Conference. Convening Leaders 2020 will identify ways for attendees to reach their personal and professional goals through innovative education, experiential activations and networking opportunities in San Francisco.

“We’ve had an amazing response to 2019 ‘Disrupt + Deliver’ Convening Leaders where we invited participants to push boundaries and take risks,” said Sherrif Karamat, PCMA president and CEO. “Through our upcoming 2020 event, we’re demonstrating how to deliver memorable and impactful event experiences and how participants can achieve new heights in their professional and personal growth. We’ll show this by taking strategic risks for participants while also having fun.”

Registration is now open for the January 5-8 event, which draws thousands of business events professionals from around the world. The 2020 gathering is hosted by the San Francisco Travel Association and will be held at the Moscone Center.

Top-notch education: Visionary thinker and best-selling author Simon Sinek will open the 2020 program with a keynote inspired by his upcoming book, “The Infinite Game.” His presentation will underscore the importance of embracing an infinite mindset to effectively lead and thrive in an unpredictable, chaotic world.

Sinek is famous for sharing insights with a broad audience including business entrepreneurs, military leaders and corporations such as American Airlines Inc. and The Walt Disney Co. His first TED talk in 2009 on the concept of “Why” quickly became one of the most watched on TED.com.

“PCMA’s mission to drive economic and social transformation through business events has led to connecting the dots with Simon, who is fascinated with making organizations, the workplace and people stronger and better, which will make a lasting impact in the world,” said Tonya Almond, PCMA’s vice president of experience and design. “We are thrilled to be witnessing Simon’s life-changing thinking and how he will inspire thousands of business events professionals at Convening Leaders to reach beyond their traditional thinking, and begin to believe how business events transform people and organizations.”

A ‘living laboratory’:Convening Leaders in San Francisco will be more than an innovative and immersive educational and networking program; it will also be a living laboratory for participant experience research. PCMA Foundation and Steelcase Event Experiences recently published six insights determined to have a profound effect on attendee engagement at open-space events. Two of those insights — creation of networking opportunities and interactive experience design — will help shape the participant journey at 2020 Convening Leaders.

More than education:Social impact will continue to have a prominent role at Convening Leaders through PCMA Foundation events such as the annual Party With a Purpose fundraiser, Hospitality Helping Hands service projects, the Fun Run and Namaste Yoga wellness activities. In 2019, Convening Leaders participants raised more than 300,000 US-Dollar to aid the Foundation’s mission of supporting research and scholarships for students and business events professionals.