July 2019 - #MPINeedsYou

Abby Freeman Managing Director and Meetings Manager Mitchell Meetings Chapter President Member since 2004

#MPINeedsYou

Happy MPI New Year! As we jump into the new year of MPI programming and benefits, I first want to thank you for the opportunity to help lead this amazing group of industry professionals.

I am honored to share my hopes for this coming year for you and for OUR association. MPI Georgia has never been afraid to take a risk to try new things for our members, to change existing initiatives to make our association better for our members and to allow members, like you and me, to fail and succeed as we expand our skills and grow our abilities to lead. This is the type of association that I will always want to be a part of. My hope is that MPI Georgia continues that legacy of innovation and fearlessness as we move into the next year. And I hope that you feel free to find your own MPI story with no fear and maybe just a little sense of adventure.

In June, I was lucky enough to attend the LGBTQA reception at the MPI World Education Congress in Toronto. The outgoing chair of MPI, Steve O’Malley with Maritz Travel, offered a few words. Among other things, he said something simple that really stuck with me: MPI Needs You. Wow. I am an introverted, female, straight, Jewish independent meeting planner. MPI needs me. You might be none of those things; MPI needs you.  My hope is that you will always know and feel that MPI Georgia needs you. Regardless of your skill set or your set of values or who you love or your personality type or what you look like or what your professional role is. MPI Georgia needs you.

My hope for the MPI year is that you get what you want.

My hope for the year is that you get things you didn’t know you wanted.

I hope that you come to events, I hope that you join a committee, I hope that you network with strangers you never thought you might want to know.

I hope you use MPI for what it is: the opportunity to make a difference in your career and in the meetings industry.

If you use your membership and MPI resources in the ways that make sense for YOU, it will work. You can gain professional skills, you can find the right contacts, you can know that you are needed in our association and our industry.

I hope that you come to the board when you are getting what you need and tell us how MPI has moved you forward. And I hope that you come to me if you aren’t getting what you need. We are here for you. Your professional hopes are important to us, they are why we do what we do.

I raise a glass to you and say happy MPI new year. I look forward to following you on your MPI journey this year.

Trust that our “virtual” door is always open to you. We are a member-focused organization with a board of directors that welcomes your feedback and suggestions as we seek to answer the question of “what if?”