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Karen Bolinger retained for new role as Managing Director, APAC
SINGAPORE/CHICAGO, Illinois, USA – Building on the anticipated recovery of the business events industry in the Asia Pacific region, PCMA President and CEO Sherrif Karamat, CAE today announced that PCMA has retained global business events industry leader Karen Bolinger as Managing Director, Asia Pacific.
Karen Bolinger
“As stakeholders in the global business events industry look towards a post-COVID-19 recovery, we believe that the Asia Pacific region will recover first and that the industry will be substantially changed,” said Sherrif Karamat. “Karen will support PCMA’s APAC growth through her track record of business event industry leadership success and ability to introduce new strategic initiatives in the face of industry and marketplace challenges.”
As a former CEO of the Melbourne Convention Bureau and Chair of the BestCities Global Alliance, Ms. Bolinger has made significant business event contributions to the visitor economies of Australia and other leading international destinations. This includes the ability to successfully bring industry, government policy makers, business partners and service organisations together to focus on new opportunities.
“In light of the current environment we find ourselves in, I’m excited to work with PCMA and the Asia Pacific team to develop a clear pathway of available opportunities to activate the recovery of the business events industry in the APAC region.”
Ms. Bolinger will be based in Melbourne, Australia and will lead PCMA’s Asia Pacific operations team through its office in Singapore. Her focus will be on new initiatives to extend and strengthen PCMA’s presence in the region. This includes region-specific events, thought leadership, curated content and education, as well as enhanced stakeholder engagement and identifying new business partners.
Ms. Bolinger will commence her role on April 27th 2020.
“PCMA is determined to ensure business events are a critical part of the recovery solution in a post-COVID-19 world. And today that solution starts in Asia Pacific”, added Karamat.
For media queries from the Americas, APAC, EMEA, and requests for interviews with Sherrif Karamat, please contact: Meghan Risch, PCMA Chief of Staff, Vice President, Corporate Communications PCMA, PCMA Foundation and CEMA educate, inspire, and listen, creating meaningful experiences where passion, purpose and commerce come together. We are the world’s largest community for Business Events Strategists, providing senior-level education, networking, and market intelligence for the global business events industry. Our mission is to drive social and economic progress through business events. Headquartered in Chicago, IL PCMA has 17 North American Chapters, regional communities in APAC, EMEA and LATAM, and members in 59 countries. The Corporate Event Marketing Association (CEMA), a PCMA subsidiary, advances strategic event marketing and marketing communications for senior-level event marketers and industry professionals. Visit us at pcma.org. The role of the Foundation of PCMA is to support the mission of PCMA through fundraising and grant-giving focused on scholarships, education and research that will advance the business events industry. Annually the Foundation funds over $700K in impact, and since 1985 has funded over 2,500 scholarships, 100 research studies and education programs, and $2.7M in charitable giving. The Corporate Event Marketing Association (CEMA) is the eminent community for senior event executives, association peers and industry partners and is an integral component of the Professional Convention Management Association’s (PCMA) brand collective. CEMA promotes professional networking opportunities, facilitates peer-to-peer knowledge sharing and drives industry standards. Through strong relationships with strategic partners, CEMA fosters both finding innovative solutions to business issues and continuous focus on members’ career growth. For more information, please visit http://www.cemaonline.com.About PCMA
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