is a coalition of professional organizations related to the meetings and events industry. The Council’s purpose is to enhance collaboration among participating organizations through networking and education while being the main source for industry knowledge and consultation as well as foster the continued growth of the meetings and event industry in Colorado.

The benefits of the collaborative efforts of MIC include:

• Planning, promoting and execution of the MIC Annual Conference. This effort allows us to maintain one full day, all-inclusive conference for networking, education and tradeshow/supplier opportunities. In lieu of individual competing events, there is a revenue share that benefits each member organization.
• Exchanging calendars of events to avoid duplication of meeting dates.
• Sharing chapter programming information and educational articles for inclusion in each organization’s newsletters.
• Providing membership mailing lists to other Council member organizations to promote individual organization sponsored events.
• Initiating special joint programs pertaining to relevant issues within the meetings industry.
• Expanding networking opportunities and knowledge of the industry.
• Initiating joint recommendations and action on pertinent issues to the industry locally, nationally and internationally.

In 1991, seeing the need to collect unused surplus prepared food in our community, MPI Rocky Mountain Chapter, working with Food Bank for the Rockies, helped to create Denver’s Table. The tradition of support for this organization has continued through the annual MIC Serving Up Hope Luncheon.

MPI Rocky Mountain Chapter has also been the home chapter for a number of MPI past presidents and chairwomen including Rudy Wright CMP, Stephen D. Powell, and Kitty Ratcliffe. Additionally, one of our founding officers, Dick Hildreth, was dean of the first 4-year degree meeting administration program in North America at Metro State University of Denver. MPI Rocky Mountain Chapter remains a leader in the industry. As we continue to grow, we encourage our members to become involved in the leading organization in the Rocky Mountains — MPI Rocky Mountain Chapter!

See the entire history of MPI thru 2011 via tiki-toki here: https://www.tiki-toki.com/timeline/entry/19470/The-History-of-MPI/

*Utah Chapter President