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MPI Announces RISE Award Winners

Recipients recognized for industry innovation and impact

May 20, 2010 – Dallas, Texas – Meeting Professionals International (MPI) announces five recipients of the Recognizing Industry Success and Excellence (RISE) Awards. The outstanding achievements of these individuals, communities and organizations will be acknowledged at the RISE Awards presentation on July 24, 2010 during MPI’s World Education Congress (WEC) in Vancouver, Canada.

The RISE Awards include annual awards in three categories: individual achievement, community achievement and organizational achievement. Recipients are recognized for innovation, global transferability, impact and influence. This is the first time that the awards will be given for all three categories within the program.

“We are very excited to recognize the first class of RISE Award winners. These recipients exemplify model behaviors and proven programs which bring exceptional value to our community,” said Hattie Hill, CMM, Chair of the RISE Awards Judging Panel.

The RISE Award for Young Professional Achievement will be presented to Krzysztof Celuch, CITE of Poland for his achievements in the Polish meeting and events industry and advancement of the MPI Poland Club.  Celuch wrote the first Warsaw Meetings Industry Report which, after three years, now covers 4,100 meetings and is used by organizers and local governments. At the age of 28, Celuch is a manager at the Convention Bureau of Poland, a lecturer on business tourism for master’s and bachelor’s degree programs and an MPI Global Training-accredited trainer.

The RISE Award for Meeting Industry Leadership will be presented to David Rich, Senior Vice President of George P. Johnson Experience Marketing for his thought leadership and substantial contributions to the meetings and events industry.  Rich has dedicated more than 20 years to the industry and pioneered the strategic value of meetings and events as marketing tools. His contributions include inventing methodologies for the strategic application and development of meetings and events that achieve bottom line business results as well as educating fellow industry professionals on becoming more strategic in their approach to events and event portfolios.

The RISE Award for Community Achievement in Knowledge and Ideas will be presented to the MPI Minnesota Chapter for its creation and implementation of the ‘Mentoring: Power of 2’ program. The ‘Mentoring: Power of 2’ program, initiated in 2008, allowed mentors and mentees to learn from each other. The program created a two-way conversation between a range of planners and suppliers. It has been highly praised in industry publications and utilizes social media to promote awareness of the program.

The RISE Award for Community Achievement in Marketplace Excellence will be presented to the MPI Arizona Sunbelt Chapter for developing and executing the Global Community Challenge. The challenge, developed from the expressed needs of chapter members, encouraged members to use their MPI connections to supplement their current business. Through the program, over 286 business-to-business meetings took place, 87 lead referrals were produced and more than $1.3 million in sales was credited to the business relationships developed.

The RISE Award for Organizational Achievement will be presented to the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) for its leadership in using meetings and events to educate the hospitality and building industry concerning green design initiatives. Since its formation in 1993, the organization developed the LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) green building certification program and launched the Greenbuild International Conference and Expo. LEED encompasses more than 33,000 commercial projects in the U.S. and 114 countries. Greenbuild is the global gathering of the green building movement worldwide and continues to grow with more than 27,000 attendees in 2009. Its role is one of the most impressive in the entire meetings industry because it is an event that shapes the direction of an entire movement that creates community and is an event that creates a lasting legacy in the cities it visits.

The presentation will take place from 4 to 5:30 p.m. at the Marriott Pinnacle Downtown Vancouver on July 24, 2010. For more information, please visit www.mpiweb.org/wec.

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About MPI: Meeting Professionals International (MPI), the meeting and event industry’s largest and most vibrant global community, helps our members thrive by providing human connections to knowledge and ideas, relationships, and marketplaces. MPI membership is comprised of more than 23,000 members belonging to 71 chapters and clubs worldwide. For additional information, visit mpiweb.org.