In the spirit of friendly competition MPI President and CEO Bruce MacMillan and his team at MPI’s HQ in Texas issued a challenge today to Kathleen (Kitty) Ratcliffe and her team at the St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission.

MPI’s annual World Education Congress arrives in St. Louis, MO July 28-31, 2012 where thousands of meeting and event professionals from around the world will gather for professional development and to enhance business relationships.

“When the Texas Rangers win the 2011 World Series,” said MacMillan, “I want to see Kitty in her home town of St. Louis don a Texas Rangers jersey at our conference’s opening night reception amidst thousands of our colleagues."

Not to be outdone, Ratcliffe and her team in St. Louis, returned the challenge by insisting that after the St. Louis Cardinals win the World Series, and MacMillan arrives for WEC in July, he should be photographed hugging Stan “The Man” Musial’s statue outside of Busch Stadium wearing a Cardinals jersey, and the photo shared at the WEC opening general session in front of thousands of attendees and colleagues.

Early registration is open for WEC at mpiweb.org/WEC2012 and for official online results to Major League Baseball’s World Series, log on to WorldSeries.com.  If you’re heading to St. Louis for the World Series or for WEC 2012, help plan your stay by logging onto explorestlouis.com.

If you’re following the twitter and facebook conversations, you know there is a lot of excitement building up for WEC 2011. Thinking ahead to 2012, St. Louis is building excitement for their turn as WEC host with a promotional lunch at 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, July 26. St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission president Kathleen “Kitty” Ratcliffe will kick the lunch off with an overview of the Midwestern hospitality attendees can expect. If you’re not energized then, you will be when you see the main act: comic headliner and St. Louis native Kathleen Madigan!

Not only is Kathleen an American Comedy best female stand-up winner, she is a regular with late-night giants Jay Leno and David Letterman and performed standup specials with HBO and Comedy Central. Her style is unpretentious, with a straight-forward delivery and wit that will have attendees on their feet. We’re excited to welcome Kathleen Madigan to WEC in Orlando, and hope to see all attendees there enjoying a laugh and finding out more about WEC 2012 in St. Louis, because when you register for WEC 2012 in Orlando, you receive $100 discount!

The St. Louis Lunch requires a reservation, so update your registration now. If you have already completed registration, you are able to use the confirmation you received to add the St. Louis lunch. Then get a preview of what you can expect in Kathleen’s act from the below video.