The 2000th member of Meeting Professionals International (MPI), in the EMEA region, joined while attending EIBTM 2007 in Barcelona. Christoph Tessmar, congress manager for Sanofi Aventis, is now part of the MPI Spain Chapter.

“We are delighted to have signed up the 2000th member of MPI in Europe at EIBTM 2007,” said Joyce Dogniez, CMM, MPI director of operations EMEA. “The European chapters are becoming increasingly established with more industry professionals joining and reaping the benefits that an MPI membership offers. We expect numbers to carry on rising over the next few months as The European Meetings and Events Conference and other key initiatives take place in the region.”

MPI’s first European chapter was the Italia Chapter established in April 1991. MPI now has 11 chapters in 12 different European countries. The latest addition is the Spain Chapter, which was officially chartered on 27 February 2006, and already has 153 members. Their recruitment efforts have been very successful and the fast growing chapter contributed to the 2000th member while MPI was exhibiting in its home country.

“In a quickly evolving and rapidly globalising economy, it is crucial for meeting professionals to be aware of the key changes taking place,” said Didier Scaillet – MPI vice-president of global development. “The world is now a global marketplace offering them increased opportunities, but also a fiercer competitive environment. With this new milestone in Europe, MPI demonstrates its commitment to provide each of its community members with the global connections and resources to ensure their success in the 21st century.”