Tuesday, November 17, 2015
The rainforest in Stanley Park has been watered, the glass towers buffed to a sparkling sheen, and Vancouver’s surrounding mountains have a fresh dusting of snow.
All this is in preparation for PCMA Convening Leaders – the influential “convention for convention planners” which comes to Vancouver in less than 60 days’ time.
One of the world’s pre-eminent gatherings of the meetings industry, Convening Leaders is expected to attract 4,000 meetings industry professionals to Vancouver from January 10 to 13, 2016. Attendees include planners for some of the world’s largest and most high profile meetings and events.
With just two months to go, Vancouver hosts are working like busy beavers to prepare for the arrival of this important group. The ultimate goal? To convince attending planners to book their organization’s next meeting or event in Vancouver.
At the Vancouver Convention Centre, Claire Smith, vice president of Sales and Marketing, is personally cleaning the 55-foot, floor-to-ceiling windows in the LEED Platinum convention centre’s four immense ballrooms where the three days of conference programming will take place.
Dave Gazley, vice president of Meeting and Convention Sales at Tourism Vancouver, has been busy weeding and pruning the 1,000-acre Stanley Park so PCMA delegates can walk, jog or cycle to their hearts’ content in the world-renowned park [photo at top].
Over at The Fairmont Waterfront Hotel, General Manager Indu Brar, also chair of the Vancouver Hotel Destination Association, is personally testing each bed in the Convening Leaders 43,000-room-night hotel block to ensure delegates will have restful sleeps after intensive days of professional development and networking.
What’s more, all the Vancouver hosts are busy preparing for an exceptional delegate experience that will begin as soon as attendees arrive at Vancouver International Airport, including city tours, blow-your-mind opening and closing events, and seamless transportation.
Headquartered in Chicago, the Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) is the definitive authority in education, business networking and community engagement for leaders in the global meetings, convention and business events industry.
The 60th annual Convening Leaders event will showcase the latest innovations in event technology, meeting design and business event strategy over three days of unparalleled education and orchestrated networking.
Convening Leaders takes place January 10 to 13, 2016 at the Vancouver Convention Centre in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. This is the first time Convening Leaders has come to Vancouver and only the third time the conference has been held in Canada.
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