PCMA announces Visionary Awards Lifetime Achievement Honorees and Professional Excellence Finalists

Sherrif Karamat, CAE, PCMA and CEMA President & CEO is pleased to announce the 2025 Visionary Awards Lifetime Achievement Honorees and Professional Excellence Finalists. The annual Visionary Awards, established to honor and celebrate the global business events community’s exceptional stars, will be held Thursday, April 10 during Business Events Industry Week (BEIW) at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C.

Announced during Convening Leaders 2025 in Houston, Texas, the 2025 Honorees are:
Elliott Ferguson, President & CEO, Destination DC
Donald Getz, PhD, Professor Emeritus, University of Calgary
Lyn Lewis-Smith, CEO, Business Events Sydney (BESydney)
Carol McGury, Retired Executive VP, Event & Education Services, Smithbucklin
David Peckinpaugh, President & CEO, Maritz

2025 Lifetime Supplier Honorees: Elliott Ferguson | Lyn Lewis-Smith

A 35-year travel and hospitality leader, Elliott Ferguson continues to demonstrate thought leadership and advocacy for the global business events and hospitality community. His priorities include industry advancement, through diversity, equity and inclusion, not only through board positions with various industry organizations, but also through the implementation of industry initiatives, including DC’s innovative Tourism Recovery District established to drive significant investment in support of the local tourism industry. As a result, DC has regained its position as one of the preeminent business events destinations in the world.

Lyn Lewis-Smith is a passionate and recognized advocate for diversity, inclusion, and empowering women in leadership roles throughout the global business events community. In partnership with PCMA and PwC UK, Lyn played a pivotal role in the groundbreaking report, Advancing Women in Business Events which ultimately provided actionable recommendations for fostering inclusivity, primarily addressing the gender disparity in leadership.

2025 Lifetime Educator Honoree: Donald Getz, PhD

A core founder of the academic study of event management, Donald Getz, a researcher, author, and speaker, has dedicated his career through his thought leadership via his internationally renowned textbooks integral to the study of business events. He has educated thousands of students through his academic work and, as a result, has made solid contributions towards making event management a distinct professional field in universities throughout the world.

2025 Lifetime Business Events Strategist Honorees: Carol McGury | David Peckinpaugh

PCMA’s 2019 Foundation Chair, Carol McGury played a pivotal role in supporting the creation and advancement of scholarship programs, including five Smithbucklin scholarships as well as the Cele Fogarty and Chris Wehking scholarships. Throughout her 35-year career with Smithbucklin Carol led a portfolio of events that ranged from business and trade to technology, healthcare, and science. Throughout her career, Carol hired, invested in and trained more than 100 associates, further demonstrating her commitment to developing the future workforce.

For more than 30 years, David Peckinpaugh has accelerated his career based on a strong belief in the power of events to deliver not only superior business results, but perhaps more importantly, meaningful connections. This is further demonstrated by his decade-long service on PCMA’s Board and Foundation, inclusive of a two-year term as Foundation Board Chair. His commitment to culture is evidenced by Maritz’ signature core value “Take Good Care of Each Other” leading to the company-wide initiative of “Unleashing Human Potential.”

“We look forward to celebrating and honoring the 2025 Lifetime Achievement Honorees and Professional Excellence Finalists as they represent unmatched dedication and remarkable impact for the future of the global business events industry,” said Karamat.

The annual celebration will recognize and celebrate Professional Excellence Finalists across seven categories for extraordinary contributions to their respective organizations and their impact on the professional development of others. The Categories and Finalists are:

IMPACT AWARD
Christine Cleaver, Associate Professor of Instruction – Event and Entertainment Management, School of Sport, Tourism and Hospitality Management, Temple University
Mackenzie Loy, Founder & CEO, Homemade in DC
Visit Detroit Team led by Claude Molinari, President & CEO, Visit Detroit and Co-Chair of the Detroit Local Organizing Committee for the NFL Draft

OUTSTANDING SERVICE TO A CHAPTER OR REGION
Krista Cameron, DES, Vice President, Industry Relations, Encore Canada, Canada East Chapter
Sara McWilliams, Senior Director, Global Accounts, HelmsBriscoe, Greater Philadelphia Chapter
Annette Suriani, Principal and Chief Meeting Strategist, AMS Meeting Solutions, Capital Chapter

BUSINESS EVENTS STRATEGIST OF THE YEAR
Lisa Astorga, CMP, Director of Meetings, International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis (ISTH)
Jennifer Ragan-Fore, Chief Experience Officer, ISTE and ASCD
Nneka St. Gerard, CMP, Chief Strategy Officer, Meetings, Membership and Marketing, Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine

DIGITAL EXPERIENCE STRATEGIST OF THE YEAR
Sina Bünte, CMP, DES, Founder, DigitalMind.events
Mahoganey Jones, CMP, DES, HMCC, Founder & CEO, Event Specialists Inc.
Brian Zambotti, Vice President, Business Development, Association and Societies, Conexiant

EXPERIENCE DESIGN OF THE YEAR
AAPA team led by Anthony Maggiore, CMP, Senior Director, Conference & Meetings, American Academy of Physician Associates, and Katie McCormick, Executive Director, Meetings, Events, & Convention
RIMS team led by Stuart Ruff-Lyon, Chief Events & Sales Officer, Risk and Insurance Management Society, Inc.

GROUNDBREAKER
Jeffrey Fehr, Client Engagement Manager, Business Events, Destination Canada
Lori Jenaire, CMP, CDS, MBE, Vice President, Global Accounts, ConferenceDirect
Laurie Nelson-Choice, CGMP, Director of Diversity & National Sales, Visit Baltimore 

BUSINESS EVENTS SUPPLIER OF THE YEAR
Carrie Ferenac, Co-Founder and President, CNTV
Alison LaFollette, CMP, Director, Mid-Atlantic Region, Visit Seattle
Ronnette Phillips, Director – Hilton Direct, Hilton Worldwide Sales

The 2025 PCMA Visionary Awards is presented by Visit Austin and the Austin Convention Center. Proceeds benefit the PCMA Foundation, which funds more than $1M USD annually to initiatives that propel the global business events community forward, including more than 200 annual scholarships benefiting emerging leaders, students, faculty, and professionals to advance in their profession.

Ticket and table sales for the 2025 Visionary Awards celebration will be available in February.