MPI laid off 10 employees in an “organizational restructuring” to reduce the association’s operating budget by 12-15%, according to an initial newsletter report from USAE, an association industry news provider.
MPI clarified in a press release that additional positions were also created in the restructuring effort, including the promotion of Marianne Strobel—currently an executive marketing consultant—to senior VP of marketing & community and Matthew Marcial—previously senior director of events— to VP of education & events.
The leadership appointments, which include two new hires and two promotions, are as follows:
Marianne Strobel – Senior Vice President of Marketing & Community
Strobel is charged with managing MPI’s Membership, Chapter Operations, Creative Services, Brand Marketing and Communications teams. She is a seasoned executive with 25+ years of experience in strategic marketing, sales and communications, and has previously held leadership positions with Alorica, AT&T and Sprint. Strobel has served as a consultant for MPI for the past few months and will assume the new role on October 3rd.
Matthew Marcial, CAE, CMP – Vice President of Education & Events
Marcial previously served as MPI’s senior director of events and has been with the association since 2014. He now has oversight of MPI’s global events portfolio and the MPI Academy educational products, experiences and professional certificate programs. Prior to MPI, Matthew previously led the Meetings & Education Department at NAFA Fleet Management Association and the Meetings & Events Department at the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists.
Evan Casey – Vice President of Sales
Casey previously served as senior director of business development. He was with Plan Your Meetings for 16 years before MPI acquired it in November 2015. In this new role, Casey is responsible for leading the association’s business development team in global sales efforts.
Bernie Schraer – Vice President of Revenue & Channel Development
Schraer has served as a consultant for MPI for the past 18 months. In this new role, he manages MPI’s Strategic Alliance, Plan Your Meeting Audience Development, and Publishing teams. Schraer was previously with Northstar Travel Media for 24 years, where he most recently served as senior VP/group publisher.
“We are confident the realignment as well as the additional appointments we made will position MPI very well for long-term financial sustainability," said Paul Van Deventer, president and CEO of MPI. "The decision to restructure our organization was not made lightly, but we believe it will strengthen our team so we can better serve our members and the industry."
In addition, MPI announced that Diane Hawkins, MPI’s VP of people, performance and administrative services has assumed responsibility for the Volunteer Experience Team, which manages board relations and governance. Jodi Ann LaFreniere Ray, MPI’s current VP of membership and volunteer experience, will depart in mid-November; she has been selected as the incoming executive director and CEO of the Texas Society of CPAs.
Correction: September 22, 2016
An earlier version of this article misstated the number of employees laid off at MPI. MPI confirmed that 10 employees were impacted by the cuts made during the restructuring of the organization, not 15, as originally reported.
