Brad Lewis
Vice President, Marketing and Communications

Brad Lewis is responsible for managing the marketing and communication activities of PCMA and the PCMA Education Foundation.

Prior to joining PCMA, Lewis was with SmithBucklin. SmithBucklin is the world's largest association management and professional services company providing flexible, tailored services to more than 235 trade associations, professional societies, technology user groups and government institutes/agencies.

At SmithBucklin, Lewis was Vice President, Convention and Trade Show Services. In this capacity Lewis was #2 in a department of 80+ meeting, convention and trade show operations, sales and sponsorships staff professionals.

Before joining SmithBucklin, Lewis was tapped by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for a Short Term Technical Assignment (STTA) in Montenegro, the newest independent state formerly a part of Serbia and Montenegro and Yugoslavia before that.  Lewis developed a comprehensive Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions (MICE) marketing plan for the newly developing destination.

Lewis is a veteran of the Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau (CCTB). The last position he held there was Vice President of Convention and Tourism Sales, heading up the two primary divisions. Chicago is the #1 business travel and #6 leisure travel destination in the United States.

At the CCTB, Lewis was responsible for selling Chicago in both the leisure tourism and meetings, conventions and tradeshows marketplaces overseeing operations in the CCTB's Chicago and Washington DC offices.

In his various convention division capacities, Lewis was involved in opening Chicago's $150 million Navy Pier in 1996, the $987 million McCormick Place South Building expansion in 1997 and, most recently, the $800 million McCormick Place West expansion which opened in 2007.

Lewis' tourism marketing division accomplishments include opening Chicago's first-ever tourism call center, 1-877-CHICAGO. He also developed Chicago's first fully-functioning leisure Web site. He began and led both a domestic and international tourism sales and marketing initiative to the tour wholesale industry, overseeing representatives in Chicago, London-England, Frankfurt-Germany, Toronto-Canada and Mexico City-Mexico.

Lewis also has implemented key strategic marketing partnerships with sponsors such as American Express, United Airlines, Hyatt Hotels and Resorts, Starbucks, American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, ATA, Amtrak and others.

In addition, Lewis oversaw the convention services and market research departments at the CCTB.

Lewis has a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration from Luther College and has completed post-graduate marketing coursework at the University of Chicago. In addition to participating as a member in virtually every meeting and travel industry association, he has served on the boards of the Travel Industry Association of America, Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association and the National Council of Destination Organizations.