Debra Rosencrance, Charles Ahlers and Joan Eisenstodt to be Honored at the 2008 PCMA Education Foundation Dinner
10/10/2007

CHICAGO, October 10, 2007 - Debra Rosencrance, CMP, CAE; Charles Ahlers and Joan Eisenstodt will be honored at the 2008 Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) Education Foundation Dinner Celebrating Professional Achievement, April 2nd, 2008, at the Hilton Washington in Washington, D.C.

Rosencrance is the vice president of meetings and exhibits for the American Academy of Ophthalmology, and this year's Meeting Professional Honoree. Ahlers is the president of the Anaheim/Orange County Visitor & Convention Bureau and the Supplier Partner Honoree. Eisenstodt is the Chief Strategist of Eisenstodt Associates, LLC, and the Educator Honoree.

"We are excited for the opportunity to honor the lifetime accomplishments of these exceptional industry leaders. The honorees were selected because of their dedication and passion for advancing our industry," said PCMA President & CEO Deborah Sexton.

"I couldn't be more thrilled about the 2008 Education Foundation Dinner honorees," said PCMA Education Foundation Executive Director Susan Salem Euritt. "I'm looking forward to the opportunity to recognize these three very deserving individuals."

Rosencrance has been the vice president of meetings and exhibits for the American Academy of Ophthalmology since 1997, and has been with the academy since 1986. In her current position, Rosencrance manages and supervises all aspects of the third largest medical meeting in the United States, with over 26,000 attendees. As a dedicated member of PCMA, Rosencrance served on the Board of Directors from 2001 - 2003. She has participated on numerous PCMA committees and taskforces, and has been extremely active within the Northern California Chapter, serving a term as president in 1999.

Ahlers was named president of the Anaheim/Orange County Visitor & Convention Bureau in 1992. As president, he oversees the Bureau's convention and tourism marketing efforts and serves as its chief executive officer. Ahlers' history with Anaheim dates back to the 1970's when he held the position of convention sales manager at the bureau for seven years. Ahlers has been an industry leader for over 35 years, mentoring countless professionals and providing thoughtful counsel. His service to PCMA includes a term on both the Board of Directors and the Education Foundation Board of Trustees.

Eisenstodt brings more than 30 years of experience to her role as a meetings industry educator. Her areas of expertise lie in facilitation and training, meetings program and delivery design, and contract negotiations. She founded Eisenstodt Associates, a Washington, D.C.-based conference consulting, facilitation and training consultancy, in 1981. Joan has been honored by MPI, PCMA, HSMAI, NSA, and IACC. She was inducted into the CIC Hall of Leaders in 2004. She has served as a "Thought Leader" for PCMA, in addition to volunteering on other committees for various industry and non-industry organizations. For more than 20 years, Eisenstodt has been an active member of PCMA, presenting at several PCMA Annual Meetings and assisting in the development of student programming. She is dedicated to adult learning within the meetings industry.

For more information about the 2008 PCMA Education Foundation Dinner Celebrating Professional Achievement, visit the PCMA Web site at www.pcma.org/foundation.

The Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) is the professional resource center and premier educator for the meetings and convention industry. Founded in 1957, PCMA represents the interests of meeting management executives from associations, non-profit organizations, corporations, independent meeting planning companies, and multi-management firms who recognize the importance of meetings to their organization. PCMA empowers members with the tools they need to succeed as meeting professionals and to promote the value of the industry to their organizations and the general public. Headquartered in Chicago, PCMA has 16 chapters throughout the United States and Canada. For additional information, please visit the PCMA Web site at www.pcma.org.

The role of the PCMA Education Foundation is to support the mission of the PCMA through fundraising and grant giving focused on education and research that will benefit the meetings and conventions industry. Established in 1985, the Foundation supports educational programs to improve professionalism in the meetings industry and to provide a university-level meeting management curriculum. The Foundation provides educational programs for meeting managers, hotels, convention and visitors bureaus, and other members of the meetings industry. It also conducts ongoing research of industry issues and concerns. The Foundation continually funds new programs to encourage the highest levels of professionalism in the meetings industry.