The Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA), with support from the PCMA Education Foundation, announced the launch of the “Industry Business Forum for Local Leaders” series.
The invitation-only program is designed for global convention center and destination marketing organization (DMO) executives and their local board members and policy makers with programming focused on how strategic industry business issues impact their organizations and local communities. PCMA’s 2012 CEO Summit was the original incubator for the forum series.
The forum program content was developed by PCMA staff and leadership along with the professional support and guidance from Bruce MacMillan, chief executive of Bandwidth Management, and Roger Rickard, founder of Revent. MacMillan and Rickard also will function as the program moderators and will lead the panel discussions with noted industry leaders and client executives.
“Bruce and Roger are the ideal contributors and facilitators for this program,” said Deborah Sexton, president and CEO, PCMA. “Bruce is particularly plugged into the challenges of DMOs and their constituents, backed by his years of industry experience and his previous CEO position in Toronto. Roger is a well-respected industry advocacy expert and excels in the development and deployment of actionable campaigns.”
Forum-invited participants will be able to channel their energies into a series of direct confidential and informational dialogues with top industry experts as well as through group format discussions and case studies with their peers from around the world. Attendees will leave the forum with key business knowledge on global industry trends and tools to articulate and deploy messaging on the value of the meetings industry in their respective community leadership roles as well as an enriched and ongoing network of global industry contacts.
The first Industry Business Leader Forum for Local Leaders is scheduled for Jan. 13 at the Hilton Orlando in Orlando and is sponsored by IMEX America. Subsequent forums will be held throughout 2013 with future dates to be announced.
In addition to the forum, PCMA will also host its fourth-annual CEO Summit immediately following the forum on Jan. 13. The CEO Summit brings together leaders in destination and facility management for high-level collaboration and sharing of information. The summit is the only industry gathering that facilitates private discussion around the issues that are affecting the participants’ respective businesses and collaboration around forward-thinking industry initiatives.
“In the dynamic global economic environment coupled with increasingly sophisticated needs of a changing meetings industry, the CEO Summit offers leaders a unique opportunity to share ideas, examine options and listen to experts on various topics,” said Sexton. “This is an extremely important annual gathering where many topics have been advanced for the betterment of the industry. PCMA will continue to hold this meeting each January.”
The CEO Summit is sponsored by the Destination Marketing Association International.
PCMA is the multi-channel professional resource and educator for leaders in the meetings, conventions, events and tradeshow industries. PCMA provides its 6,300 members with a community of like-minded colleagues, innovative education and creative global solutions to enhance both their professional development and their organization’s face-to-face and virtual connections. Headquartered in Chicago, PCMA has 17 chapters throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico with members in more than 35 countries.
The role of the Education Foundation is to support the mission of PCMA through fundraising and grant-giving focused on scholarships, education and research that will advance the meetings and conventions industry. Established in 1985, the foundation fuels advancement, nurtures professional development and shapes tomorrow’s meeting and convention leaders.
