MPI’s 2007 Professional Education Conference–North America (PEC–NA) was held Jan. 20-23 in the Crescent City, with more than 2,600 delegates in attendance.
According to MPI officials, the association had a pre-conference target of attracting 2,400 delegates to the show, which ended up being the second-largest attended show in the history of the PEC–NA, falling short of the association’s 2005 San Diego conference by approximately 50 attendees.
The 2007 PEC–NA marked the debut of MPI’s new president and CEO, Bruce M. MacMillan, who took the helm of the association in December.
According to MacMillan and Mark S. Andrew, chairman of the board of MPI, the association is increasing its efforts to reach out to those entering the workforce in order to build membership and compete with other industries in enticing people to choose meeting planning as a career.
“Our industry is going to have to compete for human capital just like any other industry,” MacMillan said. “That’s why we have to keep having more people coming into the industry.”
MPI is also putting an emphasis on globalization, according to Andrew.
“[Meeting planners] are seeing that it’s not just about the U.S.,” Andrew said. “Business is evolutionary. People are doing business around the world. If we don’t open our eyes to the difference in cultures, we’re going to shoot ourselves in the foot.”
The 2007 PEC-NA was also a major media event within New Orleans, whose tourism industry was devastated by Hurricane Katrina, although most primary tourist areas suffered minimal damage.
Although the city’s French Quarter, which weathered the calamitous storm with little damage, seemed a bit less active than before the storm, the typical sights, smells and sounds of the famed historic district were still enjoyed to the fullest by a somewhat smaller throng of beaded, drink-clutching visitors.
While the New Orleans Metropolitan CVB (NOCVB) continues its battle to convince a skeptical public to visit the Crescent City, it is persuading the bulk of its meetings clients to honor their previous commitments to hold meetings in New Orleans, according to Kelly Schulz, vice president of communications and public relations for the NOCVB.
