MPI Europe Sets an Attendance Record

By Staff -- Tradeshow Week, 4/19/2004

Meeting Professionals Intl. is making its presence known in Europe. Its Professional Education Conference-Europe, held in Edinburgh, Scotland March 26-28, set an attendance record with 502 delegates from 26 countries. That surpassed the 2001 event in Paris, which had 424 attendees.

Colin Rorrie Jr., president and CEO of MPI, said the organization's European membership base is growing, with more than 1,200 members in 10 chapters and affiliates. MPI France, the association's 61st chapter, brings MPI's total membership to 65 chapters and affiliates. Other European chapters are in Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Norway, Sweden, Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

MPI has several irons in the fire in Europe. Its European council provides guidance to an international board, as do its European chapters and affiliates.

Rorrie said MPI's effort to strengthen its European presence is part of a new strategic plan. For example, the MPI Foundation launched Project Europe, designed to expand education opportunities for meeting professionals and students, encourage standardization of meeting industry practices and promote the value of meetings within Europe. The MPI Women's Leadership Initiative announced a European research study aimed at female meeting professionals. And MPI's Multicultural Initiative launched a global economic impact and database profile research study to create a comprehensive, worldwide database of all multicultural organizations that conduct meetings and events.

The next Professional Education Conference-Europe will be held April 10-12, 2005 in Monaco.