For more information, please contact Sandy Eitel at 312.423.7271 or seitel@pcma.org.

2008 PCMA Nominating Committee Adds New Director to Proposed Slate
10/16/2007

CHICAGO, October 16, 2007 - The PCMA Nominating Committee has reconvened to select a candidate to fill a seat left open on the 2008 PCMA Board of Directors when Michael Polin passed away on September 25th. After careful deliberation, the committee extended Robin Preston, CEM, Assistant Executive Director, Conferences, Exhibits, and Sponsorships for the National School Boards Association, a professional director position on the 2008 Board of Directors.

PCMA will allow additional nominations for this director position by members who submit a petition. The petition is required to be signed by 5% of the members from the professional membership category and submitted to the President and CEO no later than the close of business November 15, 2007. Individuals interested in submitting a petition, should contact Deborah Sexton, President and CEO, at dsexton@pcma.org for petition details and procedures.

Unless there are additional petition nominations from the membership, this individual will be deemed elected and will take office immediately following the PCMA Annual Meeting in Seattle, Washington, on January 17th, 2008.

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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 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 designs and creates new programs to encourage the highest levels of professionalism in the meetings industry.