Dallas -- Meeting Professionals International (MPI) yesterday announced it will offer four professional meeting-buyer membership categories instead of the current one, effective Sept. 15.
The four categories are the following: corporate; association and non-profit; government; and independent, or what MPI calls meeting management. Suppliers remain grouped into one category, to be named "supplier meeting professional."
"The decision to segment the categories of membership into more specific groupings are reflective of where our membership is today," said MPI chairwoman Christine Duffy.
"In order to evolve the profession," Duffy added, "we must know who our members are and how to deliver relevant education, services and products that will help them gain a seat at the table in their respective organizations and influence the decisions of senior-level executives."
MPI is the largest association of meeting planners, with more than 20,000 members in 68 chapters across the United States, Canada, and Europe.
The association will continue to offer student, faculty, retired, life, and honorary memberships. The dues structure will remain the same, and MPI will continue to maintain an approximate 50-50 balance of buyers and suppliers, the organization said.
MPI also announced that Sandra Riggins, its chief of staff and director of governance, is taking over as the top staff person while the search for a new permanent president continues.
Riggins replaces Mark Andrew, who took a leave of absence from his job as general manager of the Westin Bayshore Resort, in Vancouver, B.C., to serve as interim president since the resignation of Colin Rorrie in March. Andrew is also the incoming chairman of MPI, a position he will assume on July 1.