CHICAGO, IL, April 11, 2008 -The Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) is proud to name Sherrif Karamat as its new Chief Operating Officer. Karamat has been with PCMA for more than four years, formerly serving as PCMA's Chief Partner Relations Officer and overseeing PCMA's strategic partnership program and print and digital advertising for PCMA and PCMA Convene magazine. In his new role, Karamat will also oversee PCMA member relations, which manages a membership of nearly 6,000 senior-level meetings professionals.

"Sherrif has done an unbelievable job of implementing PCMA's strategic partnership program and growing PCMA's revenues," said Deborah Sexton, PCMA President and CEO. "Sherrif has proved a tremendous asset for PCMA, and we are confident that the member relations team-and all PCMA members-will benefit greatly from his leadership and broad experience."

Over the past four years, Karamat has overseen and implemented PCMA's strategic partnership program, which has resulted in record revenue growth and allowed important additions to PCMA's premier educational line-up, including The Masters Series program and the new "On-the-Go!" PCMA Webinar Series. This unprecedented growth occurred while PCMA reduced the number of partners in order to increase partner value and satisfaction. Karamat also oversees PCMA's print and digital media advertising. Under his leadership, revenues increased by more than 65%.

The PCMA member relations department is responsible for attracting new members and retaining current ones, in addition to serving members on an ongoing basis. They also manage PCMA's 16 chapters in Canada and the U.S., and work with all PCMA departments in sharing information about relevant products and services with members.

"I'm honored to have been considered for and offered the opportunity to increase my commitment to PCMA and PCMA members. I am always impressed with PCMA members' passion, and it's very motivating to work at our industry's leading association. I'm also excited to continue to work with PCMA President and CEO Deborah Sexton. PCMA is constantly innovating and strategic-the future is bright for PCMA and our members," said Karamat.

Prior to his appointment at PCMA, Karamat was the Vice President of Business Sales for the Toronto Convention and Visitors Association. He also held senior sales and marketing roles in the hotel and sports industry and was one of the presenters for Toronto's Olympic Bid to host the 2008 Olympics.

Karamat authored the chapter on "Sponsorships and Strategic Partnerships: A New Approach" in Professional Meeting Management, Fifth Edition.  In addition to several other industry volunteer roles, Karamat has served on Destination Marketing Association International's (DMAI) Business Partner Advisory Council for the past two years, and was a featured speaker at IEG's 2007 conference on sponsorships.

He holds a bachelor's degree in business from York University and a master's of business administration (MBA) in marketing and international business from Schulich School of Business.

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The Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) is the professional resource and premier educator for the meetings and convention industry. Founded in 1957, PCMA represents the interests of meeting management executives from associations, non-profit organizations, corporations, independent meeting planning companies, and multi-management firms who recognize the importance of meetings to their organization. PCMA empowers members with the tools they need to succeed as meeting professionals and to promote the value of the industry to their organizations and the general public. Headquartered in Chicago, PCMA has 16 chapters throughout the United States and Canada. For additional information, please visit the PCMA Web site at www.pcma.org.

The role of the PCMA Education Foundation is to support the mission of the PCMA through fundraising and grant giving focused on education and research that will benefit the meetings and conventions industry. Established in 1985, the Foundation supports educational programs to improve professionalism in the meetings industry and to provide a university-level meeting management curriculum. The Foundation funds educational programs for meeting managers, hotels, convention and visitors bureaus, and other members of the meetings industry. It also conducts ongoing research of industry issues and concerns. The Foundation continually funds new programs to encourage the highest levels of professionalism in the meetings industry.