By Eric Mottard, founding partner and CEO of Barcelona-based Grupo eventoplus and the first MPI Iberian Chapter president
Members of the MPI Iberian Chapter gathered in late June at the Hyatt Hesperia Madrid, organized by current chapter president Oscar de Lorenzo, to celebrate the chapter’s 20th anniversary (which began as MPI Spain) and to network and learn from peers via a multi-association state-of-the-industry round table.
It was 2006 and something was clearly not right in the Spanish meeting and event industry, the industry was already solid, professional and creative. Sure, there were a few relevant professional associations, but the global mother of them all—MPI—wasn’t here. So, with a few passionate professionals, we set out to create a local MPI chapter to help put Spain on this indispensable map.
I could tell you we worked so much to kickstart the MPI Iberian Chapter, but to tell the truth, it was easy. When the need for something is really obvious, there is no need to sell, convince or fight. People joined us in this endeavor and, very quickly, we established the chapter.
Twenty years on, we have the same DNA and the same relevance. Associations have multiplied in Spain, as well as other meeting points, events and networks. Opportunities for networking and education are plentiful in our industry, but the need for MPI remains and could even get stronger. The DNA of MPI is still the same: the world’s largest meeting and event industry association, but, most of all, it’s the association of people, of ALL meeting professionals (not companies or institutions). In the age of human-to-human, in the industry of people and human relations, this characteristic of MPI is absolutely key.
This role of MPI as a key connector of people was especially clear during the Iberian Chapter’s 20th anniversary celebration where, besides partying as Spanish people know, MPI gathered with key Spanish meeting and event associations for a round-table discussion about the state of the industry, the projects of other M&E associations and have a fruitful exchange of ideas on our next common challenges and opportunities.
This universal nature of MPI—the fact that everyone is welcome, that it does not defend one part of our industry against another—is still its key value. And it came to light once more during this anniversary celebration. One message stood out to me from this discussion: We are lucky to be in an industry where, despite competing and having different interests (and sometimes disagreeing deeply), we talk, listen, build bridges and are aware that we are all part of one industry, maybe the greatest industry of all. And all hosted under the MPI umbrella.
