MPI Minnesota January 2024 President's Message

The end of one year and the beginning of a new one always leaves us reflective. We look at what we’ve done, (over)analyze it, decide what our wins were, look at where we’ve struggled, and use that as a guide to set our course going into the next year. Even though it’s something as simple as a number change on a calendar and could be done at any point in time, a new year gives us an opportunity to reset.

With MPI Minnesota, we were recently given an opportunity to reset and refocus. We are currently in the process of changing our fiscal year calendar to coincide with the calendar year and, with that change, we decided to reexamine the events that we offer and when we offer them. Over the past few months, we’ve held some focus sessions with various MPI members about our past, present, and future. We discussed it as a board during our most recent retreat this past December. As a result, you’ll see some slight modifications to our event offerings in 2024 and beyond. While the changes may not be extreme and earth shattering, they are keeping us fresh as an organization and allowing us to evolve in an ever-changing world. And I challenge you all, as members of MPI, to provide us feedback on what YOU want from YOUR membership. We do this work to benefit you and your opinion matters. 

As I talk about change in the new year, I also want to focus on the wins. 2023 was a year of success for our industry. We are rebounding. Hotel rates are back up to 2019 levels. RFPs are coming in fast and furious. Attendance at events is continuing to increase. 

For MPI Minnesota, 2023 is the year we were awarded the Overall Excellence Award by MPI Global as a top performing chapter. This award is based on the satisfaction of our members, the growth of our membership base, and our financial stability. And we’re going to keep that momentum going into this next year! We are going to continue to focus on our core values – connections, impact, passion, growth, and fun. 

To wrap this up, I think back to a keynote speaker that I recently had the pleasure of listening to at a training for my job. He said something that resonated with me and I’ve thought about it every day since – do you want to be a thermometer or a thermostat? Do you want to walk into a room and just read the temperature? Or do you want to go into a room and be the one that sets the temperature? I’m committed in my personal and professional life to be a thermostat and I hope you’ll join me!