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MPI’s new CEO moves in
Paul Van Deventer will be in the office today, his first day as CEO and president of Meeting Professionals International.
But in the next 60 to 90 days, he plans to be doing a lot of traveling. And a lot of listening.
After setting up a residence near MPI headquarters in Texas, he plans to spend a few weeks listening to his employee base, hoping to understand what they’re working on and where they think MPI can be more effective.
Next on his agenda is listening to MPI’s membership and Board, getting to know and understand their concerns and where they see opportunities for the organization to grow.
"We have 20,000 members, and that’s a lot of people to listen to," Van Deventer said in an exclusive interview with TravelMole.
"The core for me in the beginning is understanding what is top of mind for our members, spending time in the industry to get up to speed about what’s been happening and reengaging with the industry."
That’s not to say that he doesn’t have a vision of his own, though.
Van Deventer said the meeting space is healthy in the US, more so throughout Asia and South America, and strong in Europe, and he sees a lot of opportunity to expand the industry’s presence and importance.
MPI is well positioned to be the voice and advocate for the meetings industry, as well as a great professional development and networking organization for the individuals who work in and support meetings.
"MPI’s vision today is to build a rich global industry community, and I think there’s a big role around advocacy and professional development," he said.
What attracted him to the job from the very first discussions was the combination of the excitement of being back in the travel world, and working with MPI’s "passionate and engaged organization and community."
The search committee, the employees, and a lot of former colleagues from travel all were consistently passionate and engaged, he said, and he came to share their belief in the industry and MPI’s vision for it.
There were two great levers in his decision: A great industry, and an organization that has an incredible brand, following, and community.
If he could ask anything of his new colleagues, Van Deventer said, "I want them to be comfortable, to provide me with open feedback.
"If you could, please reach out to me."
By Cheryl Rosen
Cheryl
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