Business Events Industry Aotearoa (BEIA) Chief Executive, Lisa Hopkins has been appointed to the Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) APAC Regional Advisory Board (RAB) for a two-year term.

Hopkins is the only member of the 12-strong team representing a country. She joins three other new appointees to the PCMA APAC Board for 2025-2027: Mala Dorasamy, CEO, Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre; Philip Goh, head – global experience marketing, Ciena; and Will Kataria, country head and senior director, Cvent.

Florence Chua, managing director, PCMA APAC says the APAC Regional Advisory Board represents the diverse expertise and energy of the region’s business events community.

“Their collective insights will ensure that PCMA remains relevant, regionally engaged and commercially impactful, creating platforms that elevate business events strategists and suppliers, and drive stronger trade partnerships across APAC markets,” Chua says.

Hopkins says she is thrilled to be part of the PCMA’s growth strategy as it closely aligns with New Zealand’s Pīata Mai business events strategy.

“I have had a long association with PCMA with their focus on creating a community for those who work within the predominately corporate event organiser and management space. The Asia Pacific region is extremely important to New Zealand, and to be working alongside an incredible roster of talent on the RAB is exciting. This includes fellow New Zealanders, Andrew Pennington, Campaign & Programme Marketing Lead at Google Cloud JAPAC as well as Deborah Caldwell, SVP APAC, Global Events at Bank of America Merrill Lynch who sits on the PCMA Global Board.

“Recently, we were delighted to welcome Florence Chua to Auckland for MEETINGS 2025 where she not only shared her knowledge and expertise, but also took away greater insight on New Zealand’s business events industry,” Hopkins says.

PCMA is headquartered in Chicago, USA, with partners and collaborators in over 40 countries. The Asia Pacific team is based in Singapore. The Asia Pacific Regional Advisory Board is dedicated to guiding the PCMA growth strategy and act as ambassadors to engage the community in the region. PCMA has a unique global perspective talking directly to over 7,000 professional and student members and 100,000 business event stakeholders, who help form the education agenda and strategic planning.