This episode of Lessons from Leaders is brought to you by Smart Meetings, the go-to source of information for meeting and event professionals. For more information on Smart Meetings, please go to https://www.smartmeetings.com

Our guest on this episode is Paul Van Deventer, the President & CEO of Meeting Professionals International, the world's largest meetings industry association, comprised of more than 18,000 members. As CEO, Paul sets the association’s vision and strategic plan, leads the association’s global staff, manages MPI’s operating budget, oversees all membership programs and services, works closely with MPI’s Board of Directors, and serves as the executive liaison to the MPI Foundation.  

Paul has enjoyed a long, successful, and diverse career. Before he became CEO of MPI seven years ago, he served in several senior level positions with Walgreens, American Express and Mitchell International.

In this podcast, he talks about his career start, the choices he made along the way, and what advice he has for professionals aspiring to reach the C-Suite. He also comments on the resiliency of the meetings industry as it faces its greatest challenge in the face of the global Coronavirus crisis. He is confident that MPI will endure and grow stronger as we all emerge from this horrible pandemic and look forward to a brighter future.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulvandeventer
MPI:        https://www.mpi.org