Straight Talk: Sherrif Karamat on Consolidation and Climate Change

Collaboration will be required to solve global problems and elevate perceived value

As president and CEO of Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA), a global network of business event strategists that began in 1956 as an association for medical meeting planners, Sherrif Karamat has had a hand in bringing resources together to find synergies. In 2020, PCMA acquired the Corporate Event Marketing Association and continues to run it as an integrated division with its own conference and shared access to the PCMA learning library.

In 2023, PCMA acquired Event Leadership Institute to offer members access to educational videos and webinars. That same year, Karamat announced a partnership with Singapore-based Gevme to launch Spark, a generative AI platform for event professionals. During a recent interview in Portland, Oregon, Karamat shared a prediction that more consolidation is coming in the events industry and a warning that climate change could be the next pandemic-level disruption.

Do you see more consolidation happening in the events space?

If we don’t consolidate, it will be at our peril. You are seeing consolidation everywhere. In our industry, we have all these splinter organizations. If our industry remains fragmented and doesn’t want to come together to increase value, we will eventually lose. We can’t be like Kodak and let hubris and egos get in the way of planning for the future.

Read More: Will 2026 Be the Year of Event Support Consolidation?

How would more collaboration help meeting professionals?

The only way event professionals will be recognized by their own organizations for the strategic role that they play in supporting the business is by supporting our members to deliver value, and certifications are part of that. But I am not waiting for consolidation. I’m going to continue to push forward with collaborations.

I want to invite more and more people to be a part of Business Events Industry Week. The goal is to make that one week where the world comes to the nation’s capital to do business, get educated, celebrate industry recognition and raise the profile of the profession. This is a meta-industry, and it tends not to get the due that it deserves. Collectively, we will have a bigger impact.

I do think that there is some fatigue around trade shows, so it is time to evolve. Clearly, we have to deliver what the next generation wants since by 2030, only 25% of the working population will be Gen X and boomers.

Will AI be part of that evolution?

AI is a great thing for our industry. It is propelling more face-to-face events. The erosion of trust and acceleration of loneliness as our agents do all the interacting will make us want to be with each other more. Humans are hardwired to be with people for our mental health. I believe we will have more conferences in the future, but it will be the conferences that provide value because, in addition to limited bandwidth, another vexing issue is the very real issue of climate change.

Read More: Eight Lessons in Human Connection for Meeting Planners in the Age of AI

We have to find ways to come face-to-face with a lighter footprint. That’s why Convene 4 Climate was launched last year as not just a conference, but a movement to connect climate-tech innovators, develop measurable climate action and empower behavioral change. I’m passionate about proactively addressing climate change because I don’t want governments to dictate to us that we can no longer cross borders or meet due to a global emergency. That is why we, as an industry, need to be in front of the issue.

“I’m passionate about facing climate change proactively because I don’t want governments to dictate to us that you can no longer cross borders or meet because of a global emergency.”

– Sherrif Karamat, PCMA President and CEO

We need clear standards and benchmarks throughout the supply chain of how we’re going to manage risks along with recognition for individuals, companies and organizations leading the way. That will help meeting professionals understand what they can do, find sustainable partners and make better decisions. It is a mindset shift starting from the beginning.