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

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., "Experience" Gurus Pine & Gilmore, and Microsoft's Mich Mathews to Headline PCMA's 2008 Annual Meeting
8/6/2007

CHICAGO, August 6, 2007 It might be too early for packing bags, but meeting professionals should start making plans now for the Professional Convention Management Association's (PCMA) 2008 Annual Meeting, to be held Jan. 13-16, 2008 in Seattle. PCMA is announcing high-impact General Session speakers, as well as a return to a full Wednesday schedule - which this year includes a general session on Wednesday afternoon and a special closing event on Wednesday evening. "Creating Possibilities" is the theme of this year's popular education and networking event.

"We're thrilled with the possibilities for inspiring and thought-provoking experiences at our 2008 Annual Meeting," said Deborah Sexton, PCMA President and CEO. "These General Session speakers, along with our spectacular hosts in Seattle, will be the catalysts for a dynamic event that will energize the meeting community for the year ahead."

Kicking off the education portion of the event will be Joseph Pine II and James H. Gilmore, authors of the soon-to-be-released book Authenticity: What Consumers Really Want. In a rare joint stage appearance, the duo will explore consumers' growing awareness of staged experiences and how business leaders must make those experiences more authentic. Just as with their landmark book The Experience Economy, Pine and Gilmore are sure to have a major impact on how meeting professionals create new possibilities for effectively connecting with attendees.

On Tuesday, Mich Mathews - Microsoft's Senior VP, Marketing - will raise the bar for how the meetings industry can create possibilities for communicating the value of its events to both individual attendees and their organizations. One of the highest ranking women at Microsoft today, Mathews offers a unique perspective on how to utilize a range of marketing tools and measure their effectiveness. She also brings a synergistic understanding of how marketing and events can combine to produce measurable results.

On Wednesday, attendees will have the opportunity to enhance their understanding of our environment from one of the green movement's earliest advocates and most sought-after speakers. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. - author, environmental activist and senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council - will speak about creating possibilities for the world today that will determine the future for generations to come. His session is intended to be a rallying cry for the industry and is anticipated to end the educational portion of the Annual Meeting on a high note.

Regular Annual Meeting attendees should be aware of a return to a full Wednesday schedule in 2008. Then Wednesday schedule will include a performance by actor Jason Alexander at lunch on Wednesday, a high-impact general session on Wednesday afternoon, and a spectacular closing reception on Wednesday night.

"We want everyone to know as soon as possible that they should plan on staying over on Wednesday night and make travel plans accordingly," said Sexton. "We've got a stellar line-up of events throughout the day on Wednesday, including an enormously funny appearance by Jason Alexander - in character as motivational speaker Donny Clay - at lunch, the general session with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in the afternoon, and a 'can't miss' closing reception that night."

"Meeting professionals should also enjoy the opportunity to see everything Seattle has to offer first-hand," said Sexton. "Surprisingly, PCMA is the first major meetings industry association to hold a convention there."

Attracting more than 3,000 attendees each year, PCMA's Annual Meeting is touted as one of the industry's most comprehensive educational and networking events. Based on evaluation results, 93% of attendees at PCMA's 2007 Annual Meeting planned on attending the 2008 event.

As always, the PCMA Annual Meeting will offer a wide variety of education sessions designed to help attendees enhance their careers and make them valuable players within their organizations. Topics will include attendance-building, negotiating, ROI, innovation, work/life balance, talent management, exhibition management, marketing, leadership, business strategy, technology, crisis planning, green meetings, generational issues, international meetings, legal issues and more.

 For more information, visit www.pcma.org or call PCMA at 877/827-PCMA (7262). Registration opens in September.

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.