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PCMA Launches APAC-specific Digital Event Strategist Course

Announcement posted by Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) 04 May 2021

PCMA appoints APAC Experts to provide local expertise and hybrid event insights

Professional Convention Management Association’s (PCMA) highly successful Digital Event Strategist (DES) course will now cater specifically for APAC business events and marketing professionals planning a hybrid or digital meeting with the addition of regional experts to the course, who will be available to answer questions and share their local experience. 

The APAC experts provide “expert hours” which include opportunities for mentoring, discussion and conversation on the business events challenges facing the students. 

The five regional experts appointed by PCMA include: Adjunct Associate Professor Deanna Varga, Managing Director and Founder of Mayvin Global; Darren Chuckry, Founder and Managing Partner, HK Initiative; Justin Choy, Managing Director of Hong Kong at Creative Technology; Jayson Chau, Senior Manager of Digital at Sinclair Comms; and Deborah Caldwell, Asia Pacific Head of Event Marketing, Bank of America. 

In the last 12 months over, two thousand people have completed the course globally, and PCMA Managing Director APAC Karen Bolinger and her team have been working hard to tailor the DES program for the Asia Pacific region. 

“The APAC Experts are a vital addition to the already popular course. In APAC we have unique challenges and are working through our post-COVID plans at different speeds to the rest of the world. 

“I’m thrilled we’ve been able to engage five regional experts, to help guide our industry forward, who are themselves at the top of their game. We know hybrid and digital events aren’t going anywhere; the DES course is an essential certification covering six modules from business planning and technology to marketing and measurement. Not only do you get the benefits of expanding your knowledge, you get support from the experts and the opportunity to network with peers. DES alumni become an important professional community,” said Ms Bolinger. 

Adjunct Associate Professor Deanna Varga said she is looking forward to helping shape the business events industry as a DES APAC Expert.  

“I’ll be the DES Expert for ‘Business Planning and Monetisation’ and will help participants implement sustainable commercial strategies to drive revenue, profit and visitor engagement. I believe these skills are more important than ever before as we navigate the post-COVID environment. 

“Knowing I’ll be able to answer questions for those who are reskilling and upskilling in our industry, especially as we face significant workforce hurdles, is important to me. I’m looking forward to working through some of the APAC challenges in the expert hours,” said Ms Varga.  

DES is a six-week course of self-paced materials, with weekly expert hours. Upon successfully completing the DES course, participants will remain certified for two years. 

For more information visit: www.pcma.org/DESAPAC

-ENDS-

Notes to Editors: 

Interviews with Karen Bolinger are available, to request please contact:

Jessica Kauffman, Senior Account Manager, ZADRO | +61 400 433 182 | jessica@zadroagency.com.au 

About Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA)

  • PCMA’s APAC operations are led by Karen Bolinger with a team in Melbourne and Singapore.
  • PCMA APAC has a strong presence in the region and represents the event buyer across Australia, New Zealand, South-East Asia and North Asia.
  • PCMA is the world’s largest platform for business events strategists and their business partners. 
  • PCMA’s success is driven by a commitment to providing provocative executive level education, face-to-face networking and business intelligence to its global audience of 8,400 member professionals, students and 100,000 business event stakeholders.
  • PCMA believes business events can economically and socially transform communities, enterprises and individuals. 
  • Through its Ascent leadership initiative to promote inclusion and diversity across the business events industry and beyond, PCMA seeks to empower those challenged by gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity or disabilities to find success.
  • Visit us at pcma.org or LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
  • Visit PCMA APAC on LinkedIn. 

Images:

High-res image can be downloaded from here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/wejrts1vsc6al1m/AABw3QWx-njev24rf7q--ERta?dl=0

 

  1. DES APAC Regional Experts 

 
   2. Karen Bolinger, PCMA Managing Director of APAC 

 

   3. Hybrid event image