Professional Convention Management Association Archives

No Rest for a Meeting Planner – PCMA’s Convening Leaders Conference Is about to Start

January 11, 2013 By Andrew Maxwell Comments

PCMA convening leaders 2013 We have talked about down time for a meeting planner on this site many times before. Many people assume that meeting planners are relaxing this time of year. You see, generally speaking, this is a slow period for meetings and events in general. However no rest for the wicked as one of the industry’s largest association, PCMA (Professional Convention Management Association), will be holding its annual conference in Orlando from January 13 through January 16.

This conference, which is held for planners and industry vendors alike, has a strong emphasis on education. This year’s conference also showcases innovations that meeting planners can implement to help them do their jobs better.

Orange County Convention Center Will Host PCMA’s Convening Leaders Conference 2013

Orlando’s convention center, otherwise known as the Orange County Convention Center is host to this year’s PCMA’s Convening Leaders 2013. And if you have to go to a conference in January, Orlando is certainly an attractive destination. There is no shortage of activities for organizers and suppliers to plan for networking and supplier events. To find out when an event can be hosted as well as PCMA’s guidelines for hosting an event, click here.

More about the Orange County Convention Center: Orlando’s Convention Center; Getting down to Business in America’s Playground

This conference is considered to one of the meeting planning industries top events. The website has been designed to provide easy access to scheduling and the various events occurring. There are also some great tools that anyone attending can utilize.

The speakers alone are an impressive lineup. One of the top speakers this year is Pulitzer Prize winner Thomas Friedman. Mr. Friedman is a renowned author as well as a New York Times columnist. For a full list of conference speakers, click here.

Good News for Those Wanting to Become a Certified Meeting Planner

PCMA has always been conscious of our next generation of leaders. Each chapter within the Association has some type of program, or focus, geared towards students within their regions. Personally, this is one of the main reasons that I have the respect that I do for PCMA. They recognize the fact that upcoming leaders are a crucial part of our industry.

Many new and existing meeting planners are interested in the certified meeting planner, or professional, designation (CMP). Well the good news is that individuals can earn what’s known as “clock hours”. These clock hours are part of the requirements for the CMP program.

Many meeting planners and suppliers are now making their way to Orlando for PCMA’s convening leaders 2013. This educational and innovative conference is one of the top events in our industry. For those who want to follow the conference and any updates on twitter, you can do so by following the hashtag #pcmacl .

Filed Under: Tools & Guides Tagged With: CMP, eventplanning, meeting planner, meetingprofs, Orange County Convention Center, PCMA's convening leaders 2013, Professional Convention Management Association

Upcoming Event Planning Conferences That You May Want to Consider

December 14, 2011 By Andrew Maxwell Comments

Event planning conferences are a great way to further your career as well as network with industry colleagues. In this age we’re becoming very accustomed to conducting our meetings virtually however having some face-to-face time with educators and peers within your industry is a great way to stay connected. As 2012 approaches a couple of the industry’s largest associations members will be getting ready for their annual or regular meetings.

Event Planning Conferences Are Great Places to Share Ideas

I know a lot of you are either working for yourselves or working in larger organizations where cost-cutting measures have become mainstream. And quite often as part of these cost-cutting measures travel is put under the microscope. However investing in yourself, in my opinion, is never money wasted. That’s not to say that each and every conference is a must to attend. Rather you should look at the conference outline to see if there are educational components that you feel would benefit you in your career. Then see if your budget allows for you to attend those conferences which you deemed educational. Conferences always have networking events. And let’s face it networking events can be a lot of fun as they are very social in nature. We all need to relax and unwind every now and then. But networking events can also be a great way to get new ideas as well as share some of your ideas. I often leave conferences with several ideas that I can implement both for my clients events as well as my own business.

There Are Several Event Planning Conferences to Choose from

MPI, or Meeting Professionals Incorporated, has a great events and education page on their website. On their site you can see a list of upcoming events whether it be the European meetings and events conference in January 2012 or information on WEC 2012 held later in the year. There’s also information regarding certification programs here as well. Some of the information is only accessible in the members only area so if you’re not a member you may want to consider joining to gain full access to this robust site.

PCMA, or Professional Convention Management Association, has an upcoming annual meeting from January 8-11, 2012. This is a perfect time of year for meeting and event planners as they are typically the least busy at the beginning of the year. Obviously planned this way for a reason. This year’s PCMA conference is being held in San Diego. This conference is very educational in format. You will always see the industry’s heaviest hitters at this conference.

So as 2012 approaches why not make a New Year’s resolution to further your career. And there’s no better way to do that then attending an industry conference. Not only will you gain valuable knowledge on how to perform certain functions of your job you’ll also get to network with industry colleagues.

Attending Event Planning Seminars to Further Your Career (plananevent.org)
Event Planning Degree – Yeah or Nay? (plananevent.org)
Event Planning – Spotlight on San Diego (plananevent.org)

Filed Under: Tools & Guides Tagged With: event planning, event planning resources, Meeting Professionals International, mpi, Professional Convention Management Association

Attending Event Planning Seminars to Further Your Career

October 21, 2011 By Andrew Maxwell Comments

If you’re like me, you probably get several invitations a week for industry seminars. While I’m sure that many are legit, you do have to be careful on selecting which event planning seminars to attend. You should always ask yourself the question “what is it I intend to achieve by attending this event planning seminar”. Many companies offer seminars as part of their company’s marketing plan. In other words, somewhere in the seminar they will begin to talk about one of their products and how it is a must have for you in the event planning industry. While that may be true, I’m always leery when I see companies start to promote their services during the seminar. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes the product or service they’re offering will assist you – however always make sure you scrutinize what it is they’re offering you before you make any decisions.

Finding a Reputable Event Planning Seminar

With any seminar or workshop always determine ahead of time what it is you’re hoping to achieve. Are you looking to further your education? Or are you looking for a networking event to share your ideas as well as to get ideas from industry peers. To an event planner seminars are a way to further their industry knowledge by findinbg out about hot trends and industry innovations. Event planning certification tells the industry that an event planner is serious about furthering their career.

While Google is a wonderful search tool, do not necessarily use it as the sole source for finding an event planning seminar. Ask your colleagues if they have any recommendations on seminars or workshops that they’ve attended. Another reputable source are the industries associations. Meeting Professionals International (MP I) and Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) are two of the biggest associations in the meetings and events industry. Both offer event planning seminars or continuing education as it sometimes referred to. And quite often the facilitator is a very well known name within the industry. In other words someone that you can learn from.

Outside of associations, your convention and visitors bureau (CVB) can be another excellent source for finding event planning seminars. There are for-profit companies that are also quite reputable within the industry. Cvent is a company that got its start in the registration side of the business. They have since expanded and offer many cloud-based meetings and events tools. In addition to its registration services, Cvent also offers a supplier selection database as well as listings for upcoming event planning seminars. The reason I mention Cvent for event planning seminars is that they are not necessarily promoting their own services. They are members can also post upcoming seminars as well.

A party planner will often look at ways to become a wedding planner. Especially in the warmer months, becoming a wedding planner is a way for many in the event planning industry to diversify their portfolio. This is where event planning seminars can be crucial. While there are many common job functions between party and event planning and wedding planning, there are still important particulars for each segment of the industry that would require an individual to be trained in.