The executive committees of Meeting Professionals International (MPI) and the National Business Travel  Association (NBTA) met during MPI’s 2005 Professional Education Conference-North America (PEC-NA) to renew the associations’ partnership and discuss future collaboration that will benefit NBTA and MPI members.

MPI and NBTA have common goals of providing member value and ensuring that organizations effectively use face-to-face meetings and business travel to achieve key organizational goals.

To meet those goals, the initiative will include partnering on education, such as presenting at each other’s events and opportunities for NBTA and MPI members to attend events held by the other group, as well as collaboration on industry position papers, as appropriate.

According to Colin Rorrie, Jr., PhD, CAE, “Our partnership with NBTA is an example of what I call, ‘the power of the partnership’ and collaborating with our peers for the good of the industry. As meeting professionals and corporate travel professionals work more closely together within many organizations, it makes sense for us to provide education and position papers that will benefit all constituents of MPI and NBTA.”

NBTA President & CEO, Carol A. Devine, CCTE, said, “This is a win-win partnership for NBTA and MPI. NBTA research shows that the vast majority of travel managers are already involved in some way in meetings within their companies..

As the strategic meetings management concept grows, the collaboration between meeting planers and travel managers will only increase. By working together, NBTA and MPI can provide resources to empower both groups of constituents to benefit from each other’s expertise.”

Future collaboration also may include joint research projects. The original agreement was signed in August 2003 to encourage cooperation and networking in the meetings and corporate travel industry and enhance the shared synergies between these leading trade associations.