Convening Leaders, the Professional Convention Management Association’s annual meeting to be held January 9–12 in Las Vegas, features a number of sessions for medical meeting professionals, including several panels on continuing medical education.

CME: Global Trends, Challenges, and Issues looks at the state of CME, with a panel discussing the latest developments and the regulatory environment. Panelists include Alejandro Aparicio, MD, FACP, division director, continuing physician professional development, American Medical Association; Craig Campbell, MD, director, Office of Professional Development, Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada; Alfonso Negri, MD, president, Scientific Seminars International Foundation; and Davide Veglia, president, ABTS Convention Services.

The Quest for CME Funding Transparency focuses on how to remain compliant amidst all the new regulations and the ever-changing world of CME funding. Panelists include Sarah Scopel, chief compliance officer, Medicis Pharmaceutical Corp.; Jacqueline Mayhew, education director, Pfizer; Travelle Moseley, director of meetings, ASE; Ray Saputelli, executive vice president, New Jersey Academy of Family Physicians; and Sue Dykema, executive director, American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery.

The Changing Face of Medical Meetings features a panel of medical meetings professionals talking about the latest trends, developments, regulations, and issues and how they affect meetings. Panelists include Cathy Nash, director, meetings and conventions department, American Psychiatric Association; Christopher Wehking, CMP, director of meetings and exhibits, American Society of Anesthesiologists; Sue Sears Hamilton, associate vice president, Annual Scientific Session and i2 Summit, American College of Cardiology; Jeffrey Masters, senior manager, global event marketing group, Philips Healthcare; Eric Allen, executive vice president, Healthcare Convention and Exhibitors Association; Wanda Johnson, senior director, meetings and education, Endocrine Society; and Johnnie White, CMP, executive director, meetings and educational services division, Cardiovascular Research Foundation.

There is also a session called Medical Meetings Today: An Exchange for Planners Only. It will be an open, free-flowing forum led and moderated by Nancy Elder, president, Nancy Elder Associates.

Medical meeting professionals interested in attending should note that PCMA officials are offering an incentive to stay in the room block. Attendees who book outside the block will have to pay $200 more for their registration fee. PCMA has secured an $89 per night (plus tax) room rate at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino, where the meeting is taking place. To get the discounted hotel room rate, guests must book before December 22. Organizations that register more than two people from the same physical address get $50 off the registration fees for any additional registrants.

For more information, go to PCMA’s Convening Leaders Web site. Here’s a  full PCMA 2011 preview, including information about how PCMA attendees can access the Virtual Edge Summit, which is co-locating with PCMA.