The people who decide where this country’s major professional and trade association annual conferences are held each year will be gathering for their own annual education and networking convention in Boston, January 12–15.
The Professional Convention Management Association’s 2014 Convening Leaders conference will be headquartered at the Hynes Convention Center, in the heart of the city’s Back Bay neighborhood. The Center is attached by enclosed walkways to many of the hotels in the convention’s contracted room block, including the headquarters property, Sheraton Boston Hotel.
Innovation has become the meeting’s trademark, and there’s no doubt that the Boston meeting will live up to that reputation. Lisa Bodell, CEO, FutureThink, will keynote the meeting on Monday, with a presentation called “Start the Innovation Revolution,” and another forward-thinking female—one with a few rejuvenation projects under her belt, including The New Yorker—will close the meeting on Wednesday: Tina Brown.
In between are lots of opportunities for engagement and peer-to-peer networking, including a “completely different” PCMA Learning Lounge 2.0 and PCMA Business School @ Convening Leaders, which will feature seven 90-minute lectures delivered by top faculty and professors from renowned business schools. Each lecture will be limited to 200 attendees on a first-come, first-served basis at no additional charge.
Also on tap are a Hospitality Helping Hands project, Cradles to Crayons, that will have participants inspect, sort, and package donations into customized “Kid Packs” for needy children. The ever-popular Party with a Purpose, which raises funds each year for PCMA’s Network for the Needy and the PCMA Education Foundation, which also benefit College Bound Dorchester this year. The event will be held at Boston’s House of Blues on Monday night.
Another highlight of the networking opportunities is a reception to take place at Boston’s famed Faneuil Hall marketplace on Tuesday evening.
Local professionals, students, or anyone interesting in showcasing Boston at its best, who volunteer their time during the course of the convention, can receive deep discounts to attend as well as a variety of other benefits. Visit the volunteer page at www.PCMABoston.com/volunteer.
For more information and to register for Convening Leaders, visit the Convening Leaders Web site.
