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PCMA-ICESAP (Professional Convention Management Association- ICESAP The Incentive Conference & Event Society Asia-Pacific) announced today its latest developments to support the business events community in Asia-Pacific during a press conference held at AIME (Asia-Pacific Incentives and Meetings Expo) event in Melbourne, Australia (20-21 February 2018).
PCMA acquired ICESAP in July 2017 and has recently re-named itself as PCMA-ICESAP. Headquartered in Singapore, Nigel Gaunt remains its President.
To summarize the announcement:
- PCMA-ICESAP to double the number of Vice-Presidents in the region from three to six, offering 12+ local face-to-face education and networking events in 2018
- A new membership model has been introduced giving ICESAP members the same full benefits enjoyed by PCMA members
- The 2018 PCMA-ICESAP annual conference will take place in Bangkok, Thailand in partnership with Accor Hotels.
New Vice-Presidents announced & Advisory Board shifts
PCMA-ICESAP announced its new Regional Vice Presidents appointed for 2018. One year after announcing the appointment of three Regional Vice Presidents, the organization has now increased this number to six. PCMA-ICESAP has also made the Regional Vice Presidents ex-officio Regional Advisory Board members in recognition of the important role they will play in expanding PCMA-ICESAP’s work in the APAC region in 2018.
The 2018 Regional Vice President appointments are as follows:
- Australasia/Pacific: Aileen London, Senior Manager, Global Meeting Services JAPAC, Oracle Global Procurement
- South East Asia: Erica Hegarty, Head of Sales Asia-Pacific, Pacific World
- South Asia: Vishal Dhale, Head – Sales Rewards & Recognition, Aditya Birla Sun Life Insurance, India
- China: Alicia Yao, Managing Director, IME Consulting, Beijing
- Hong Kong/Macau/Taiwan: Darren Chuckry, Managing Director, Uniplan, Hong Kong
- Japan/South Korea: Shogo Kaneda, Event Planner, Japan Management Association, Tokyo
PCMA-ICESAP President Nigel Gaunt said: “We are delighted to have this talented group of professionals driving our member and greater audience engagement in the regions of Asia-Pacific, Since PCMA acquired ICESAP, we have developed a number of new initiatives including over 12 regional education and networking events in 2018.”
“Our Regional Vice Presidents will be instrumental in collaborating not only on events but all our enhanced member benefits and services. To ensure they have the capacity to take on the scope of the role, they are recruiting Regional Panel Members from local PCMA-ICESAP members in each of the six regions to support their local initiatives.”
PCMA also announced it has merged the ICESAP and PCMA’s regional advisory boards, creating one board for PCMA APAC. The 2018 regional board will be led by Oscar Cerezales, COO Asia Pacific, MCI Group.
Membership Changes
ICESAP members now receive the same full benefits enjoyed by PCMA members. This includes private community access, member discount for PCMA events and 100+ OnDemand education session, as well as exclusive digital content.
In addition to the increased member benefits, the PCMA-ICESAP agency accreditation now has 10+ agencies accredited, showing professionalism in the region. The accreditation is valid for 2 years. The strong accreditation program, along with the relaunch of the IC&E distance-learning program, give members increased benefits for engaging with PCMA-ICESAP.
2018 Annual Conference
PCMA-ICESAP announced the location of its 2018 annual conference in Bangkok, Thailand, in partnership with Accor Hotels. The conference will take place 07-09 November 2018 at the Sofitel.
PCMA Education Foundation
The PCMA Education Foundation supports the future of the business events industry by awarding grants and scholarships. The latest developments in the APAC region, as announced by the Karen Bolinger CEO of the Melbourne Convention Bureau [MCB] at AIME focuses on funding a research study to investigate the future trends and emerging business models for the business events sector in APAC market. Study findings to be announced later in 2018.
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