PCMA
The power of social infrastructure
THE ROLE OF BUSINESS EVENTS TO CREATE AND SUSTAIN KNOWLEDGE-SHARING NETWORKS ACROSS INDUSTRIES, REGIONS, AND GENERATIONS HAS NEVER BEEN MORE CRITICAL, SAYS PCMA’ S CEO SHERRIF KARAMAT.
T he long-term value of the
global business events community lies in our ability to strengthen the connections that allow economies and communities to thrive.
At Convening EMEA in Rotterdam in October, behavioural expert Thimon de Jong, a keynote speaker, used the term polycrisis to describe the current climate – a period in which disruptions such as political polarisation, rising mental-health challenges, and the accelerating effects of climate change overlap and intensify one another. In a world where our challenges are increasingly interconnected, their solutions must be interconnected as well.
Social infrastructure – the trust and interpersonal relationships that make cooperation possible – is one of the strongest predictors of a community’ s resilience in times of crisis, research by sociologist Eric Klinenberg, founder of NYU’ s Institute for Public Knowledge, has shown.
Economists use the related term“ soft infrastructure” to describe the human networks that build trust, circulate information, and enable coordinated action – the strength of those networks is a leading predictor of economic growth.
Essentially, the role of business events in creating and sustaining knowledge-sharing networks across industries, geographic regions, and multiple generations has never been more important. I saw this firsthand at Convene4Climate( C4C), where experts from fashion, finance, development, and other fields joined business events leaders to examine the strategies that have both made their organisations more successful and more sustainable.
C4C was far more than an exchange of information – participants worked together in cohort groups to map out concrete ways to reduce carbon emissions generated by the events industry, creating relationships between ideas and people that will extend into the future. As one participant said:“ The consensus is that we can’ t work alone.”
The physical infrastructure for meetings also matters – not only for logistics but for the type of environments they create. Venues are being redesigned to encourage deeper connection, helping participants engage not only with ideas
Above: Sherrif Karamat from the stage but also with one another.
Destination organisations have become skilled at using events to immerse participants in local culture and showcase local expertise and innovation. It matters, too, that we meet in person. Research across public health, psychology, and behavioural science continues to show that face-toface connection reduces polarisation, strengthens trust, and supports both physical and mental well-being.
As thousands of us prepare to gather at Convening Leaders 2026 in Philadelphia in January, I am further encouraged by how our global community strengthens and sustains social infrastructure across myriad contexts, cultures, and communities.
Returning to Philadelphia, our founding city, as it was where PCMA’ s first conference was held in 1956, before it became known as Convening Leaders, as America celebrates its 250th anniversary, is both celebratory and a call to action to reshape what’ s possible for the next generation of the global business events community.
The ability to come together is what allows societies to adapt and thrive in response to challenges rather than fracture. That’ s the work of our industry at its best. n
10 / CONFERENCE & MEETINGS WORLD / ISSUE 140