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

PCMA Education Foundation Announces Scholarship Winners
7/17/2007

CHICAGO, July 17, 2007 - The Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) Education Foundation is pleased to announce recipients of 10 scholarships.

Five students are receiving the Roy B. Evans Scholarship, a $5,000 award for tuition, underwritten by the PCMA Education Foundation. Students are chosen based on their academic record, hospitality work experience, current and planned involvement in the hospitality industry, recommendations by their faculty and work supervisor, and PCMA involvement. This year's winners are Matthew Ardakanian, University of Delaware; Helen Davisson, George Washington University; Jennifer Dotson, George Washington University; Jonathan Knoy, Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis; and Melissa Van Hyfte, Auburn University.

Winners of this year's Multicultural Scholarship are Yoon Koh, George Washington University; Chi Wa Lam, California State Polytechnic University; Yun Ching Liang, Thompson Rivers University; and Elizabeth Mills of Grand Valley State University. Each of these students will receive $1,000 to offset the expenses of tuition, textbooks, and other associated educational costs. The candidates are recommended by PCMA faculty members at the institutions where the students are enrolled.

The award is funded by the PCMA Education Foundation. The Student Planner of the Year Scholarship winner is Astrid Schrier of Temple University. The PCMA Education Foundation is providing Schrier with complimentary airfare, hotel accommodations, and registration at the 2008 PCMA Annual Meeting in Seattle, Washington as well as the opportunity to plan a student seminar in collaboration with an industry mentor. Schrier will also receive $1,000 tuition based award, underwritten by the PCMA Education Foundation.

This fall the PCMA Education Foundation will award The Chairman's Award, The Annual Meeting Scholarship and the PCMA Student Chapter of the Year Award to as many as five qualified PCMA student members and four PCMA Student Chapters. The deadline for applications is October 1, 2007.

The Chairman's Scholarship is awarded to two qualified students and sponsored by NYC & Company. A grade point average of 3.0 out of a possible 4.0 is required. The scholarship recognizes exceptional student members of PCMA and provides them with an opportunity to meet with the PCMA Chairman of the Board. The student recipient also is awarded complimentary airfare, registration, and hotel accommodations for 5 days at the 2008 PCMA Annual Meeting in Seattle, Washington.

The Annual Meeting Scholarship is awarded to three students and sponsored by the PCMA Education Foundation. A grade point average of 3.0 out of a possible 4.0 is required. Winners receive complimentary airfare, hotel accommodations for 5 nights, and registration for the 2008 PCMA Annual Meeting in Seattle, Washington.

Lastly, the PCMA Student Chapter of the Year Award will be given to four chapters in 2007. Winners receive $500 from the PCMA Education Foundation to fund chapter projects, events, and activities. The application deadline for all fall scholarships is October 1, 2007.

For more information and to apply for PCMA Education Foundation scholarships, go to the student membership section of our Web site, 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 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.