AMERICAS – Delegates at this week’s Professional Convention Management Association’s (PCMA) annual meeting, Convening Leaders (13-16 January 2013, in Orlando, Florida), are delivering hands-on volunteer help and donating money to several Orlando-based charities, as well as exploring meetings industry blue-sky thinking.
Deborah Sexton, President and CEO, PCMA, says. “The [charity] programmes are one way of expressing our sincere thanks to this tremendous community. After our members leave, we hope these donations will leave a lasting impact for the families, students and teachers who need assistance in central Florida.”
At the Party with a Purpose (PWAP) 1,200 meeting professionals will celebrate for a cause as the proceeds from ticket sales go to support the Boys and Girls Clubs of Central Florida, PCMA’s Network for the Needy and the PCMA Education Foundation. In its 20th year, PWAP has raised more than US$1.8m for a range of notable causes.
PCMA is also helping the homeless of Central Florida, Convening Leaders delegates serving breakfasts and helping several charities.
New research from the PCMA Foundation, meanwhile, has identified five ‘What-if’ scenarios for the future of exhibiting, and offered guidance on how to prepare for them.
The report, Scenarios for the Future: Convention Exhibits and Trade Show of 2016, analyses the future of trade shows from five hypothetical perspectives to provide insights into creating more impact with exhibition space.
The report is the product of a year of face-to-face discussions, online conversations and research, with funding coming from the ASAE Foundation, Center for Exhibition Industry Research Foundation, Freeman, Gaylord Entertainment and the PCMA Education Foundation.
Liz Erikson, Chair, PCMA Education Foundation, says. “Rather than conducting traditional research, we gathered some of the best minds in the meetings and events industry in small and large group discussions to visualise where ourindustry is headed and what we’ll need to do to prepare.”
“This study clearly demonstrates that the future will not resemble the past,” Francis Friedman, President of New York-based trade show consultant group Time & Place Strategies, says. “New marketing methods, new formats for interactions and rapid changes in social media will require new approaches to audience development and building event brand loyalty.”
The Convening Leaders conference is offering more than 20 sessions over the three days in Orlando and also a hybrid press conference.
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