Complaint Review: Meeting Professionals International -

For MPI South Florida / Hospitality Coalition members and associates  – which includes organizations / companies as , Ft Lauderdale Convention and Visitors Bureau, American Cancer Association, Hilton Hotels of Florida, Sheraton hotels in Florida, Boca Chamber of Commerce, Ancomp DMC, Kaye Communications, Saffer & Company (and let’s not forget Debbe Barker with Flipfold LLC Florida) – everyone that has been made aware of the complaint regarding Crystal Bay Caterers Sam LoPiccolo inappropriate behavior (i.e. dropping his pants and pressing his bottom them against someone without their consent) – and responding in silence, or worse – threatening phone calls and emails, not just to myself, but to my wife – threaten to take “appropriate action” against me for exposing their organization as part of the network of complicity of sexual harassment – these same organizations that still rewards companies like Crystal Bay owner Sam LoPiccolo with more business and endorsements after being made aware of said facts.

You all might want to look up the Miami Herald today (7/23/2018) google “Georgia lawmaker screams N-word and drops pants on TV in ‘Who is America?’ by By Scott Berson July 23, 2018 10:32 AM to see how we handle such inappropriate behavior here in Georgia. Up here in Georgia, we do not consider this behavior of Rep. Jason Spencer appropriate or funny –the same behavior (regarding his pants and bottom) that Crystal Bay Caterers owner Sam LoPiccolo has been reported for in this report.   Both Sam LoPiccolo, and community members reaction is that this is acceptable behavior and I was the problem.  As you can see, up here in Georgia, we have a different view.  To be fair, the Miami Herald today seems to agree with us by calling this behavior “bizarre and graphic” and that this person “disgraced himself” and should “should issue a public apology for this shameful incident” and “There is no excuse for this type of behavior, ever”

One difference between Spencer and Sam LoPiccolo – “Spencer apologized for the “ridiculously ugly” segment but refused to resign, according to the AJC. “  Last email I got from Sam LoPiccolo he stated I was the one who should apologize to him for reporting his actions (not that they were untrue, just that I reported the actions/events).  Sam LoPiccolo first email to my wife (and again, not me, but my wife) he stated I should just “get over it.”

Of course, this does not address the issues of Sanitation reports on Crystal Bay Caterers owner Sam LoPiccolo – but at this point, if anyone still thinks Crystal Bay Caterers owner Sam LoPiccolo is a reputable company that is worthy of your business and money, what is the point ……

MPI, I am still waiting for a response to my letter I sent over two weeks ago– the above is just further evidence of your absurd press releases claiming some leadership position in addressing issues like sexual harassment. 

I have gotten some feedback MPI is made up of only hospitality volunteers, they are not like GE – a money making corporation, and thus my standards of behavior is too high and unfair. Let me address that feedback.

MPI is a Corporation, and thus revenue and key executive salaries are public record - some web sites estimate MPI revenue to be over 13 million a year (Paul VanDeventer, MPI President and CEO LinkedIn page claims annual revenues ranging from “$150MM to $1,000MM” – his number must be factoring in the new revenue stream of Sexual Harassment classes)

On web site Comparably, out of the roughly 350 employees “The average estimated compensation for executives at Meeting Professionals International, including base salary and bonus, is $270,302, or $129 per hour. The median estimated compensation for executives at Meeting Professionals International including base salary and bonus is $252,536, or $121 per hour. At Meeting Professionals Inte rnational, the most compensated executive makes $720,000, annually, and the lowest compensated makes $52,000.

With numbers like this, again – Meeting Professionals or Planners (the title du jour) International has no excuses for such an unprofessional and incompetent way they handled this (and probably other) sexual harassment report.

MPI is not an Organization just made up of volunteers, it is a money making Corporation with a CEO in spitting distance of 1 million a year in compensation (probably more, if you consider soft, non-reported  competition; like never having to pay for a hotel room, or always getting upgraded at catering events, restaurants, airlines and such).

MPI is a corporation attempting to commercializing sexual harassment and its victims – or potential victims -  as a new revenue stream. Actually, I be okay with that, if they just did a competent, good faith job. Otherwise, they should go back to their original business model, providing sales opportunities to companies that sale goods and services to meeting planners.

Society for Human Resources Management has a lot of good documentation, and when I say documentation, I do not mean press releases patting themselves on the back for something -The MPI Sexual Harressment program, when pressed, is clearly equivocal at best (that is giving MPI the benefit that they are not being dishonest or negligent - just not showing good judgement and really thinking things out on a subject that already has caused a person harm and their actions just causes more harm, at min - by giving false hope of justice).   

The online article is "shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/employee-relations/pages/whatnottodo.aspx"   - or you  can google "

What Not to Do with Employee Complaints By Rebecca R. Hastings, SPHR Jan 26, 2011

Whatever the specifics behind the MPI program is (to date, besides press releases claiming how great they and their program is - I have been unable to get a straight answer on what it is) - they should read this article, some specific points they should focus on 

• Ignoring the complainer in meetings, in e-mails and during office activities.
• Rushing to judgment and taking sides.
• Threatening action or criticizing an employee for filing a charge
• Firing, demoting, disciplining (or in this case some ambiguous " dealt with accordingly" put down) the worker or otherwise treating the employee differently.

My suggestion to MPI - if this was something that happened within my company, I would not go to the Sales Office, the Marketing Office, or the Office that plans parties or meetings.  I go to an office staffed by professionals trained and experience in said events - the Human Resources Office.  The fact that it was a HR SHRM certified "professional" - though sadly ironic, is more of a personal failing than a profession failing.  I have a certification in Disaster Recovery for Enterprise IT systems - most people with my certification are very competent; but I will admit there are some exceptions to that rule for even certification - there are some people with my certification I would not trust to recover a document I deleted, but was still in my desktop recycle bin.

When I was in the hotel/convention business and a member of MPI, I remember in 1990 ADA was just coming out. Back then MPI seemed more professional and sober, less flashy and self-promoting - In Atlanta we had a MPI training program, done by a lawyer, that reviewed the new ADA laws coming out, it was a good education event.  You will not find a record of this program of awareness or social responsibility on the internet, they did not do any flashy press releases or have senior MPI members giving noble quotes - because the focus was not self-promotion, it was professionalism. They did not form a committee of political appointees within their ranks, they got a lawyer who specialized in the subject matter to do the presenting and offering suggestions on internal programs to meet the new ADA requirements. 

MPI should go back to that strategy - Victims of Sexual Harassment have enough barriers/problems without MPI, through what appears to be pure opportunism, giving false hope of a viable recourse to right a wrong. Again - this is assuming best intentions gone bad. If MPI chooses to proceed it would indicate my first claim it is a scam would sadly seem to be the correct one.