2010-2011 President’s Message
Robyn Mietkiewicz, CMP 

Welcome to the 2010 – 2011 MPIOC year!  We have an exciting year planned for you packed with unparalleled education, exceptional networking opportunities and many high impact member programs and initiatives, designed to enhance your learning and take your career to the next level.  Your 19 member Board of Directors is committed to doing anything we can to make you, our members successful.  We will accomplish this by building human connections through:

    - Knowledge/Ideas
    - Relationships
    - Marketplace

During our May Board Retreat, we created our Business Plan for the year, which officially kicked off on July 1, 2010.  We will be rolling out some newly improved high impact member programs including:

• The Tim Brown Educational Scholarship, which will sponsor a member’s attendance to the World Education Congress this July in Vancouver, Canada.
• We have a new scholarship that will provide one recipient with the chance to obtain their CMP (Certified Meeting Professional) certification.  The scholarship will cover both the application fee and exam fee.
• Member Assistance Program – will provide new membership and membership renewal for those in need of financial support.
• An improved Ambassador program will better connect you with your Board of Directors while offering you insight to current industry news and initiatives that impact you.
• We will continue our student program to engage young professionals who will become the future of our industry.

In addition to some of these member initiatives, we will be re-evaluating and improving our educational offerings.  A big focus will be on more senior level and advanced educational programs to engage those with 10+ years industry experience.

To improve our educational offerings, we have created an Advisory Council which is one of our Chapter’s newest initiatives.  The Advisory Council is comprised of a very tenured group of meeting professionals with various backgrounds of expertise, including several MPIOC Past Presidents.  The Council will meet on a quarterly basis and will consult the Board throughout the year to ensure that we meet the aforementioned goals.

As you may be aware, serving on the Board is purely on a volunteer basis, and the commitment and passion these individuals have for our Chapter and the advancement of our industry is truly admirable.  With a strong leadership team in place, and a balanced cross-section of planners and suppliers to represent all interests and needs, we are ready to serve you!

I look forward to your participation and feedback making this a highly productive year for us all!

Your Friends and Board of Directors
MPIOC 2010-2011