PCMA Events Digital & Hybrid Strategy Think Tank Chicago
Sept. 13–14
Global Professionals Conference Las Vegas
Oct. 11–12
Medical Planner Think Tank Detroit
Nov. 13–14
Mark Your Calendar Industry Events
ASAE Annual Meeting Dallas
Aug. 11–14
CIBTM (China Incentive, Business Travel & Meetings Exhibition) Beijing
Sept. 12–14
IMEX America Las Vegas
Oct. 9–11
PCMA Goes South
In May, PCMA partnered with MCI to host panel discussions for the fast-growing planner and supplier communities in São Paulo, Brazil, and Buenos Aires, Argentina, in conjunction with Association Days in the South American cities. The discussions were led by PCMA staff including Sherrif Karamat, CAE, chief operating officer, and Michelle Stoddard, manager of global development and programs. They were joined by PCMA Board of Directors member Ray Kopcinski, CMP, director of meeting services for Million Dollar Roundtable, and former PCMA Board of Directors Chairman Leigh Wintz, CAE, principal consultant for Tecker International. For more about the meetings, see convn.org/meet-in-sa.
CHAPTER CORNER
Win the Ultimate Prize (Limo Included)
PCMA members know the value of belong- ing, so why not help spread the word? Member support is critical to the growth of the organization. As a thank-you, members will receive a $5 Starbucks gift card for the first member they recruit. And individu- als who recruit the most new members in 2012 will be eligible to win a grand prize: the Ultimate 2013 Convening Leaders Experience in Orlando, which includes two round-trip airline vouchers on Delta; five nights’ hotel, with upgrade, at one of Convening Leaders’ headquarter hotels; complimentary meeting registration for the annual meeting, held Jan. 13–16, 2013; limo transfer to and from the airport; five reserved front-row seats at general ses- sions; and more. Find details and prize rules at pcma.org/membership.htm.
Capitalizing on Smaller Events
With more than 1,500 members, general- membership meetings at the Capital Chapter
in Washington, D.C., are typically big. That’s a sign of a strength — but smaller groups allow members to delve a little deeper, said Capital Chapter President Karin Soyster Fitzgerald, CMP, CAE, vice president for membership services for the American Bakers Association. That’s why the chapter periodically
limits meeting size, like at its sold- out Planner Forum on June 6, which brought 44 planners together for a presentation by Vinnie Polito, above, managing director of VP International, on how to attract more professionals to meetings.
New Models Stay in touch through
PCMA’s blogs, including monthly updates from PCMA 2012 Chairman Kent Allaway, CEM, CMP, via his Chairman’s Blog. Allaway recently posted about an innovative exhibiting partnership between the Produce Marketing Association, where Allaway serves as vice president for meetings and trade shows, and the National Grocers Association:
“ ‘Co-opetition’ was a short- lived buzzword about 10 years ago, but was it just ahead of its time? … Where competitors refused to consider cooperation before, they now find themselves forced to look for new ways to reduce expenses, while providing superior value to a more knowledgeable audience.” Read more at convn.org/ chairman-blog.
Help Wanted? Find and post meeting
planning and convention and exhibit sales jobs — as well as executive- and entry-level positions in the meetings and conventions industry — in PCMA’s online Career Center. You’ll find a job board, along with industry career news and job-hunting tips, at pcma.org/careers.htm.