Dallas -- Five employees of Meeting Professionals International (MPI) were terminated yesterday in a staff shake-up initiated by the association's new chief executive, Bruce MacMillan.
Among those terminated were marketing vice president Edjuan Bailey, marketing director Paula Nourse, and research director Dawn Myers, according to MPI spokeswoman Kathryn Goldstein. An information technology analyst and an advertising sales representative were also terminated, she said.
Goldstein attributed the shake-up to the association's new direction under MacMillan, who joined MPI in December following a nearly four-year stint as chief executive of the Toronto convention association.
"We're going in a different direction," Goldstein said. "Personnel follows that."
Meanwhile, MPI yesterday announced that Katie Callahan-Giobbi, the senior vice president of sales, service, and membership for the Los Angeles convention bureau since 2004, has been appointed executive vice president with staff responsibility for the MPI Foundation and strategic partnerships.
In addition, Didier Scaillet was promoted to vice president of global development from director of European operations and global development. Scaillet will lead MPI's strategic expansion into new markets.
The largest association of meeting planners, MPI has more than 21,000 members in 68 chapters located in 20 countries.
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