The vibrant MPI community continuously impresses and inspires me, with our strong sense of community especially evident in our chapters and clubs. Such local-level innovation, excellence and leadership is perfectly exemplified in this year’s chapter RISE Awards winners.

MPI leaders—both staff and volunteers—have long invested time, energy and heart to bolster the efficiency and value of chapters in their mission to support event industry professionals and communities.

One of the latest major initiatives, the roll-out of MPI Regional Councils, was in development for years, aimed at fostering more effective, engaged chapter leaders and boards. Regional Councils are like a connective web between chapters within a geographical area, designed to enhance interchapter communication and collaboration, as well as distilling and sharing best practices throughout the MPI community. This additional layer of leadership increases the support available to MPI chapters, as well as leadership opportunities for members.

The more active you are within MPI, the more you’ll get out of it. You’ve certainly heard that—you may have even said it. It’s an adage our most successful members and industry leaders have expressed for decades, often cited as, “If it wasn’t for MPI, I wouldn’t be where I am at today.” And MPI Regional Councils offer you even more opportunities to grow professionally, networking and establishing mentorship relationships at an enhanced level. We believe that in the near future the Regional Councils will have comparable positive impact on our association as other international committees like the Chapter and Membership Advisory Council, International Board of Directors and the MPI Foundation’s Global Board of Trustees.

Less than a full year since their formation, MPI’s Regional Councils already report positive momentum, with realized benefits including greater intrachapter collaboration, more meaningful partnerships, better sharing of best practices and more.

For example, the U.S. Midwest Regional Council says its biggest accomplishment thus far is in “creating space for the group to function more as a think tank and strategic advisory, rather than being purely project-driven.” They’ve devoted additional time to sharing successes and challenges within their chapters to provide guidance that council members can take back to their chapter boards. Delivering that knowledge at the chapter level has, in turn, enhanced engagement there.

As MPI has so often demonstrated through challenging times, a supported and engaged community can withstand nearly anything. The ongoing progress and evolution of MPI chapters and Regional Councils helps to future-proof you and your career while enriching your experience.

We’re also in the process of adding another tool to our chapters’ quiver to help engagement with members and better manage the business of running a chapter. Powered by event technology, marketing automation, business analytics and data collection—and in partnership with Cvent—MPI staff are developing new platforms to enable every chapter to benefit from global intel, elevated branding and improved reporting capabilities, supported by a dedicated team. The implementation of this new project is ongoing with chapter onboarding continuing through early 2026.

Our entire community benefits from stronger communication and collaboration. I’m glad each and every one of you is here and I encourage you to get more involved in your local chapter, Regional Council or at the global level. We’re all better when we work together.