PCMA welcomes Junior Tauvaa as chief business officer

PCMA and CEMA president and CEO Sherrif Karamat, has announced Junior Tauvaa will join PCMA as chief business officer, effective January 9, 2023.

He will oversee events and education, CEMA at the strategic level, Convene, and product development teams along with PCMA’s 2030 vision of being the “Platform for the Business Events Industry.”

“Junior’s collaborative leadership approach and vast knowledge of the association and destination marketing landscape round out our executive leadership team exceptionally well as we prepare to introduce new and exciting initiatives to the global business events industry,” says Karamat. “The current environment has given us permission to experiment even more, as our members, customers, and audiences are looking for new solutions to complex challenges as well as solving old problems.”

Tauvaa has helped raise the profile of Anaheim and Orange County as premier business events and leisure destination. He opened ACC North, the Anaheim Convention Center’s most recent expansion, and launched the Orange County Sports Commission. As a result of his involvement with Destinations International’s Large Market Roundtable, Tauvaa introduced the destination booking agreement for destination marketing organizations, which established mutually agreeable terms to protect both the destination and the business events strategist should an event be canceled for any reason.

“I am grateful for the opportunity to work with so many talented leaders in the Anaheim and Orange County community for the last nine years, especially my Visit Anaheim colleagues,” says Tauvaa. “I look forward to my next chapter with the global PCMA team and community as we work collaboratively to test new business models, identify, and deliver new solutions for complex challenges, ultimately increasing the value for organizations seeking to deliver content, conduct commerce, build community, and create engaging experiences.”

Tauvaa joins PCMA with more than 25 years in the meetings and tourism industries, most recently as chief sales officer with Visit Anaheim for nine years. His previous roles include leadership positions at MPI, the MPI Foundation, and the Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board. A PCMA member for more than 15 years, he has also served as chair for PCMA’s annual Partnership Summit.