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

PCMA Announces 2007 Achievement Award Winners
10/31/2007

CHICAGO, October 31, 2007 - Each year the Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) honors outstanding members for their contributions to PCMA and the meetings and hospitality industry. PCMA is proud to announce the winners of the 2007 Achievement Awards, who will be recognized at the 52nd PCMA Annual Meeting, January 13-16, 2008, in Seattle.

"The winners of the 2007 PCMA Achievement Awards make PCMA the outstanding organization that it is. We are proud to honor their achievements through this annual awards program," said PCMA President and CEO Deborah Sexton.

"The Achievement Awards recognize the best and brightest in our industry. I'm honored to help highlight the accomplishments of these outstanding members of the meetings industry," said Donna Young, CMP, PCMA Awards Committee Chair.

2007 Distinguished Member of the Year Award
The recipient of the 2007 Distinguished Member of the Year Award is Gregg H. Talley, CAE, President and CEO of Talley Management Group, Inc. For more than 20 years, this award has honored members who have made exemplary contributions to PCMA.

"Gregg is a 25 year meetings industry veteran and possesses a depth and breadth of experience and insight into the industry. A writer and speaker, he has given back to the industry in a myriad of ways," said Leigh Wintz, CAE, Executive Director of Soroptimist International of the Americas and the 2006 PCMA Chairman of the Board.

A recognized professional in the field, Talley is a past Chairman of the Board of Directors of PCMA and currently serves on the PCMA Education Foundation as a Trustee.

2007 Distinguished Meeting Professional of the Year Award
The 2007 Distinguished Meeting Professional of the Year Award winner is Michael Polin, CMP, former Director of Conventions, Meetings & Events for Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc. The award acknowledges a meeting professional who excels professionally, personally and within his or her community.

 Polin, a longtime member of PCMA, passed away on September 26, 2007. He served on the PCMA Board of Directors in 2004-2005, and had applied to serve another term.

"Michael was a wonderful volunteer for PCMA on so many levels," said Deborah Sexton, PCMA President and CEO. "He could always be counted on to deliver on every project he devoted himself to. PCMA will feel his loss."

2007 Distinguished Convention Services Manager of the Year Award
Janice Telstar, CMP, Assistant Director of Convention Services for the Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau, is this year's winner of the Distinguished Convention Services Manager Award. The award recognizes outstanding achievement in the field of convention services.

Telstar, who boasts over 22 years of hospitality industry experience, advises both corporate and association meeting planners in coordinating all aspects of their conventions, from preliminary site inspections to on-site assistance.

2007 Outstanding Service to a Chapter Award
The winner of the 2007 Outstanding Service to a Chapter Award is John Folks, President of Minding Your Business, Inc. Folks was chosen for this honor because of his many contributions to the PCMA Greater Midwest Chapter. Folks has served as the chapter?s president, on the chapter's board, and on several chapter committees. He is currently chair-elect of the PCMA Board of Directors.

2007 Educator of the Year Award
The 2007 Educator of the Year is Dr. Joe Goldblatt, CSEP. The Educator of the Year Award recognizes outstanding achievement in the field of meetings and hospitality industry education. Goldblatt has over 20 years of experience in higher education and has lectured on meetings, conventions, and event management in more than 50 countries. He founded and currently serves as faculty advisor for the Temple University School of Tourism and Hospitality Management Student Chapter of PCMA.

2007 Spirit Award
Finally, the winner of the 2007 Spirit Award is the Washington Convention Center, located in Washington, D.C. The Spirit Award recognizes an organization that has significantly affected lives in a charitable or humanitarian way through the meetings and convention industry. For the past eight years, the Washington Convention Center has donated the use of its building, services, and staff to host the Safeway Feast of Sharing. The annual event, held the day before Thanksgiving, provides a Thanksgiving meal, health screenings and a career fair for the thousands in attendance.

For more information on PCMA Achievement Awards, visit www.pcma.org/awards.

The Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) is the professional resource 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 funds 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.