Hello fellow PCMA Capital Chapter members. My name is Marcus Eng and I have the honor of being your president-elect this year. I wanted to take a few minutes to reach out to you and talk about the events that have impacted our world.

We are dealing with one of the most challenging interruptions to our businesses and daily lives many of us have ever seen as we fight to defeat COVID-19.

Many hotels have suspended operations and most offices are now closed. We are all dealing with changes in our professional lives, including work interruptions.

Organizations have made the difficult decision to cancel meetings. Independent planners, association professionals, corporate planners, and all supplier partners are struggling.

It’s times like these where it can be tough to find a glimmer of hope but it’s really times like these that show us that it’s important, now more than ever, to come together, to support each other, and to be kind to each other.

Our strength as an industry has always been our sense of community. I have been reminded of this over the past few days with numerous examples of selflessness. Colleagues reaching out to others to help with problems. People volunteering for charities, many of whom having just been furloughed or let go. Even the simple act of reaching out to someone just to see how they are doing.

It’s this sense of community that will see us through these tough times. Many of our face to face events may be going digital in the short term but once we have defeated COVID-19, the world will see our strength and the value of face to face meetings will be stronger than ever. We are all in this together. A very simple fact none of us should ever forget.

I want you to know PCMA is on the forefront of this crisis too. Right now the CARES Act is moving through Congress. We need you to contact your representatives to make sure our industry is represented in this legislation. You can use this link as a guide to contacting your representatives. Make sure they know how much our industry has been impacted.

Also, in order to keep us connected, PCMA is launching a series of small group online conversations. This Thursday, a small group will be discussing Crisis Communications. These small group conversations will be a great way to keep connected.

While it was disappointing our GMID event this April has been cancelled, please look for information on the new date for GMID once it has been rescheduled. I imagine it will be quite the gathering. Also, please know we are all still diligently planning for our upcoming SPARK education event on June 11.

Thank you for sharing a few minutes of your time. We have such a dedicated group of leaders and volunteers in the PCMA Capital Chapter. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to us with questions, concerns or just to say hi. Remember, we are all in this together. Be safe.

Sincerely,
Marcus Eng, CMP