Education Highlights

90% of meeting professionals rate Convening Leaders’ learning environments as innovative, and 95% of attendees feel that the meeting contributes to the value they provide to their organizations, according to 2011 evaluation results.

Some of the new concepts for 2012 will include innovative delivery formats and increased emphasis on interactivity and audience engagement.

• For example, you will experience right-sized educational sessions with varying lengths of time based on the topic – no more back-to-back scheduling that forces content into a rigid 75 or 90-minute timeframe.
• Continuous learning available through Learning Lounge satellites and demo partners in locations throughout the conference space.
• Interactive sessions that combine education provided by subject matter experts with peer to peer knowledge exchange.
• New technologies employed as tools for connecting learners with educators and resources.
• Information/education provided in fun formats such as the Great Debate, Reverse Mentoring Tech Lab, Talk Show, and more.
• Greater opportunities to extend the learning before, during and after the Convening Leaders sessions.

Virtual Edge: PCMA will once again be co-located with the Virtual Edge Summit - Sessions will be integrated into the regular conference programming. Virtual Edge Summit sessions are included in your Convening Leaders registration at no additional cost; however, all participants must register in advance for these sessions.

General Sessions – We’re trying something new by moving association business out of the Opening General Session and into a Town Hall and the show dailies – no more talking heads behind podiums!  Instead you’ll hear from three featured speakers and then have the opportunity to get more in-depth with them when they each present a Masters Series program during the course of the conference. Throughout Convening Leaders, you’ll enjoy keynote presentations that are designed to motivate, educate, and inspire you.

The Masters Series: Today's Acknowledged Thought Leaders - High-level, thought provoking perspectives on important business and meetings industry challenges.

Breakout Sessions - Each time slot has multiple sessions to tackle strategy, best practices, and hands-on skills crucial for meeting professionals.

CMP^®, CEM^™, and other Pre- Workshops - take the CMP^® Cram Course, CMP^® Examination, CEM Learning Program, Faculty/Student events and more beginning Saturday.

ESPA (formerly ACOM): The Association for Convention Operations Management will hold its 24th annual conference in San Diego at the US Grant Hotel, January 6-8, 2012. Convening Leaders participants can register for the Sunday Planner/CSM education sessions at a discounted rate: Half day ($50 USD) or Full day ($99 USD).More

Calculations of CEUs:

Clock hours are the direct amount of time spent in the classroom/session. (1 hour in session = 1 clock hour).

Receive up to 16 Clock Hours (or 1.6 CEUs) for attending general sessions, the plenary session, and other daily education sessions. That's more than half of the required 25 clock hours for the CMP!

Additional credit may be available for auxiliary programs.