This week our community lost one of its most prominent leaders. Raymond J. Hall, CMM, a Charter Member of MPI dating to the organization’s founding in 1972, passed away at the age of 80.
Hall served as chair of the International Board of Directors and Global Board of Trustees. He was also named International Planner of the Year in 1979.
“I don’t know of anyone who did more to champion the cause and foster the growth of MPI,” says Gerald Francis, a friend of Hall for more than 50 years and past president of the MPI Chicago Area Chapter. “He was a tireless advocate of MPI who spoke all over the world on behalf of the association, and he mentored hundreds of people in the industry, including me.”
Another longtime colleague of Hall, Marta Hayden—the first woman to be MPI president—knew Hall for 35 years and calls him an icon.
“He had a big heart and always made you feel special,” she says. “He was tireless in promotion meetings, events and the people that worked them as a profession and that people should join MPI for the education. He also believed in the equality of membership and that the suppliers were important and sometimes they were actually the meeting planners and executed the programs for their clients.”
MPI President and CEO Paul Van Deventer expresses his respect for Hall and condolences to those who are mourning him.
“Over the past 46 years MPI has been the career home for thousands of meeting professionals and an invaluable resource to our community,” Van Deventer says. “We are forever grateful for the vision and passion of Ray Hall and our other founding members for bringing MPI to life. We send our deepest regrets and prayers to Ray’s family.”
Those who knew Hall for decades describe him as a “larger than life” personality who truly related to people.
“To give you an idea about Raymond, he was a mountain of a man,” Francis says. “Not only was he a big man, he was a wonderful man. He loved his family; he loved his work; and he loved MPI. He had that quality about him that made people listen to him. He had a big booming voice and that made him a great speaker. He was well respected and well loved throughout the industry. In terms of relating to people he was the best; it didn’t matter if you were a president or a CEO or just an average person—he made it clear that he was listening to you.”
Hall’s biggest career achievement was as CEO of the Electronics Representatives Association (ERA), an association for sales representatives of electronics manufacturers. Founded in 1935, ERA has chapters throughout the U.S. as well as Canada, Mexico and the United Kingdom. Hall was an ERA executive for 35 years—the longest serving leader in the association’s history and a member of the ERA Hall of Fame.
In the beginning of his career, Hall founded the Raymond J. Hall Company of Chicago, a management services provider for many trade associations, including ERA and manufacturers’ representative associations in other industries. He became heavily involved in ERA operations in the early 1960s and eventually turned his full attention to the group in 1969 and was with ERA until he retired in 2004.
In his role with ERA, Hall became an advocate and organizer of the same type of industry-wide organization and structure that he championed with MPI. For instance, he promoted forming an association of manufacturer associations, which led to the founding of the Alliance of Manufacturers’ Representatives Associations (AMRA) and the Manufacturers Representatives Educational Research Foundation (MRERF). MRERF developed the Certified Professional Manufacturers Representative (CPMR) program, according to a tribute to Hall posted on the ERA website.
Hall is survived by his wife of 32 years, Patricia Hall, along with two daughters, a son, a brother and eight grandchildren.
Hall was a native of Somerville, Mass., a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps and a graduate of the University of Illinois.
