CHICAGO—Adam Grant, an organizational psychologist and bestselling author who explores the science of motivation, generosity, original thinking, and rethinking will deliver an opening day keynote on Monday, January 9, 2023, at PCMA’s annual Convening Leaders. The theme of the association’s flagship education and network event is Ignite Your Path, and will take place at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in Columbus, Ohio in partnership with Experience Columbus.
Grant is an organizational psychologist at Wharton, where he has been the top-rated professor for seven straight years. A #1 New York Times bestselling author, his books have sold millions of copies and been translated into 35 languages. His pioneering research has inspired people to rethink fundamental assumptions about motivation, generosity and creativity. He has been recognized as one of the world’s 10 most influential management thinkers and Fortune’s 40 under 40 and has received distinguished scientific achievement awards from the American Psychological Association and the National Science Foundation.
Convening Leaders 2023 is an incubation and experiment where the best in content, commerce, community, and experience come together to create new value for all participants and the business events industry. Industry trailblazers — the fighters, finders and inventors who are on a quest to move our industry and society forward will be featured.
Grant’s keynote, “Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World” will reveal how to recognize and champion new ideas and build cultures that welcome diverse perspectives and honest feedback.
“We live in a time that presents a new set of challenges for the industry — uncharted territories, unknown opportunities and perils, and unsolved problems,” says PCMA President and CEO Sherrif Karamat, CAE. “This is the time for us to challenge our own thinking, embrace data and new experiments to increase value. Through our phenomenal lineup of speakers like Adam Grant and our three days of immersive programming and networking, Convening Leaders 2023 will inspire and challenge participants and prepare us to navigate the headwinds of today and tomorrow.”
Columbus is recognized as an innovation center that is consistently ranked as one of the United States’ top cities to visit and is the 14th largest city in the United States. The destination is home to some of the world’s most recognizable brands, innovative small businesses, powerhouse research hubs and academic institutions. In January, Intel — the only major semiconductor manufacturer headquartered in the U.S. — chose the Columbus Region for a $20B chip production facility that will open in 2025. The region is also home to 16 Fortune 1000 companies and five Fortune 500 companies and has one of the youngest and most educated populations in the country.
“Columbus is experiencing unprecedented growth and has a vibe unlike any other city,” notes Brian Ross, Experience Columbus President and CEO. “Here, our approach is different. ‘The Columbus Way’ is a phrase often used to describe our unique community collaborations between the city, the businesses headquartered here and our nonprofit and academic institutions. It’s because of this unified approach that we can offer such an unparalleled level of service to the meetings and conventions that come to Columbus. We can’t wait to roll out the red carpet and welcome Convening Leaders participants to our smart, open and forward-thinking city.”
Participants can learn more about Columbus and what to expect at Convening Leaders during a special episode of Live Forward Live, an Experience Columbus podcast. Now in its third season, the first episode of a new PCMA series features Karamat in conversation with City of Columbus Mayor Andrew J. Ginther. Tune in to learn why PCMA chose Columbus, what experiences await attendees in January and Karamat’s prediction on where the industry is headed.
Registration is now open for members through September 11, 2022. General registration will open Sept. 12. Learn more about PCMA Convening Leaders at conveningleaders.org.
For all media inquiries, additional comments and requests for interviews, please contact:
PCMA
Meghan Risch
mrisch@pcma.org
Experience Columbus
Leah Berger, APR, CTA
lberger@experiencecolumbus.com
Adam Grant
Carolyn Coleburn
ccoleburn@penguinrandomhouse.com
About Experience Columbus
Experience Columbus is the destination marketing organization for the Columbus region, dedicated to growing visitor spending and enhancing the visitor experience. Annually, visitors make 42.7 million trips to Greater Columbus for conventions, trade shows, sporting events and leisure visits, spending $6.6 billion and supporting nearly 75,000 jobs. Columbus is proud to be selected as the host city for 2023 PCMA Convening Leaders, which brings together the world's business events professionals, and the 2023 U.S. Conference of Mayors Annual Meeting. For more information, visit ExperienceColumbus.com.
About PCMA
PCMA, PCMA Foundation and CEMA educate, inspire, and listen, creating meaningful experiences where passion, purpose and commerce come together. We are the world’s largest community for Business Events Strategists, providing senior-level education, networking, and market intelligence for the global business events industry. Our mission is to drive social and economic progress through business events. Headquartered in Chicago, IL PCMA has 17 North American Chapters, regional communities in APAC, EMEA and LATAM, and members in 59 countries. The Corporate Event Marketing Association (CEMA), a PCMA subsidiary, advances strategic event marketing and marketing communications for senior-level event marketers and industry professionals. Visit us at pcma.org.
About PCMA Foundation
The role of the Foundation of PCMA is to support the mission of PCMA through fundraising and grant-giving focused on scholarships, education and research that will advance the business events industry. Annually the Foundation funds over $900K in impact, and since 1985 has funded over 2,500 scholarships, 100 research studies and education programs, and $2.7M in charitable giving.
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