The MPI Board of Directors voted to raise dues for supplier members by $125, effective July 2011, to an annual rate of $450.
In a statement announcing the increase, MPI Chairman of the Board Eric Rozenberg said the additional revenue is needed to support such areas as professional development at the chapter level and promotional efforts pertaining to the business value of meetings.
“Despite accelerating member needs for rich professional development and marketing opportunities, the Board has not increased dues for seven years,” he said. “However, as the professional demands and expectations on meeting professionals become more complex, MPI is committed to make the necessary investment in the success of our members for the long term.”
Rozenberg added that MPI’s member dues “remain among the lowest in the meetings and events industry for the potential value suppliers can accrue through the connections to the global planning buying power of $16.9 billion USD.”
The dues increase sparked negative reaction from MPI members on the Meetings Focus Forum discussion board, with some questioning the fairness of making supplier members bear the sole burden of a dues increase.
While “strongly in favor of stronger chapter education,” Joan Eisenstodt, a 31-year planner member of MPI, posted that she “is not in favor of unequal memberships nor of suppliers footing the bill for everything.”
“This change seems arbitrary and biased not only against suppliers, but specifically smaller suppliers who are not blessed with large corporate backing” said Jon Trask, a supplier member who is senior account director for Grass Shack Events & Media. “The $125 could exclude me from attending three local chapter meetings, which in turn harms my local chapter and makes the membership less valuable for me as a networking and educational opportunity.”
Charles Chan Massey, president of Synaxis Meetings & Events, who recently changed his MPI membership from planner to supplier, said he believes a more equitable alternative would have been for planners and suppliers alike to pay a more modest $50 increase in dues.
“It has been many years since dues have increased—why the change now to blatantly discriminate against one segment of our membership,” he said. “I’m sure it [MPI] will continue to ask supplier members to sponsor as well—everything seems to have a price tag associated with it.”
Anyone who would like to join in on this discussion is encouraged to go to the Meetings Focus Forum section of this website (www.MeetingsFocusForum.com). First-time participants in the Forum will need to register.
