July/August 2005
5-minute interview: Deborah Sexton

Deborah Sexton left her job as President of the Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau to become the President and CEO of the Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) in March. She’s the first woman president in the organization’s history and PCMA’s third president in the last five years. It was a move that took Sexton just down the hall at McCormick Place, but into a new world of promoting the industry as a whole. Here’s what she tells EXPO about her new position.

EXPO: There are a number of associations that cover the convention and exhibition industry. What do you believe sets PCMA apart? 
Sexton: The quality of our educational programming, as well as the seniority of our membership, set us apart. Of course, we have some members who are junior in their companies, but the majority of our membership are seasoned executives. We’ve just announced our new Principles for Professional Performance, a new framework to deliver education based on a survey of our members. It will help us continue to offer unmatched education to the industry. The structure addresses key subjects our members said they needed and does it in a three-tier framework that allows for lifelong learning throughout one’s career — from essential education for lower-level managers to executive education for industry leaders.

EXPO: What do you think is the most important issue facing PCMA, and how do you plan to deal with it?  
Sexton:  PCMA has had a lot of turnover recently, so in the short term, I want to concentrate on team building. I think the changes are positive, but we need to continue to develop our team. PCMA isn’t run by one person — it’s run by its team. We’re just getting to know each other. I think we need additional support in some areas, and I’m evaluating what those needs are now.

EXPO: What do you think are one or two of the biggest issues facing the convention and  exhibition industry? Why? How do you plan to address these issues in your new job?  
Sexton:  Proving the value of face-to-face meetings is very important right now. Exhibitors are under increasing pressure to prove the return on investment for the events they participate in, and we’ve got to explore ways to help them do that. Security-related issues are other topics our membership is very much interested in — whether it be strategies to make their own events safer or the changes in visa requirements that make it more difficult for international attendees to attend events in the United States.
 We’re continuing to tackle these issues and keep our membership as up to date as possible. We’re also working with other industry associations to advocate on issues of importance to the industry as a whole, such as the obstacles created for international attendees by our immigration system.

EXPO: What’s the biggest challenge for you in your new job?  
Sexton:  Well, it isn’t finding my parking space! Just getting my arms around what’s going on here is the first challenge. In my first 60 days, we had the Partnership Summit in Dallas, a Foundation Dinner and a Foundation board of directors meeting. The other challenge is that I tend to like to create things. I tend to throw out too many ideas, so I need to refine them into four or five manageable initiatives. I need to stay focused and not try to change too much too soon.