Toronto Brings Industry Leadership, International Flair to New Strategic Partnership With PCMA
Chicago, IL, December 17, 2007 – Making it the first Canadian city to become a Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) Strategic Partner, Toronto – a joint collaboration between Tourism Toronto and the Metro Toronto Convention Centre (MTCC) – has signed on with PCMA at its highest partnership level. The three-year commitment begins in January, 2008.
This new Strategic Partnership builds on recent successful collaborations between PCMA and the city, including the Toronto-hosted PCMA Annual Meeting in 2007 and the PCMA Leadership Conference in 2002.
“We certainly know first-hand the power of partnering with Toronto,” said Deborah Sexton, PCMA President and CEO, “and a lot of that strength comes from the strength of the relationship between their convention center and CVB. It truly is a deep partnership that is atypical in the industry today, though many try to emulate it.”
As a Strategic Partner, Toronto will invest in the PCMA Annual Meeting in 2008 - 2010 by presenting the Closing General Session speaker. The upcoming meeting’s closing address will be from environmental advocate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. – an especially appropriate link for Toronto given their industry leadership in green meetings. In fact, MTCC and PCMA partnered to produce its first large-scale zero waste convention at the 2007 Annual Meeting—a historic first within the convention and trade show industry.
“This partnership puts Toronto where it needs to be – squarely in front of the most influential leaders in North America’s meetings industry,” said David Whitaker, President and CEO of Tourism Toronto. “We have seen the power of partnering in the business results that have already been generated from hosting PCMA earlier this year, and we are eager to carry that momentum forward.”
2008- 2010, Toronto will also host PCMA’s International Meetings Think Tank , a new annual summit meeting of approximately 30 invited meeting professionals who plan meetings outside the U.S. With the 2008 event tentatively planned for September, this group will discuss key strategies and tactics in staging successful global meetings.
Toronto will also support the PCMA Leadership Conference and Convene magazine, as well as networking and industry research through the PCMA Education Foundation’s Partnership Summit, Dinner Celebrating Professional Achievement, and Party with a Purpose.
“These are exceptional experiences for PCMA members that wouldn’t be possible without our partners’ support,” said Sexton. “We always work with our partners to make sure that we are adding value to our members as well as helping partners to achieve their objectives.”
For instance, one of Toronto’s goals in hosting the 2007 PCMA Annual Meeting was to inspire meeting professionals who had not previously held events in Canada, or anywhere internationally, to consider Toronto. The city has since fielded numerous new leads, and recently confirmed the 2013 annual meeting of the National Association for College Admission Counseling – an event that has never been held outside the U.S. The meeting is expected to generate 8,800 hotel room nights, over $300,000 in convention centre revenue and an economic impact of over $8 million to the Toronto economy; meeting organizers had their initial first-hand impression of Toronto at the PCMA Annual Meeting.
“Our partnership with PCMA is exactly the type of relationship we look to--to connect us with the industry and clientele." said Barry Smith, President & CEO of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. “Hosting the Annual Meeting here in Toronto was a big step forward, and we believe our Strategic Partnership is another step in the right direction.”
PCMA offers mutually beneficial partnerships at varying levels: Strategic Partner, Premier Partner, Communication Partner, Event Partner, and Affinity Partner. There are currently 12 Strategic Partners; other international partners include the Canadian Tourism Commission, the Mexico Tourism Board, and Cancun CVB.
