Sometimes belt buckling also means increasing power in numbers through reach. At PCMA (Professional Conference Managers Association) the biggest news was made by the Association itself. A slew of acquisitions, mergers and partnerships were announced. For starters, they acquired the Event Leadership Institute, which offers 17 certificates in specialized areas of planning education. These augment its own courses.
They also acquired the U.K.-based Event Marketing Association, which has 800 event-marketing professionals based in Europe who work for global brands. The combo is meant to more closely align marketers and event planners.
They also announced a sustainability partnership with the American Geophysical Union, an association of earth and space scientists, to develop more effective education on the events industry’s climate-change strategies, and another partnership with the National Coalition of Black Meeting Professionals to solve some of the industry’s inclusivity issues.
It’s quite ambitious to tackle some of the major obstacles facing the events industry in one bold swoop. Sustainability, climate change, inclusion and diversity, and aligning the education of marketers and planners. As always we’ll see how much meat lies under the fat of announcements.
