PCMA Launches Next Steps of Recovery Discovery Plan

Based on research and input from global stakeholders, PCMA's plan will help the business events industry safely conduct business and thrive in the "next normal".  Convening Asia-Pacific 2020, New EMEA Leader, Foundation Fundraiser, 2021 Convening Leaders are pieces of that puzzle.

Today PCMA announced the next steps in its global business events industry recovery plan – Recovery Discovery – at a series of digital broadcasts in Asia Pacific, EMEA and the Americas. The announcements provide PCMA members, partners and business event stakeholders all over the world with new opportunities to gain actionable insights and community connections that will help them be successful through the pandemic and beyond.

"PCMA is making bold moves to help our audiences – from business event strategists to destination marketing organizations to premier venues around the world - design strategies to regain lost ground and gain new footholds,” said PCMA president and CEO Sherrif Karamat, CAE. "We are in the business of human connections and today we are needed more than ever. Regardless of the channel, no one is better equipped than our industry to ensure that people with ideas and perspectives can safely connect."

Among the announcements shared on the PCMA Digital Broadcasts:

• Convening Asia Pacific 2020 – the Global Recovery Forum: An all-new, omnichannel event, CAP will take place digitally around the world and face-to-face at the International Convention Centre Sydney (ICC Sydney) on Nov. 10, offering the practical knowledge, strategies and solutions needed to help the APAC business events community navigate its recovery. "Our audiences crave new ideas to set themselves up for career advancement and business success," said Melbourne-based PCMA APAC Managing Director Karen Bolinger. "Convening Asia Pacific 2020 will stimulate creative thinking across the pillars of participant engagement, business model and reskilling, based on the research foundation established by Business Events Compass." Safety and hygiene will remain top priorities in the planning and execution of the event. Registration is open.
• Convening Leaders 2021: A new omnichannel approach will give audiences the flexibility to participate how and where they choose on Jan. 11-14:

1. Digital - participants will form cohorts and micro-communities that stick together throughout the CL21 experience, and
2. Face-to-face - participants will attend Chapter gatherings in North America, as well as Official Network Partner and community events at locations across the globe. Houston, the intended host city, has been an excellent partner to PCMA throughout the transition and planning process. Houston will be part of CL21 and will be awarded a future Convening Leaders event. Registration opens Sept. 22.

• Rethink, Reskill, Recover: As part of its Accelerating Reskilling workforce development campaign with a goal to reskill 1,000 professionals, the PCMA Foundation will host a digital fundraiser on Sept. 23 with a live and silent auction, giveaway of five Digital Event Strategist courses, and live music entertainment. 
• New EMEA Business Leader: Ms. Jaimé Bennett was introduced as Business Director, EMEA to lead PCMA’s EMEA business operations. Her focus will be on the development of a new PCMA EMEA regional business plan in conjunction with PCMA’s EMEA Regional Advisory Board. Ms. Bennett, is based in Killyleagh, County Down, Northern Ireland. "The recovery of business events in EMEA will be varied and complex, and PCMA plays a vital role,” said Bennett. “Collaboration with business event leaders throughout the region will be my top priority to ensure PCMA is developing products and services to serve the unique needs of the EMEA region.”

Together these initiatives provide a range of strategies to help PCMA audiences reestablish their communities, careers and businesses in the next normal. "While there is a long road ahead to full recovery, we must learn from our collective experiences and emerge with new value propositions that tap technology to reach new audiences," said Chicago-based Karamat. "Business events are not only a powerful catalyst for driving organizational success, but a key platform for economic and social transformation. This has never been truer, and never have we had a greater need for truly borderless human connection."