The Boundless Potential of Bishop-McCann CEO Rob Adams

 

A meetings industry CEO who has given back throughout his career is set to give MPI a year as chair of its International Board of Directors (IBOD) beginning January 1, with another year after that as immediate past chair.

Anyone who has held a leadership position on an active board should know what type of commitment they’re making. When all is said and done at the end of 2027, Rob Adams, CEO of industry heavyweight event management firm Bishop-McCann, will have given six years to an association he loves and considers key to his success.

During that time, Adams—who has an infectious personality that makes him a leader people can’t help but follow—held positions that included being the board liaison to MPI’s Anti-Human Trafficking Committee, liaison to Canada and positions on the organization’s finance committee, including as its chair.

He also was unflinchingly in the trenches during the most calamitous time in the meetings industry as COVID-19 tore through in-person events like a hurricane. It was an era so distressing that many still  suffer a type of PTSD, hesitant to even speak the name of the great calamity.

“There's that hesitation of people talking about it,” Adams agreed, then turned on his relentless positivity. “I actually like to lean in and talk about it. I think that the pandemic was one of the most challenging times that our industry went through, and I have to say it was also one of those pinnacle moments when the very best comes out. What comes to mind is the word ‘purpose.’ When you saw the industry come together the way we did, I thought as an industry, we really accelerated innovation.”

Like many stories in the modern era of the meetings industry, Michael Dominguez, CEO of ALHI, is central in the dialogue.

“Someone on my team [at Kansas City-based Bishop-McCann] was the president of the local chapter of MPI and had the opportunity to see the impact that MPI locally had. Michael Dominguez was in Kansas City and we had a great conversation. He said, ‘You should get more involved with MPI.’ Michael introduced me to [Encore SVP and then IBOD Chair] Amanda Armstrong, who recommended that I apply to the board.

“It’s all MPI,” Adams continued. “It’s really become the conduit of the relationships that I have in my life.”

Adams’ International Board Goals

For his term as chair of IBOD, Adams said he will emphasize MPI’s core goals: education for its members and championing the perception of the meetings industry to those outside of it.

“When we meet, we change the world,” he said, repeating MPI’s motto. “I think we, as an industry, underestimate the impact and influence that we have on the world. When I think about our industry today, and you think about the future of our industry, people are really looking for two things in life and in their career: They’re looking for impact and they're looking for purpose. And I think that our industry has a very special place for those, and as I think about new professionals coming into our industry, and I think about the current meeting professionals, education is going to be a key focus for us, so the [MPI] Academy is an area where there's a lot of investment and focus on.

“I love talking to people about careers, not even just in our industry, right?” he continued. “And when I talk to people that are thinking about their career, and I talk about what is the thing they want to do, there are keywords that always show up: ‘I want to have an impact in the world; I want to have purpose and meaning.’”

Entrepreneurial Beginnings

Besides his amiable leadership abilities, Adams was also an entrepreneur from an early age before blazing a trail at one of the biggest corporations on Earth.

“I started the LaMar’s Donuts company [in Las Vegas] when I was 23 years of age and I ended up selling that business to [tennis great] Andre Agassi,” Adams recalled, adding that he started the company shortly after Krispy Kreme donuts went public and being challenged by a friend who said no one would ever be able to compete with the comfort pastry giant. “And then I got out of that, and nobody would hire me because they thought of me as the ‘donut kid.’ I had a customer who worked for Microsoft, where I spent the next 12 years of my career. My last role that I had there was the general manager of Microsoft Canada.”

It was at Microsoft Canada where Adams showed his true mettle.

“Even though I was at Microsoft, I was in a division that was 13th out of 13 countries in terms of performance,” he said. “I saw potential for people in that business—what gets me excited is when I see potential in someone or something that they don't see—and I wanted to be a part of it. I love being part of a turn-around. Microsoft Canada was considered to be career suicide [at the time].”

After a successful stint at Microsoft, Adams was recruited by Bishop-McCann Founder Dan Nilsen to be on its board, leading to a career that  has lasted 10 years. The seemingly endless potential of the meetings industry is why he joined and also why he has stayed put.

“The reason why I got into this industry is I saw so much potential that I don't think people had realized at the time,” he said. "I still see that, and I still see people get excited about being in this industry.”

A Core Belief in Giving Back

Hailing from a lower-middle-class family in the Kansas City suburb of Raytown, Missouri, Adams taps his roots to feed his future, valuing his mentors and extending his guidance to those coming up.

“I’ve never forgotten something that someone once told me: ‘With opportunity comes responsibility,’” he said, “and I've been fortunate in my life to have really good mentors.”

Adams pays it forward by working with organizations such as Big Brothers Big Sisters of America as well as Young Professionals Association (YPO), a global leadership community of chief executives.

It was his involvement with Big Brothers Big Sisters that resulted in one of his most cherished relationships.

“His name’s Jorge and we’ve been together for almost 15 years,” Adams said of the young man he’s mentored for nearly a decade and a half. “When I met him, I saw the potential in him that he didn't see. Fast-forward to today and he's now working at Morgan Stanley and was the first in his family to graduate from high school.  

“One thing someone said to me that is such a true statement is that leadership can be a lonely place,” Adams summed up, “and it's really important to have people in your life that you can pick up the phone, that you can share the things that are working well but also that are not working well—to have people in your life that are your personal advisor.”