pcma today May 2007

PCMA Education Foundation Awards $132,500
To CEIR, Green Meeting Industry Council, PCMA
The PCMA Education Foundation has awarded $132,500 in grants to a range of meetings industry research and education projects to advance knowledge and best practices in the profession.

"My philosophy is the PCMA Education Foundation should focus on educating those already in the industry and nurture the next generation," said PCMA Education Foundation Chair Gary Seibert, CHA. "We need to live up to our mission."

The grants included funding to the following organizations:

• Center for Exhibition Research (CEIR), to support the development of a Return on Investment Calculator. An additional grant was awarded to CEIR to identify events that that have been able to keep major exhibitors as well as those events that have experienced the departure of a major exhibitor.
• Green Meeting Industry Council, to establish a locally based green meetings education program for planners.
• PCMA, to establish a comprehensive and integrated research strategy to help position PCMA as the critical link between in-depth industry knowledge and the needs of meeting professionals.

The PCMA Education Foundation accepts applications for grants three times throughout the year; the next deadline is Aug. 31. Proposals are evaluated and recommended for funding by the PCMA Education Foundation Grant Review Committee, and funding decisions are made by the PCMA Education Foundation Board of Trustees. For more information, visit the PCMA Education Foundation's Grants page at www.pcma.org/foundation/grants.

MeetingMetricssm Officially Launched:
Tool Demonstrates the Value of Your Meetings
PCMA and Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide have officially launched MeetingMetricsSM, a comprehensive meeting performance measurement service. It offers a new way for meetings professionals to show value to their organizations through an affordable, easy-to-use pre- and post-meeting survey tool. This new service, specifically customized for PCMA members, is based on 25 years of
pre- and post-meeting survey results from numerous Fortune 500 companies.

PCMA is also utilizing this service to help maximize the effectiveness of the annual meeting for its members. Watch for an upcoming article in Convene about how MeetingMetricsSM is helping to measure the results of the 2007 meeting.

PCMA members have exclusive access to MeetingMetricsSM through September. Visit www.pcma.org/meeting metrics to learn more. 

Upcoming PCMA Events
May 31 - June 3, 2007:
Education Foundation
Partnership Summit
Four Seasons Resort and Club
Dallas at Las Colinas, Irving, Texas
June 13, 2007: Education
Foundation Dinner
Celebrating Professional
Achievement
Washington, D.C.
June 27, 2007:
The Masters Series
Chicago
Sept. 4, 2007:
The Masters Series
Washington, D.C.
Oct. 9, 2007:
Executive Edge
Chicago
Jan. 13-16, 2008:
PCMA Annual Meeting
Seattle