By Michael Barratt, CMP
Senior Vice President, Meetings & Event
Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association
Membership and the reason individuals belong to associations has shifted over the years. Speaker Sarah Sladeck of XYZ University identified three main reasons for the decline of membership during “The End of Membership as We Know It” session at the PCMA Education Conference on June 12.

Economics and the declining economy overall
Changing technology – there have been more changes in the past 5 years then in the previous 50 years
Demographic shift – by the year 2015 there will be more Generation …

I heard something at AIBTM last week that I’ve been waiting to hear for a few years now. During the show’s “Meetings Significance Forum: Government and Industry Leaders Discuss the Positive Impact of Meetings,” Geoff Freeman — executive vice president … Continue reading →

The next issue of Convene (not the issue with the steak!) will feature a cover story about exhibiting, and will contain some great insight. As an association show organizer, this is a subject that is very near and dear to my heart. After all, many associations make upwards of 70% of their annual revenue through their annual meeting, whether it includes a trade show or not. At PMA, we pride ourselves on producing a trade show that not only looks great, but it smells and tastes great too! This seems …

By Fun Lee
Director, Meeting Planning
Cardiovascular Research Foundation

My organization, the Cardiovascular Research Foundation, produces an annual meeting with an audience of 11,000 attendees –  of which 60% are international.
As a meeting planner I am always asking – Where is the growth?  How can I generate more revenue for our organization?   Acknowledging our domestic attendance has plateaued recent years, our highest potential target opportunity is the international audience.
After attending “Convene Presents: Attracting International Attendees to Your U.S. Meeting” during the PCMA Education Conference on June 11, I discovered that my organization should …

In a recent column, we talked with industry experts about the fact that just because attendees aren’t using a conference hashtag or Twitter doesn’t mean they aren’t interested in social media. It could be that attendees just need a little hands-on … Continue reading →

By Daniel Metz, Specialist, Marketing
Professional Convention Management Association
How many meetings (be they internal organizational or external industry) have you attended and afterwards grumbled “that was a waste of my time… I didn’t get anything out of attending.”  The 2012 PCMA Education Conference Committee wanted to ensure every participant “got a lot out of attending” and orchestrated multiple opportunities to secure solid takeaways – even for sessions they might have been unable to attend.
At the end of each day, there was a DAILY DOWNLOAD, with recaps provided by program committee members …

By Laura Weaver, CMP
Society of American Florists
Education Conference Committee Member
For me, the Multigenerational Mix session at the PCMA Educational Conference was an eye opener.  Most people don’t know that by the year 2015, the Gen Y/Millennial generation will make up 75% of the workforce!  That’s way more than when the Baby Boomers were in their heyday.  Many industries and associations are aging out – so you need to know your demographics in order to see where your members are in the lifespan of their careers.  If there is no pipeline …

By Daniel Metz, Specialist, Marketing
Professional Convention Management Association
How do you keep your brand relevant in times where the media landscape seems to change every day and getting an audience to focus for 60 seconds is a near impossibility? Marketing mogul Steve Stoute helped answer these questions as PCMA’s Education Conference Master Series speaker.
Stoute has been a giant in the advertising and marketing industry over the last decade after spending the majority of his career in the music business as a producer and record executive. Since making the switch to advertising …

By Mary Reynolds Kane, Director, Online Marketing
Professional Convention Management Association
From Henry Givray’s Passion of Leadership to Patricia Martin’s How to Launch in a Digital World, the remote audience was tuned in and engaged to the Virtual Event hosted from PCMA’s Education Conference in San Antonio.
The Set-up

In efforts to minimize the budget, we chose to only broadcast live one day from the conference.  We worked with the team to move the sessions around so that we would only have to have one additional camera, lighting, internet line, and other equipment in …

I’m here at the PCMA Education Conference in San Antonio. It’s my first time in this great city, and I didn’t want to leave here without making a trip to see the Alamo. Little did I realize that it is … Continue reading →