PCMA Members Give Back to Seattle, Host City of the 2008 PCMA Annual Meeting Meeting

Attendees to Donate Time and Talents to Four Seattle Organizations
1/10/2008

CHICAGO, IL, January 10, 2008 - The Aloha Inn, Food Lifeline, Dress for Success of Seattle, and The Moyer Foundation's Camp Erin all stand to benefit from the hard work, talents and fundraising efforts of PCMA members and sponsors attending PCMA's 52nd Annual Meeting in Seattle, January 13-16, 2008.

Hospitality Helping Hands-The Aloha Inn & Food Lifeline PCMA's Hospitality Helping Hands program, sponsored by Experient and Marriott Convention & Resort Network, will take place on Saturday, January 12th from 12:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. This popular annual program gives PCMA meeting attendees the chance to take part in a hands-on community service project.

As Washington's largest hunger relief agency, Food Lifeline (1702 NE 150th Street) works to provide nutritious food to hungry people in Western Washington. Volunteers will sort, label, and repackage bulk food products into smaller family-sized portions for distribution. In addition to the community service project, participating PCMA members will also make a financial donation to Food Lifeline. The check presentation will be made by PCMA member Brad Weaber, CMP, of Experient at 4:00 p.m.

At Aloha Inn (1911 Aurora Ave North), volunteers will paint both common areas and individual rooms to brighten up resident living quarters. The Aloha Inn provides temporary housing for homeless people and allows residents to save money for permanent housing while providing access to job training and support services. A financial donation will also be made to Aloha Inn. The check will be presented by PCMA member Sherry Franklin representing Marriott Convention and Resort Network at 4:00 p.m.

Network for the Needy-Dress for Success of Seattle PCMA's Network for the Needy program will be collecting items for Dress for Success of Seattle (DFSS) throughout the Annual Meeting. Meeting attendees are encouraged to bring items to donate including: professional tote bags, umbrellas, professional gloves, hats, scarves, new hygiene items, new hosiery and other women's professional items. Dress for Success of Seattle works with women in transition, easing their passage from domestic violence, homelessness, outdated skills, limited English proficiency and a myriad of other situations which have kept them from realizing their full potential. DFSS offers more than clothing - they offer the support of a Professional Women's Group for networking and career development and the Woman2Woman program which offers one-on-one mentoring and life coaching.

Party With a Purpose-Camp Erin Part of the proceeds from the 2008 Party With a Purpose will be donated to The Moyer Foundation's Camp Erin, a nationwide network of bereavement camps designed for children ages 6-17 who have experienced the death of a loved one. Party With a Purpose is the premiere fundraising event of the meetings and conventions industry with more than one million dollars raised since it began 14 years ago. It also supports the PCMA Education Foundation and the PCMA Network for the Needy program. GES Exposition Services is the founding sponsor of Party With a Purpose. The 2008 event will take place on Tuesday, January 15th, 9:00 p.m. - 12:00 a.m. at Experience Music Project in Seattle.

To find out more about the 2008 PCMA Annual Meeting, Hospitality Helping Hands, Network for the Needy or Party With a Purpose, visit www.pcma2008.org.

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.