On November 18, the Professional Convention Management Association announced that its board of directors has ratified a proposal to acquire the Corporate Event Marketing Association and will operate it as a division of PCMA. The deal is expected to be completed in January.
The news comes just 11 months after the two organizations formed a two-year alliance “for collaboration and cross promotion through educational initiatives to help increase brand presence and membership,” said PCMA CEO Sherrif Karamat in January 2020. “PCMA has a commitment to bring its members access to leading-edge education and content to help them deliver economic and social transformation through business events...CEMA allows us to deliver more resources to our members while expanding our audience so we can continue to demonstrate how business events transform global economies and societies.”
Since that time, however, the Covid pandemic has altered the meetings and events landscape immeasurably, and the acquisition is intended to “spark continued growth and development for both organizations’ stakeholders in several areas,” says Karamat. These include:
- Stronger professional development and networking programs to foster peer-to-peer learning plus other educational opportunities.
- Better access to educational content and research. CEMA members can now tap into PCMA research, anchored by Business Events Compass, while PCMA members can access CEMA’s community of senior corporate and technology event marketing experts as speakers and collaborators.
- Expanded member networking connections.
- Long-term stability and growth. PCMA will provide CEMA with infrastructure support and financial investment that allows it to expand. CEMA members will have access to PCMA products and programs such as the Digital Event Strategist certification.
PCMA will maintain CEMA’s brand and member community through an advisory board (formerly CEMA’s board of directors) and by preserving its current leadership, events, and content
PCMA still has strategic agreements with Asia-Pacific Incentives Meetings Events (AIME), International Association of Professional Congress Organizers (IAPCO), COCAL, Destinations International, and others.
