Founder and managing director of event agency Sight, Anna Patterson, is one of two new faces joining the regional board for the Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) in 2026. Although now based in Singapore, Patterson started her career in Sydney.
The other new appointment to the board is Mayumi Ninomiya, general manager of Jack Morton Japan.
Patterson joins several other Australians and Australia-based industry continuing on the advisory board, including Saxton CEO, Anne Jamieson, Shelley Ryan, events and incentives manager for FUJIFILM Business Innovation Australia, Stuart Frank, senior director of strategic events at Salesforce, Tamsyn Barker, APAC managing director for FIRST Agency and COO of AusIMM, Melissa Holdsworth.
Meanwhile, Lisa Hopkins, chief executive of Business Events Industry Aotearoa (BEIA) will continue to represent New Zealand on the advisory board. Also from New Zealand, Deborah Caldwell, senior vice president and regional lead of global events for APAC at Bank of America, is the liaison between the APAC advisory board and the global PCMA board, on which Caldwell sits.
Other representatives from Asia continuing on the board are Mala Dorasamy, CEO of Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre, Philip Goh, head of APAC event marketing for Intuitive, Will Kataria, Singapore country head and senior director for Cvent, Kerry Lau, ASEAN head of marketing for Oracle, Ronald Lim, co-founder of Think Tank Productions, Sakurako Ogawara, director of conferences for Gartner, and Genevieve Lim, assistant vice president of MICE and sales at Marina Bay Sands.
“Asia Pacific is at the forefront of innovation and growth in business events, and its influence on our global community will only continue to accelerate,” said PCMA’s CEO, Sherrif Karamat.
“The APAC advisory board brings together exceptional leaders who understand the opportunities and complexities of this region and their guidance will be instrumental as we co-create education, experiences and solutions that drive economic and social progress for our industry.”
