By Astrid Zeppenfeld
The President of Maritz Global Events grew up in Ohio and moved from San Diego to Saint Louis to take on the leadership of Maritz in June of 2011. His family quickly came to love the city of Saint Louis by working their way down the list of Things-You-Must-Do, which he requested from his new employees before the Peckinpaugh family moved here.
When asked to describe himself in one word, his typical answer is, “I’m a connector.” Being an out-going leader and having spent his entire career in the hospitality industry, he has a mental rolodex of names from all areas and walks of life. In conversations, he can conjure up the name of someone he thinks you should connect with. The next thing you know, your own rolodex possesses a new name and contact information because of David
Peckinpaugh’s extensive connections.
His employees are quick to point out the open door policy and how much they appreciate the overall culture of the company promoted by their humble, visionary leader. The company’s signature core value to “First, take good care of each other”, has not only been implemented by David Peckinpaugh; he lives it every day and takes it beyond the walls of his company. He explains, “This core value is a multiple stakeholder model for us. So when we say Take good care of each other, we are referring to our employees, our clients, our suppliers, and also the communities that we live and operate programs in.”
According to Maritz’ website, “David is a board member of the U.S. Travel Association, […] the Meetings Means Business Coalition and Chairman of the PCMA Education Foundation. He also serves on [different] advisory boards and [..] is a Certified Meeting Planner (CMP) by the Convention Industry Council and […] an honorary Master Designer with Maritz’ Behavior Sciences and Innovation.” His various accolades include the “MPI Rise Award’s Meetings Industry Leadership, the Joint Meetings Industry Council’s Unity Award, Incentive Travel Council’s Advocate of the Year and one of Successful Meetings’ 25 Most Influential People.”
MM&E
Astrid Zeppenfeld is a writer and MM&E’s editor/business development manager from St. Louis.
