Bruce MacMillan
President & CEO MPI International

Meeting Professionals International
www.mpiweb.org

The current economic environment has forced many companies, no matter the industry, to re-examine how they do business. Now, more than ever, to remain competitive and a viable force in the global business community our members must stay on top of the new technologies available in the market today and must take full advantage of the educational and training options our industry offers to ensure that much needed edge on the competition. Late in 2008, we launched our Global Knowledge Plan. Through the MPI Foundation, we are investing aggressively in elevated educational programs and delivery tools such as the CMP on-line study guide we developed with Wyndham Hotels and Arizona State University.

We believe that our members are benefiting from the MPI Knowledge Plan which provides meeting professionals with a learning path that ensures appropriate career and personal development at each stage of an individual's career. The Knowledge Plan contains educational materials and business case models on various topics including Strategic Meetings Management, Return on Investment, Return on Objectives, and Thriving in a Complex World just to name a few of the more topical subjects in this environment.

The Meeting & Events Industry is not impervious to the economic climate and the reduction of budgets across the board. In fact, it may be one of the hardest hit industries as corporations look to provide greater bottom-line justification to stakeholders. MPI constantly evolves our educational content to meet the needs of our chapters and members.

According to MPI and American Express’ April 2009 Business Barometer, 37% of respondents have seen a greater than 10% reduction on meeting spend from a year ago. Additionally, the Domestic Corporate segment of 57% of respondents’ meeting and event-related business has seen the greatest decrease in activity.

According to our FutureWatch study, an annual survey that focuses on the trends which will affect the meeting and event industry in the next twelve months, meeting planners anticipate a 3% decrease in staffing and suppliers expect a 4% decrease in staffing.

Throughout 2009 and looking into the future, MPI continues to help members with their own personal preparedness for the economic recovery through improving their own intellectual capital. For example, through the help of funding by the MPI Foundation, we have been able to create two new educational programs that will help guide industry professionals through this challenging time to create powerful opportunities for our profession. An unprecedented amount of high level, critical information will be made available to a global audience through the two programs: No Turning Back: A Revolution in the Meetings Industry and The MPI Meetings Matter Webinar Series. In these tough times it is imperative that the strategic business value of meetings and events be understood as part of an organization’s economic recovery plan, and these programs are a great step in the right direction. We are arming our industry with the education, skills, and tools they need to transcend the turmoil and lead the resurgence. Trying to time recovery is a dicey game. Rather, MPI believes that meetings and events will always exist in our society across all business and social sectors. Therefore, providing our members with the educational tools they require to perform at their best, to boost their value to their employers, become stronger business partners or to just be more personally self-fulfilled is where MPI can have an impact on our Industry’s recovery.

The most recent MPI Foundation/George P. Johnson EventView research study reveals that Fortune 1000 Chief Marketing Officers view meetings and events as having the highest return on investment of any marketing discipline. In an increasingly competitive global economy, the ability to create and deliver strategically sound and focused events contributes to positive business value and helps organizations deliver results directly to the bottom line.