The Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) is the leading organization for meetings and event professionals. Its mission is to deliver superior and innovative education and promote the value of professional convention management.
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PCMA represents nearly 6,000 meetings industry leaders including planner professionals, suppliers, faculty and students. Members are categorized as either professionals or suppliers depending on their job function.
PCMA provides top-level education through innovative experiential learning sessions, extraordinary networking opportunities, and high-level discussions on the industry's most challenging issues. Programs include the Annual Meeting, Executive Edge, The Masters Series, “On-the-Go!” Webinars, CMP Online Prep and much more.
PCMA began in 1956 with its first Annual Meeting held in Philadelphia and incorporated as an organization shortly after in 1957. Initially, PCMA was designed to be a networking association for health care association executives. Throughout the years, PCMA's initial focus shifted to providing both networking and educational opportunities for meeting professionals at all levels, plus suppliers, faculty and students. Currently, PCMA represents nearly 6,000 members from 16 chapters in the United States and Canada.
PCMA has published Convene; magazine since 1986. Convene is one of the meeting industry's premier monthly magazines and provides in-depth information on all aspects of meeting management to more than 30,000 subscribers. Convene is the recipient of numerous awards, including the 2003 EXCEL Society of National Association Publications Gold Award.
PCMA's current president and CEO is Deborah Sexton, a 30-year veteran of the meetings and convention industry. Prior to joining PCMA in March 2005, she served as President of the Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau. Sexton is also president of PCMA's Education Foundation.
The role of the PCMA Education Foundation is to support the mission of PCMA through fundraising and grant giving focused on education and research that will benefit the meetings and convention industry.
In 1985, PCMA established the PCMA Education Foundation. The role of the Foundation is to support educational programs to improve professionalism in the meetings industry and to provide university-level meeting management curriculum through fundraising and grant giving. Each year, a new Board of Trustees is elected to lead the Foundation and is supported by the work of committees and task forces. Four fundraising events are held by the Foundation each year; these events are: Dinner Celebrating Professional Achievement, The PCMA Education Foundation Partnership Summit, Party With a Purpose, and The Silent Auction. These events allow the Foundation to fund student scholarships, provide grants for meetings industry research and education initiatives, and fund communities in need.
Since 1956, PCMA's signature educational event has been its Annual Meeting. Over the years, attendance has grown from six in 1956 to more than 3,000 in 2008. The meeting takes place each January and features numerous educational sessions and networking opportunities. Education sessions are designed to deliver new strategies and innovative solutions to attendees. In 2006, PCMA celebrated its 50th Annual Meeting in Philadelphia. Future locations include New Orleans in 2009 and Dallas in 2010.