Convention managers to fete Chicago, Disney execs at annual dinner
Three executives in the meetings arena will be honored at the 2012 Professional Convention Management Association Education Foundation Dinner Celebrating Professional Achievement, May 2 at the Washington Hilton in D.C.
Meetings Professional Honoree – John Lisack Jr., CAE, executive director, American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (top). Lisack has more than 35 years of experience in association management. Before AAPS, Lisack was the executive director of American Society of Plant Biologists, the executive director of American Congress on Surveying and Mapping, and EVP of National Association of Personnel Consultants. He has served on several CVB advisory boards and other volunteer organizations. He is past chairman of the PCMA board and a former trustee of the PCMA Education Foundation. He was captain of the PCMA golf team for more than a decade and has raised more than $100,000 for the PCMA Education Foundation through his efforts.
Supplier Honoree – George Aguel, SVP, Walt Disney Co. (middle) During his 37-year career, Aguel has been an advocate for the meetings industry. He currently serves as a member of U.S. Travel Association’s Meetings, Incentives and Tradeshow Council, which was created to establish the industry’s importance with opinion leaders and policy makers. Most recently he served as chairman of Visit Orlando. Under his direction, Disney became one of the founding sponsors of PCMA’s Executive Edge program. Aguel is active in other meetings organizations, such as ASAE, Meetings Professional International and Convention Industry Council. He served on the PCMA Education Foundation board of trustees from 2004 to 2007. CIC inducted him into the Convention Industry Council’s Hall of Leaders in 2004.
Educator Honoree – Amanda K. Cecil, PhD, CMP, faculty, Indiana University’s Tourism, Convention and Event Management school. Cecil is an active industry volunteer, participating on a number of PCMA task forces since joining in 2004. She created the Instructor’s Resource manual for the fifth edition of PCMA Professional Meeting Management, which has been adopted by more than 110 colleges and universities around the world. Also, Cecil created study materials for the PCMA CMP Online Prep Course, the the first online study program for the Certified Meeting Professional credential, and the only one endorsed by the Convention Industry Council, which administers the CMP credential. In 2006, PCMA named her Educator of the Year.
Details: pcma.org/foundation.
