PCMA, CEMA announce strategic alliance to support, educate, grow audiences


JANUARY 6, 2020 – PCMA, the world’s largest platform for business events professionals, and the Corporate Event Marketing Association (CEMA), a premier global community of corporate event marketers, announced today a strategic alliance that will introduce each organization to new audiences.

The agreement, which starts Jan. 1, 2020, calls for collaboration and cross promotion through educational initiatives to help increase brand presence and membership. Financial terms are not being disclosed.

“PCMA has a commitment to bringing its members access to leading edge education and content that helps them deliver economic and social transformation through business events,” said Sherrif Karamat, CAE, PCMA’s president and CEO. “This strategic alliance with CEMA allows us to deliver more resources to our members while expanding our audience so we can continue to demonstrate how business events transform global economies and societies.”

The strategic agreement calls for CEMA to co-develop education at each of PCMA’s four signature events: Convening Leaders, EduCon, European Influencers Summit and Asia Pacific Annual Conference. PCMA will deliver education at the annual CEMA Summit and during CEMA Study Tours. In addition, both organizations will collaborate on webinars and other services to deliver greater value to each other’s membership.

“CEMA and PCMA share a vision for the advancement of event marketing as a vital element in the marketing stack and each brand offers unique and complementary qualities and services to help event professionals learn and grow,” said CEMA President and CEO Kimberley Gishler. “We look forward to collaborating on new and exciting research and educational programming as well as expanding access to professional networking, knowledge sharing and rich event experiences to both PCMA and CEMA members.”

PCMA also has strategic agreements with AIME (Asia Pacific Incentives Meetings Events), Abu Dhabi and Sarawak, Malaysia, IAPCO, COCAL and a joint venture with Destinations International for the annual Destination Showcase event.


For media inquiries from the Americas, APAC, EMEA and LATAM, please contact: Meghan Risch, PCMA Chief of Staff, Vice President, Corporate Communications

About PCMA

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.

About PCMA Foundation

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 $900K in impact, and since 1985 has funded over 2,500 scholarships, 100 research studies and education programs, and $2.7M in charitable giving.

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