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CHICAGO, ILLINOIS (October 3, 2022) — PCMA and CEMA President and CEO Sherrif Karamat, CAE today announced the 2023 Board of Directors and Trustees Slate introduced to PCMA members on September 1, 2022, has received full membership approval. Directors and Trustees will assume office immediately following PCMA’s Convening Leaders January 8-11 at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in Columbus, Ohio.
Effective January 11, 2023, the Executive Officers serving a one-year term include:
Chair: Desirée Knight, CAE, CMP, DES, Senior Director, Education & Meetings, American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association
Chair-Elect: Leonard Hoops, President and CEO, Visit Indy
Secretary-Treasurer: Neil Brownlee, Head of Business Events, VisitScotland
Immediate Past Chair: Charles Starks, President and CEO, Music City Center
“The 2023 PCMA Board of Directors and Trustees reflects the global PCMA community and our commitment to their success,” said Karamat. “With the support of our globally diverse Board, PCMA will continue to deliver the education and resources our members and partners require to overcome a new set of challenges and, at the same time, realize the unknown opportunities in front of us.”
The following leaders will serve a two-year Director and Trustee term (2023–2024):
Gregg Caren, President and CEO, Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau
Dr. Amanda Cecil, PhD, CMP, Professor, Department of Tourism, Event & Sport Management, Indiana University
Shameka Jennings, MTA, CAE, CMP, DES, Principal and Chief Events Officer, Eventsnoire
Brian Landers, CDS, Senior Vice President / Team Director, ConferenceDirect
Lauren Parr, Senior Vice President, Meetings and Learning, American Geophysical Union
Stephen Rose, Senior Vice President, Communication Services, Siemens AG
Kathleen Warden, Director of Conference Sales, Scottish Event Campus
Serving a one-year Director and Trustee term (2023) is Colleen Bisconti, Vice President, Events and Experiences, IBM and Incoming CEMA Advisory Board Chair
In addition, Sherrif Karamat, CAE, President and CEO of PCMA and CEMA serves as a Director and Trustee:
The following leaders are serving the final year of a two-year Director and Trustee term (2022–2023):
Fernando Fondevila, MBA, CEO, Promtur Panama
Veemal Gungadin, Founder and CEO, Gevme
Gladys O’Mahony, Vice President, Global Sales Organization, Caribbean & Latin America, Marriott International
Peter O’Neil, FASAE, CAE, CEO, ASIS International
Annalisa Ponchia Baccara , CMP, CMM, Director of Innovation & Customer Experience & Director of International Congress, AIM Group International
Chantal Sturk-Nadeau, Executive Director, Business Events, Destination Canada
Panos Tzivanidis, Director, Corporate Events & Services, International Olympic Committee
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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