Mayor Parker pitches Philly as a world-class events city at PCMA conference

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Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker painted the city as a “powerful and competitive events destination” during a speech Monday at the 2026 PCMA Convening Leaders conference.

The Professional Convention Management Association held its 70th conference in the same city where it staged its first gathering decades ago. Thousands of attendees filled the Pennsylvania Convention Center to network as the city kicks off a year packed with major events.

This year’s stacked calendar will showcase ‘One Philly, a united city,’ Parker said

Parker took center stage Monday to discuss what makes Philly a competitive events destination, especially during a year “defined by hosting world-class events.”

“The mayor of Philly has just one simple focus … making sure that we, the native Philadelphians, along with every visitor and every stakeholder who comes through our city … know we literally are ‘One Philly, a United City,’ and that’s the birthplace of democracy,” Parker said.

The city will host several major events in addition to semiquincentennial celebrations, including the FIFA World Cup, which alone is expected to bring 500,000 visitors and have a $770 million impact on the local economy. Parker said the city “is investing boldly in the full visitor journey.”

“With $500 million in major upgrades underway at our Philadelphia International Airport, modernizing spaces and elevating guest experiences. We are also investing more than $120 million in our infrastructure,” she said.

Philadelphia will also host the MLB All-Star game, the PGA Championship and the first and second rounds of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament.

Economist editor-in-chief takes on “completely impossible task” of global economic outlook

While the mayor focused on the city’s busy calendar, a leader for one of the world’s largest news outlets was asked to look into the future of global economics, which she deemed “a completely impossible task.”

Zanny Minton Beddoes, editor-in-chief at The Economist, said the reason the future may seem murky is due to recent actions taken by the U.S. government, specifically the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and President Donald Trump’s growing interest in acquiring Greenland.

“Just as I woke up this morning, I heard that the president of the Federal Reserve is under criminal investigation,” Beddoes said. “Frankly, it feels like watching a crazy movie right now. It is now a cliché to say that the old world is dead. The old world is dead and the completely new world is being created at dizzying speed.”

She said the world is experiencing three simultaneous shocks, “each of which will deserve at least a chapter in our grandchildren’s history books.”

First, she discussed the geopolitical shock, saying, “We are in real time rewriting the rules of foreign policy and global power.”

Then, she said, comes the economic shock.

“We’re completely rewriting the rules of economic policy,” Beddoes said. “We’ve gone from a world of free trade to a world of tariffs. We’re in a world where governments own shares in companies … We’re going to a world where the most important thing for any CEO is to know the president of the United States.”

Lastly, she discussed the rise of artificial intelligence technology, what she deemed “the biggest technology revolution since the Industrial Revolution.”

“It is going to change the way we work, the way we live, the kind of people we are,” Beddoes said. “And each one of those is monumental. Each one of those is the biggest shock probably in our lifetimes. But collectively, they’re an incredibly big set of shocks for all of us around the world.”

Beddoes was one of the conference’s main speakers. On Tuesday, Emmy award-winning host and actress Tabitha Brown will take the main stage at the Pennsylvania Convention Center at 8:45 a.m. On Wednesday, Trevor Noah, a comedian and former host of “The Daily Show,” will deliver the closing keynote speech at 10:45 a.m. Registration for the in-person and online events is still active.