More than 850 corporate event marketers, strategists, and industry partners gathered at the Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel August 9–11 for three days of practitioner-led education, global case studies, and candid, future-focused conversation under this year’s theme, “Where the World Comes Together.” The Summit welcomed 383 first-time participants and 145 participants from Canada, with 19 countries represented overall — a reflection of how far CEMA’s community now reaches.
Event programming across the three-day Summit focused on three pillars — impact, influence, and intention. More than 40 practitioner-led education sessions complemented Main Stage conversations exploring leadership, artificial intelligence, audience engagement, measurement, and the evolving role of event strategists.
Main Stage highlights included a keynote from Ebony Beckwith, Executive Coach, Founder of Framework; Innovation Nation pitches; a CMO fireside chat with Contentful’s Elizabeth Maxson; Carolyn Pund celebrated as a PCMA Visionary Awards Lifetime Achievement Honoree; and a closing keynote from Omar Johnson, CEO and Founder, Øpus United and Øpus Intelligence.
Town Hall highlights new and expanded benefits for a growing community
The CEMA Town Hall, featuring Sherrif Karamat, Gary Murakami, CMP-Fellow, CMM, DES – Chair, CEMA Advisory Board, Kara Wooten, CEMA Advisory Board member, and moderated by Melissa Meloro, VP, Sparks, wrapped the Tuesday main stage session where PCMA and CEMA leaders detailed how direct member feedback is reshaping the roadmap.
“You told us you want and need dedicated programming built for where you are within an organisation — and it’s not more general sessions,” said Karamat.
CEMA’s year-round experiences are increasing the member value. The enhanced executive event portfolio now includes Executive Forum, Exhale and Executive Mystery Retreats. The Events Marketing ROI Benchmarking Model and Toolkit were previewed as the latest tool for event marketers to prove the value of what they do. The product is built by corporate event marketers, for corporate event marketers, giving this industry a shared, credible way to measure and prove exactly what events are worth. Early findings were shared during a breakout session, with the full model designed as an evergreen, annually updated benchmark.
RainFocus wins Innovation Nation
RainFocus took top honours at this year’s Innovation Nation, the Summit platform where participants share how creative technology and unexpected partnerships helped to solve real-world event challenges. Mark Williams, Vice President of Strategic Programs and Experiences at RainFocus, delivered the winning pitch on MCP, his organisation’s AI-powered event scheduling.
Williams grounded the concept in a scenario every event marketer recognises: “Picture this: two weeks before your event. 300 sessions, 20 rooms, speaker conflicts, and someone just told you your biggest draw sold out last year and needs a bigger room. That’s a spreadsheet nightmare.” Williams described how RainFocus now connects that live event data directly to the AI tools organisations already use — building a schedule, letting a strategist refine it, and writing the changes back into RainFocus.
With the win, Williams joins a growing list of Innovation Nation participants and winners, and RainFocus’s MCP story becomes this year’s centerpiece example of what the segment was built to showcase: real problems, solved live, in front of the event marketers who will decide if it matters.
Heroes of Hospitality
The PCMA Foundation, in partnership with the Above and Beyond Foundation and with generous support from Resorts World Las Vegas, presented two Heroes of Hospitality Awards, honoring frontline hospitality professionals nominated by their colleagues and managers for extraordinary acts of service. Andriene Bryan, a Cook II at the Marriott Downtown at CF Toronto Eaton Centre, was recognized for more than 37 years of service marked by warmth, dedication, and a personal touch so memorable that guests have written letters of praise. Marc Boileau, a Front Desk Agent at the Sheraton Centre Toronto, was honoured for the authenticity and compassion he brings to every guest interaction, turning routine stays into standout experiences that keep guests coming back and asking for him by name.
Both recipients embody the spirit of hospitality that helps make host destinations shine for the global business events community.
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