Press Releases

PCMA and Reed Travel Exhibitions announce Industry Partnership PCMA to deliver signature education at EIBTM and new AIBTM event

Dallas, TX, Jan. 13, 2010 – The Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) and Reed Travel Exhibitions (RTE) announced from the PCMA Annual Meeting in Dallas an industry partnership that sees the two organizations collaborating on a range of new educational initiatives for AIBTM in Baltimore and EIBTM in Barcelona.

The announcement at PCMA’s Annual Meeting ‘Convening Leaders’ highlighted the commitment by both parties to create education and networking programs at both events, explore future collaborative opportunities and for PCMA to recruit and host Hosted Buyers to both AIBTM and EIBTM.
 
Commenting on the partnership, Vanessa Cotton, Chair RTE Meeting and Incentives Events said: “This joint initiative comes at a time when providing high quality education, innovative resources and networking opportunities is paramount to those wanting to develop their career in the meetings industry.

“Both RTE and PCMA are dedicated to offering those within the industry best professional education. This partnership comes at an exciting time for the sector, particularly in the US, with our inaugural event AIBTM – to include a dedicated America Meetings Week - taking place in Baltimore in June 2011.  The location of AIBTM is ideally suited to draw upon the largest concentration of meeting planners and buyers on the eastern seaboard.  Over 13,000 industry professionals are located within just three hours traveling time of Baltimore including several PCMA chapters accounting for more than 1000 members.”

PCMA’s President and CEO Deborah Sexton said, “PCMA is delighted to further enhance our collaboration with Reed and further our exchange.  We are dedicated to industry collaboration and this is a perfect way to continue to educate our members and industry and expand our horizons in our increasingly global marketplace.  We look forward to a beneficial relationship that provides our members and industry with new opportunities.”

For further information on AIBTM and EIBTM please contact:

Simon Greenbury / Andrea Klar

Tel: +44 (0) 207 096 2960 / 56

Email: simon.greenbury@cut-coms.co.uk
          andrea.klar@cut-coms.co.uk

AIBTM Website: www.aibtm.com
EIBTM Website: www.eibtm.com

Reed Travel Exhibitions website: www.reedtravelexhibitions.com

For more information on PCMA, please contact:

Contact: Brad Lewis
Tel :   +1 312.423.7252
E-mail: blewis@pcma.org
Notes to Editors:
1. AIBTM forms part of the RTE portfolio of Global Meetings and Incentives Events along with AIME (www.aime.com.au <http://www.aime.com.au>), GIBTM (www.gibtm.com <http://www.gibtm.com>), CIBTM (www.cibtm.com <http://www.cibtm.com>), EIBTM (www.eibtm.com <http://www.eibtm.com>) and the ICCA Exhibition in association with ICCA Congress (www.iccaworld.com <http://www.iccaworld.com>).  EIBTM (www.eibtm.com <http://www.eibtm.com>) is the annual global meetings and incentive exhibition held in Barcelona, Spain.
 
2. Reed Travel Exhibitions organise 14 events worldwide, including World Travel Market, Arabian Travel Market, European Incentive, Business Travel & Meetings Exhibition (EIBTM), Americas Incentive, Business Travel & Meetings Exhibition (AIBTM), Asia Pacific Incentives & Meetings Expo (AIME), International Golf Travel Market, Top Resa, ICCA Exhibition, in association with the ICCA Congress, International Luxury Travel Market (ILTM), La Cumbre, City Break, China Incentive, Business Travel & Meetings Exhibition (CIBTM), Gulf Incentive Business Travel & Meetings (GIBTM) and Asia Luxury Travel Market (ALTM).
 
3. For further press information, please visit the Reed Travel Exhibitions’ website on www.reedtravelexhibitions.com <http://www.reedtravelexhibitions.com>.
4. Reed Exhibitions is the world’s leading events organiser, with over 470 events in 37 countries. In 2008 Reed brought together over seven million industry professionals from around the world generating billions of dollars in business. Today Reed events are held throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Asia Pacific, and organised by 38 fully staffed offices.

5. Reed organises a wide range of events, including exhibitions, conferences, congresses and meetings. Its portfolio of over 470 events serves 44 industry sectors, including:
Aerospace & aviation, automobiles, broadcasting, building & construction, electronics, energy, oil & gas, engineering, manufacturing, environment, food service & hospitality, gifts, healthcare, interior design, IT & telecoms, jewellery, life science & pharmaceuticals, machinery, medical education, printing & graphics, property & real estate, security & safety, sports & recreation, travel.

6. Working closely with professional bodies, trade associations and government departments Reed ensures that each and every event is targeted and relevant to industry needs. As a result, many Reed events are market leaders in their field.

7. Reed Exhibitions is part of Reed Elsevier Group plc, a FTSE-100 company and world-leading publisher and information provider. In February 2009, Reed Elsevier reported revenues for 2008 of £5,334/€6,721m.

About PCMA:
The Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) is the professional resource and premier educator for the meetings and convention industry. Founded in 1957, PCMA represents the interests of meeting management executives from associations, non-profit organizations, corporations, independent meeting planning companies, and multi-management firms who recognize the importance of meetings to their organization. PCMA empowers members with the tools they need to succeed as meeting professionals and to promote the value of the industry to their organizations and the general public. Headquartered in Chicago, PCMA has 16 chapters throughout the United States and Canada.  For additional information, please visit the PCMA Web site at www.pcma.org.

The role of the PCMA Education Foundation is to support the mission of the PCMA through fundraising and grant giving focused on education and research that will benefit the meetings and conventions industry. Established in 1985, the Foundation supports educational programs to improve professionalism in the meetings industry and to provide a university-level meeting management curriculum. The Foundation funds educational programs for meeting managers, hotels, convention and visitors bureaus, and other members of the meetings industry. It also conducts ongoing research of industry issues and concerns. The Foundation continually funds new programs to encourage the highest levels of professionalism in the meetings industry.