CHICAGO
The Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) brought a record-setting 4,128 meeting planners and suppliers together to make big plans for the future of face-to-face and hybrid events at Convening Leaders 2015.
With speakers from inside and outside of the meetings and conference landscape, the PCMA Education and Events Teams worked together to develop a program that allowed every attendee to create a personalized education roadmap.
While the education roadmap was founded on five primary tracks (Event Technology and Intelligence, Operational Strategy, Meeting and Experience Design, Globalization and the PCMA Business School), it also included potential pitstops that increased attendee ROI:
- The PCMA Learning Lounge, powered by Freeman. Freeman and PCMA collaborated together to expand the Learning Lounge with more opportunities for attendees to dig deeper into issues, with Q&A sessions featuring keynote speakers and thought leaders, hands-on activities and areas designed to facilitate discussions and networking.
- TechCentral, powered by the Dallas Convention and Visitors Bureau. From an App Alley featuring platform tutorials with leading mobile app providers to a Tech Demo Zone to 30-minute TechBytes educational sessions, this was an up-close and hands-on opportunity for planners to add “tech-savvy” to their résumés.
- The PCMA Park. With picnic tables, park benches, lampposts and 35 trees, the middle of the West Building at McCormick Place felt more like Chicago’s downtown Millennium Park than a traditional convention center.
- PCMA’s Five Speakers to Watch Series - As meeting planners continue to search for speakers who can inspire their own audiences, this new addition to the program included five of the most notable (and affordable) new names on the speaking circuit.
- Food For Thought Luncheon - As meeting planners work to satisfy a growing list of dietary restrictions and preferences, PCMA used Tuesday’s meal time to help Convening Leaders participants understand how to easily add gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan and nut-free items to their own menus.
And as leaders from around the meetings industry gathered in Chicago, meeting professionals around the world who could not make the trip to McCormick Place in-person tuned in for the PCMA Convening Leaders Hybrid Event. In its fifth year, the hybrid event continued its impressive track record with 1,000+ attendees from 33 countries.
Convening Leaders 2016 is heading north and will take place at the Vancouver Convention Centre January 10 - 13, 2016.
PCMA is the multi-channel professional resource and educator for leaders in the meetings, conventions, events and tradeshow industries, and provides its 6,500+ members with a community of likeminded colleagues, innovative education and creative global solutions to enhance both their professional development and their organization's connections.
