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

PCMA Announces Site of 2010 Annual Meeting: Dallas!
8/7/2007 

CHICAGO, August 7, 2007 The Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) is excited to announce the site for its 2010 Annual Meeting: the Dallas Convention Center. The dates selected are January 10-13, 2010.

"We are thrilled to be working with Dallas for the 2010 Annual Meeting," said Deborah Sexton, PCMA President and CEO. "With a strong reinvestment in the downtown area, state-of-the-art convention space, and the addition of even more stellar hotels, Dallas proved to be an ideal location to host the PCMA Annual Meeting."

Dallas is currently undergoing a renaissance featuring many new or re-developments. "More than $12 billion in new development is underway in the urban core of Dallas, bringing stellar hotels, dining, shopping, cultural attractions and entertainment to the heart of the city," said Phillip Jones, Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau President/CEO. "PCMA members who haven't visited Dallas recently are in for many pleasant surprises." In 2007 alone, millions are being spent on new retail and restaurant spaces, including: One Arts Plaza's retail, dining, residential and corporate headquarter space; Victory Project Phase III featuring a W Hotel, and dining near the new House of Blues; and the only Ritz-Carlton in Texas, opening next week. Prior to 2010, several additional projects will be completed including a nature museum, the Dallas Center for Performing Arts, and a Mandarin Oriental hotel.

PCMA has also announced the Board of Directors' decision to discontinue the previously required Annual Meeting regional rotations, beginning with the 2011 Annual Meeting RFP. This means any city is welcome to bid on the PCMA Annual Meeting for 2011 and beyond. The 2011 Annual Meeting RFP will be released in early fall of 2007.

"The decision to discontinue the regional rotations gives all cities equal opportunity to bid on the PCMA Annual Meeting, regardless of geographical location," said Kelly Peacy, CAE, CMP, Vice President of Meetings and Events for PCMA. "Cities have shared with us that in some years they are better able to accommodate PCMA, whether due to dates, a new convention center expansion or for budget reasons. Discontinuing regional rotations provides greater flexibility both to cities and PCMA."

PCMA's Annual Meeting attracts more than 3,000 attendees each year. It is touted as one of the industry's most comprehensive educational and networking events. The economic impact of the PCMA Annual Meeting is traditionally felt for years in the host city, as PCMA members often return to host cities for their future meetings.

The Dallas Convention Center is one of the largest in the nation, and is the site of major national and international conventions, meetings, concerts and other special events. Located in the heart of downtown Dallas, the Dallas Convention Center was recognized as the first convention center in the world to offer Wireless Internet Services for exhibitors and meeting professionals. The center also includes the world's largest column-free exhibit hall featuring 203,000 clear square feet of space.

For more information about PCMA and the PCMA Annual Meeting, visit www.PCMA.org.

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.