December 18, 2007 - The Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association (BACVA) announced today that the Center for Business Intelligence (CBI) and Medical Meetings magazine will hold their annual Pharmaceutical Meeting Planners Forum in Baltimore for two consecutive years, the first of which will be held March 17-19, 2008, and the second March 29-30, 2009. The forum will bring 1,000 attendees to the city each year, 500 of whom are pharmaceutical meeting planners. The meeting will also use over 1,000 room nights and generate a projected $1 million in direct spending each year.

"Given that Baltimore is home to two world-renowned medical institutions that are expanding their biotech and research influence within the medical field, we thought it was perfect for this forum," says Johanna Morse, director of product development for CBI. "The level of expertise in Baltimore provides us with a valuable resource."

"The impact of this group will extend far beyond the immediate economic benefits," says Tom Noonan, president and CEO of BACVA. "This meeting will bring hundreds of pharmaceutical meeting planners to Baltimore who have the potential to book future medical and pharmaceutical meetings in the city, business that historically books short-term and is traditionally less price sensitive than other groups."

Attracting more pharmaceutical and medical meetings has been a major sales push for BACVA since Noonan took over the agency almost a year ago. Pharmaceutical and medical groups are important customer segments for Baltimore because they require a far shorter booking window and, therefore, can fill in group business holes that have been identified for 2008 and 2009. BACVA now has a dedicated salesperson, Ann Garvey, working the pharmaceutical, medical and corporate market as part of its three-city sales partnership with Sacramento and Fort Worth.

The Pharmaceutical Medical Meetings Forum, which has met in Philadelphia for the last three years, is co-organized by CBI and Medical Meetings magazine. The conference is dedicated to the professional development needs of meeting executives in the pharmaceutical sector. CBI develops educational programs for senior-level associates in the pharmaceutical, biotech, medical device and managed care professions. For more information, visit www.pharmameetingplanners.com

The Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association (BACVA), a membership-based organization, is the official destination development and marketing leader for Greater Baltimore, responsible for generating incremental economic benefits to the community through the attraction of convention and leisure visits.