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PCMATODAY Backing theFuture ofVirtual

December 2011

With its investment in the Virtual Edge Institute, PCMA is proclaiming its support for—not to mention its lack of fear of— hybrid and virtual meetings and events.

In October, PCMA President and CEO Deborah Sexton, PCMA Chairman Susan Katz, and Virtual Edge Institute (VEI) Executive Director Michael Doyle took to the online airwaves for an interactive, streaming press conference to announce PCMA’s strategic investment in VEI. VEI debuted its Virtual Edge Summit, the only confer-

resources to accelerate and build upon those programs.” PCMA’s investment sends a clear signal that the association does not view virtual technology as a threat to live events, but rather as a natural outgrowth of them. “Virtual and hybrid events are playing a critical role in expanding our audience and increasing business oppor- tunities,” Sexton said. “PCMA recognizes the fundamen-

ence devoted entirely to hybrid and virtual events, in 2008. Last January, the summit co-located with PCMA Convening Leaders in Las Vegas—and will do so again next month in San Diego. PCMA’s new investment will allow VEI to develop programs that will push the vir- tual and hybrid events industry forward. VEI has already developed a certification program for “Digital Event Strategists” (DES), and will debut six DES modules at Virtual Edge Summit 2012 in San Diego, allowing interest- ed meeting professionals to begin working toward their certification. “We’re also talking with other associations and

organizations that are interested in sharing this educa- tion with their members,” Doyle said. “Now we have the

tal changes that are taking place, and we see the tremendous opportunity to be a leader in the discussion on behalf of our members as they shape the future of the meetings industry.” Sexton continued: “Furthermore, there is a tremen-

dous need for educating the industry on how to best plan, deploy, and manage these digital programs, and VEI is the source for this specialized education. Our invest- ment in VEI enables this education to reach our mem- bers, and the industry as a whole, much faster and on a global basis.” To watch an archived video of the online press

conference announcing the investment, visit http://bit.ly/VEI-press-conference.

14 TRUE ‘VROMANCE’: For an independent take on the PCMA/VEI announcement, see Michelle Bruno’s blog post “Why PCMA’s

Investment in the Virtual Edge Institute Means More Than Just Cash,” at http://bit.ly/bruno-blog-post. pcma convene December 2011 www.pcma.org