2023-24 MPI Year in Review

It’s been my honor to serve as the President of Philadelphia Area Chapter of Meeting Professionals International these past 18 months.  When I took office in July 2023, I hoped to get Philadelphia Area Chapter to back to basics to build a foundation that would carry our group strong into the future.

However, shortly after starting our 2023-2024 Terms, MPI implemented a global re-alignment. And we all went… whahhhhhh?

The end goal was to ensure local MPI Chapters were aligned with the global MPI, as well as the Events Industry Council and other hospitality groups that operate a calendar year fiscal cycle. That all made sense, but OUR term went from 12-months to 18-months, which will conclude at the end of this month December 2024.

I was so fortunate that our Board of Directors had agreed to extend their terms, and we quickly had to revise our calendar and our business plans accordingly.  Our timelines changed for 2025 Board Nominations, Member Awards as well as the all of the deadlines for MPI Global Compliance and our Chapter By-Laws and Policies.

Then in the summer of 2024, our Philadelphia Area Chapter became 100% volunteer-run!

Our Board of Directors, Committee Chairs, and Volunteers have worked very hard over this time to not only provide incredible educational and networking opportunities but most importantly, as any business owner in the room can relate, we needed to ensure that the Chapter is financially solvent to continue our local mission. 

We saw that our plan worked, when we looked at your responses to the Global Member Satisfaction Survey!

This would not have been possible without the work of the volunteer Board of Directors, and we have a few volunteers that are ending their Board tenure, and I wanted to offer my special thanks to them for working through all of the changes over the years:

• IPP – Brian Follett, CMP, Union League of Philadelphia Liberty Hill
• Vice President, Communications – Scott Higgins, Valley Forge Tourism & Convention Board
• Vice President, Membership – Jessica Bittmann, CMP, Greater Wilmington Convention and Visitors Bureau
• Director, Special Events – Wendy Sutowski, CMP, Tenna
• Director, In Kind Partnerships – Stephanie Fitzpatrick, EBE Talent
• Regional Council Representative – Anne Madden, CMP, Sonesta Hotels & Resorts

Philadelphia Area Chapter has a new Board of Directors that will take office in 2025. You can see this wonderful list of dedicated members on 2025 Slate, but there are a couple vacant positions. If you are looking to expand your professional network and practice your management and communication skills, please reach out to me to discuss how you can help support our Philadelphia Area Chapter in the coming year.

We also need you, our Members, to continue to engage with the Chapter and advocate for the hospitality industry.  Sooo what is 280?

280 is our membership goal.  We want to make sure that MPI Philadelphia Area Chapter continues to grow so that we can continue to bring educational and networking opportunities to the hospitality community of greater Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley.

For those that might be in transition between jobs, are looking to make a career shift in hospitality, or need financial support to stay in our active network, Philadelphia Area Chapter offers full and partial scholarships, as well as event registration grants.  There is more information and the scholarship application link available on the Chapter website here: Membership Scholarship Opportunity

I want to personally thank you for becoming a member of MPI, but also for allowing me to represent this Chapter as we continue to grow.  It truly is one of the highlights of my professional career and I know so many more great things are coming in 2025!

Truly yours, 

Kristine