Not every meeting professional has attended one of the nation’s most prestigious graduate business schools.

But the Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) is offering a unique opportunity for meeting professionals to gain some of the advanced management education offered by the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.

This invitation-only two-day program for senior-level meeting professionals will take place during the PCMA 50th Annual Meeting, scheduled for January 8-11, 2006, at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia, PA.

Program content will include portions of the curriculum offered by the Wharton School of Business to its graduate-level students, delivered by some of its leading professors.

“At PCMA, we are continually looking for ways to deliver the nation’s very best education for our members, and the proximity of the Wharton School of Business to our Annual Meeting offers an ideal opportunity to do that,” explains PCMA President and CEO Deborah Sexton.

The program begins on Sunday, January 8, with the following three sessions:

Opening General Session - The Future for Investors Professor Jeremy Siegel will deliver a provocative and compelling presentation on strategies for long-term investing. Referencing his March 2005 book, The Future for Investors: Why the Tried and True Triumph Over the Bold and New, he will present an historical overview of stock performance to illustrate trends and considerations for today’s investors.

General Session - Strategy Under Uncertainty Professor Roch Parayre will explain why strategic planning in today’s highly complex and volatile corporate environment requires leaders to look beyond management’s typical internal focus. Successful organizations employ a systematic procedure for assessing external effects, allowing them reframe issues, distinguish systematic patterns from random events, and focus on the right problems and opportunities. This general session will provide an overview of the general concepts behind scenario planning and critical thinking in decision making.

Working Session - Conducting Industry Scenarios In this session, participants will connect with those around them to discuss initial thoughts on the Industry Scenarios portion of the scenario planning process. These initial discussions will serve as a preparation for the small group discussions on Monday.

The program continues on Monday, January 9 with group working sessions at the Philadelphia Marriott Hotel.

Sessions and topics include:

Conducting Industry Scenarios & Strategic Market Segmentation - Participants will spend the morning in small groups working through the Industry Scenarios and Strategic Market Segmentation portions of the scenario planning process. Professor Parayre and his team will move among groups to help facilitate discussions.

Industry Key Success Factors & Strategic Vision and Options - Participants will spend the afternoon in small groups working through the Industry Key Success Factors and Strategic Vision and Options portions of the scenario planning process. Professor Parayre and his team will move among groups to help facilitate discussions.

Closing Session - Bringing the Learning Home In this final session, Professor Parayre will synthesize the learning from the program and discuss personal application/next steps for Executive Edge participants.

Wharton programs typically cost over $2,000 per day, but through the sponsorship of the PCMA Education Foundation, Canadian Tourism Commission, and Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, the two-day program is being offered to PCMA Annual Meeting attendees for $345.

Online registration is available at www.pcma.org. More information is also available by calling PCMA at 312-423-7262.