World meet of association execs starts today at PICC

The 8th World Congress of Association Executives will kick off at the Philippine International Convention Center at 9 a.m. today, with prominent leaders from various sectors of the global industry conducting the opening ceremony.

They will share their expertise in different fields of association management with local and international organizations and corporations during the two-day event, which is hosted by the Philippine Convention and Visitors Corporation (PCVC) and the Society of Association Executives of the Philippines (SAE-Phil).

The congress is part of the continuing program of the PCVC and the SAE-Phil for association management and development. SAE-Phil is the first association of its kind in Asia.

Associations play a key role in bringing international and regional meetings and conventions to the country. Without these associations to bid and host, there can be no regional or international meetings or conventions to speak of," said SAE-Phil president Mervyn G. Encanto.

The SAE-Phil has established strong ties with the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE), the sector’s forerunner in the US. Thus, the congress is heavily supported by the ASAE, which is sending its chairperson Barbara Belmont and president John Graham IV to the two-day event.

Belmont will speak on "Associations Make a Better World" on the first day, and Graham on "Governance in Associations" on the second day.

Welcoming them and the rest of the participants are Encanto and SAE-Phil external vice president Lydia Mangahas.

The other speakers are executive director and chief executive officer Peter Hermann of the Association for Information Management Professionals, executive director John Sullivan of the Center for International Private Enterprise, professional speaker Rochelle Balch, president and CEO Andrea Sigler of the Connected International Meeting Professionals Association, and CEO Leslie Mancuso of affiliate JHPIEGO of John Hopikins University.

Executive director Marianne Quebral of the Venture for Fund-Raising, CEO Francis Kong of Funworks Incorporated, manager John Donaldson of ASAE’s Management and International Section, strategic partnerships director Michael Yates of the Pacific Asia Travel Association, and former Tourism Secretary and now vice president for Asia Pacific of the World Association of Small and Medium Enterprises Mina T. Gabor, among others.