PCMA-ICESAP announces new officers, membership model and partnership for 2018 at AIME, Melbourne

PCMA-ICESAP (Professional Convention Management Association- ICESAP The Incentive Conference & Event Society Asia-Pacific) announced today its latest developments to support the business events community in Asia-Pacific during a press conference held at AIME (Asia-Pacific Incentives and Meetings Expo) event in Melbourne, Australia (20-21 February 2018).

PCMA acquired ICESAP in July 2017 and has recently re-named itself as PCMA-ICESAP. Headquartered in Singapore, Nigel Gaunt remains its President.

To summarize the announcement:

PCMA-ICESAP to double the number of Vice-Presidents in the region from three to six, offering 12+ local face-to-face education and networking events in 2018
A new membership model has been introduced giving ICESAP members the same full benefits enjoyed by PCMA members
The 2018 PCMA-ICESAP annual conference will take place in Bangkok, Thailand in partnership with Accor Hotels.

New Vice-Presidents announced & Advisory Board shifts

PCMA-ICESAP announced its new Regional Vice Presidents appointed for 2018. One year after announcing the appointment of three Regional Vice Presidents, the organization has now increased this number to six. PCMA-ICESAP has also made the Regional Vice Presidents ex-officio Regional Advisory Board members in recognition of the important role they will play in expanding PCMA-ICESAP’s work in the APAC region in 2018.

The 2018 Regional Vice President appointments are as follows:

Australasia/Pacific: Aileen London, Senior Manager, Global Meeting Services JAPAC, Oracle Global Procurement
South East Asia: Erica Hegarty, Head of Sales Asia-Pacific, Pacific World
South Asia: Vishal Dhale, Head – Sales Rewards & Recognition, Aditya Birla Sun Life Insurance, India
China: Alicia Yao, Managing Director, IME Consulting, Beijing
Hong Kong/Macau/Taiwan: Darren Chuckry, Managing Director, Uniplan, Hong Kong
Japan/South Korea: Shogo Kaneda, Event Planner, Japan Management Association, Tokyo

PCMA-ICESAP President Nigel Gaunt said: “We are delighted to have this talented group of professionals driving our member and greater audience engagement in the regions of Asia-Pacific, Since PCMA acquired ICESAP, we have developed a number of new initiatives including over 12 regional education and networking events in 2018.”

“Our Regional Vice Presidents will be instrumental in collaborating not only on events but all our enhanced member benefits and services. To ensure they have the capacity to take on the scope of the role, they are recruiting Regional Panel Members from local PCMA-ICESAP members in each of the six regions to support their local initiatives.”

PCMA also announced it has merged the ICESAP and PCMA’s regional advisory boards, creating one board for PCMA APAC. The 2018 regional board will be led by Oscar Cerezales, COO Asia Pacific, MCI Group.

Membership Changes

ICESAP members now receive the same full benefits enjoyed by PCMA members. This includes private community access, member discount for PCMA events and 100+ OnDemand education session, as well as exclusive digital content.

In addition to the increased member benefits, the PCMA-ICESAP agency accreditation now has 10+ agencies accredited, showing professionalism in the region. The accreditation is valid for 2 years. The strong accreditation program, along with the relaunch of the IC&E distance-learning program, give members increased benefits for engaging with PCMA-ICESAP.

2018 Annual Conference

PCMA-ICESAP announced the location of its 2018 annual conference in Bangkok, Thailand, in partnership with Accor Hotels. The conference will take place 07-09 November 2018 at the Sofitel.

PCMA Education Foundation

The PCMA Education Foundation supports the future of the business events industry by awarding grants and scholarships. The latest developments in the APAC region, as announced by the Karen Bolinger CEO of the Melbourne Convention Bureau [MCB] at AIME focuses on funding a research study to investigate the future trends and emerging business models for the business events sector in APAC market. Study findings to be announced later in 2018.

For media inquiries from the Americas, APAC, EMEA and LATAM, please contact: Meghan Risch, PCMA Chief of Staff, Vice President, Corporate Communications

About PCMA

PCMA, PCMA Foundation and CEMA educate, inspire, and listen, creating meaningful experiences where passion, purpose and commerce come together. We are the world’s largest community for Business Events Strategists, providing senior-level education, networking, and market intelligence for the global business events industry. Our mission is to drive social and economic progress through business events. Headquartered in Chicago, IL PCMA has 17 North American Chapters, regional communities in APAC, EMEA and LATAM, and members in 59 countries. The Corporate Event Marketing Association (CEMA), a PCMA subsidiary, advances strategic event marketing and marketing communications for senior-level event marketers and industry professionals. Visit us at pcma.org.

About PCMA Foundation

The role of the Foundation of PCMA is to support the mission of PCMA through fundraising and grant-giving focused on scholarships, education and research that will advance the business events industry. Annually the Foundation funds over $900K in impact, and since 1985 has funded over 2,500 scholarships, 100 research studies and education programs, and $2.7M in charitable giving.