BCD Meetings & Events, one of the world’s largest independent meeting planning companies, has seen a change at the top. Chief Operating Officer Bruce Morgan has moved into the role of global president, which opened up with Scott Graf’s decision to leave the company.
Graf will work with Morgan (below, left) on the transition through the end of the year; he then plans to jump into a new non-meetings-industry venture with BCD founder John Fentener van Vlissingen. Graf has led the organization since joining the meetings and events division at Chicago-based McCord Corporate Travel in 1997. McCord became WorldTravel Meetings & Incentives through acquisition, which in turn became BCD M
&E in 2006 when BCD Travel formed from the merger of WorldTravel BTI, TQ3 Travel Solutions, and The Travel Company. (BCD M&E is an independently managed operating company of BCD Group and a sister organization of BCD Travel.)
BCD M&E has about 1,900 staff and operates more than 60,000 events a year worldwide. It has expanded significantly during Graf’s tenure, including the addition of the Life Sciences Center of Excellence in 2014; publication of an annual industry trends report starting in 2017; the launch of brand experience agency, The Collective, in 2021; and numerous agency acquisitions.
Morgan is based in Chicago and brings more than 30 years of industry experience to his new role as global president. Nearly 20 of those years have been within BCD M&E; before being named COO in January 2020, he served as senior vice president, meetings management & LATAM.
