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PCMA's Positive Vibes

January 12, 2010 Let's face it: People are tired of feeling down about this recession. Everyone's looking for proverbial the light at the end of the tunnel. At the Professional Convention Management Assn.'s Annual Meeting, Jan. 10-13 at the Dallas Convention Center, it seems like that light might just start to be shining. 

First off, the final numbers still need to be tallied, but attendance was up, compared with last year's event in New Orleans. That's definitely some good news in the wake of travel budgets being cut, meetings being canceled and several associations cutting back on their staffs. 

The other good news was association meeting planners I spoke to overwhelmingly said they, too, saw gains in attendance at their meetings in the past year. Why? Because their members were hungry for information and saw value in attending the meetings to get it. 

The overall mood of most of the attendees at the PCMA event also was high. People seemed ready to move past this recession no matter what it took. 

Don't get me wrong, no one has the wool pulled over their eyes. They all know we have a long road ahead of us until the economic downturn becomes an upturn, but, in the meantime, their going to just grin widely and bear it.

Posted by Rachel Wimberly on January 12, 2010 | Comments (0)