By: Haley Powers, CMP
Principal, InSiteful Meetings
MPI Member Since 1982
Past Board Member MPISCC
In February 2020, I became a 38-year member of MPI. I can’t begin to tell you the value of my membership – both personally and professionally. When I joined MPI in 1982, I was a supplier with a hotel company searching for new business from MPI. My rewards by joining have gone way beyond any expectations I might have had.
I have gained lifelong friendships, job opportunities, training and education, exposure to every possible venue imaginable, including new venues that open every year. I have met and continue to meet people who have inspired me and have taught me that the meeting business is just beginning and continues to grow.
After September 11, 2001, we mourned and prayed. The government in Washington, DC, came out against large corporations and their incentive meetings, which was a setback for our industry. But, MPI worked closely with associations that sent lobbyists to Washington where they proved to the legislators the value we bring to our economy and the world once again recognized the millions of jobs and billions of dollars that we put into the economy.
Some say this recession is killing our industry and making it impossible to find jobs. Ha! We have survived and thrived through many recessions – and the virus of 2020 is no different. I remember when some of us waited in line for gas in 1978, when we could only get gas on odd or even days, depending on your license plate number. Many of us have said, “Stay alive till ’95!” as we watched hotels foreclose, friends jump from job to job, and families suffer with the demands and moves that were involved. Connections I have made through MPI have provided me with jobs during tough economic times.
It has been exciting to see businesses recognize and value their employees by training and rewarding them for their loyalty and hard work with promotions and salary increases. I’ve seen friends whom I worked with at the front desk become general managers, revenue managers, directors of marketing and human resource professionals.
My favorite part of our industry is reading contracts. While many find it dull and boring, I love the intricacies of verbiage and the deep respect found in negotiating not to “win”, but rather to compromise and feel that both parties gained “a deal” with their contract.
I’ve seen the fear of teleconferencing morph into one of many uses and enjoyed, as expanding audiences around the world tuned in. Tools such as meeting software, Twitter, iPad, cell phones, Snapchat, Zoom and emails all have enhanced our industry; we adapt, grow, learn and innovate.
Being a Board Member of my local chapter for three years, I learned the inner workings of MPI; not only how to run the chapter as a business, but as an association sharing goals and objectives internationally. We learned how to develop young talent into future leaders.
By volunteering to facilitate the CMP Study Class for nine years in conjunction with the Southern California Chapter, I stayed current and up-to-date on industry trends, verbiage and expectations. Without MPI I would not have had the opportunity to teach (volunteer and paid) at a local colleges (UCLA, Cal State-Long Beach and Cal State University Dominguez Hills); volunteer to do basic meeting planning training for new planners and work on committees to encourage future membership in MPI at local colleges. I was awarded two scholarships (one to travel to an international conference and another to pay for my training to take the CMP exam), which would not have been possible had I not been involved in more than 46 different committees and been a board member during my 38 years with MPI.
I am proud to be a member of MPI, and I’m grateful for all the opportunities it has afforded me. MPI has enriched my life and can enrich yours as well.