Finding the Right Space at the Right Time -

The view from our new North American headquarters on the 71st floor of the Aon Tower in downtown Chicago. (Staff photo)

PCMA’s North American office has a new address. In May, we moved just four blocks from our previous headquarters in Chicago, but it was — literally and figuratively — a big move up. Our offices are on the 71st floor of the 83-story AON Tower, with spectacular views of downtown Chicago and Lake Michigan.

But what’s even more exciting to me than the jaw-dropping views is how our new office space is opening new channels for collaboration. The space is communal, and while the Chicago team has their own workspaces, we have factored in plenty of other spaces to meet or just get a change of perspective — Chicago’s 25-acre Millennium Park is in our backyard.

Sherrif Karamat, CAE, President CEO, PCMA and CEMA

I witnessed how well this new environment supports our collective energy and creativity in June when we gathered PCMA’s entire team in Chicago for global strategy meetings. Working in cross-functional teams that brought people together from different regions and departments, we pushed ourselves to go beyond the boundaries of conventional thinking to imagine new ways to lead, inspire, and serve the global business events community. The results affirmed what our experience in the business events industry has taught us about what can happen when we create the right kinds of environments and bring people with different points of view and expertise together to meet big challenges.

And, more recently, we welcomed our global partners into our new space during Destinations International’s Annual Convention in July.

The 83-story Aon Tower was built in 1973.

These gatherings demonstrated what research has taught us about the positive effects of working in proximity — face-to-face — on trust and community building. Groups that engage in collaborative decision-making tend to produce more innovative solutions than those who work alone. And when you intentionally engineer diversity into groups, the solutions become exponentially more comprehensive and effective.

Our relocation couldn’t have come at a better time, as our teams in LATAM, APAC, and EMEA continue to grow and thrive, strengthening our relationships and impact across borders. I have great confidence in what PCMA can achieve throughout our journey as we work to reposition the global role of business events as a driver of both economic growth and a leading platform for finding solutions to the world’s pressing challenges.

Thank you for being a part of the journey — if you’re ever in the neighborhood, we hope you will visit us in our new North American home at 200 E. Randolph Street in Chicago.