Tom Bolman, longtime executive vice president of the International Association of Conference Centers (IACC), will retire from his position at the end of 2012, IACC announced last week.
Bolman began working for IACC as its executive director in 1986. He was promoted to his current position — the equivalent of CEO — in 1996 when the organization completed its global restructuring, creating separate chapters in Europe, Australia and North America.
During his tenure, Bolman helped grow IACC's membership from 66 conference centers in the United States and Canada to 300 conference centers in 13 countries, along with 125 allied, affinity partner, corporate headquarters and individual members.
Prior to joining IACC, Bolman — who has served on the Council of Delegates of the Convention Industry Council (CIC) for 25 years and currently serves as a member of the CIC board of directors, of which he previously was chairman — served as director of sales and marketing with Stouffer Hotels in Dayton, Ohio; Cleveland; and St. Louis. Before that, he was convention director with the Columbus Convention & Visitors Bureau in Columbus, Ohio.
Said Bolman in a statement: "As excited as I am about the next phase of my life, I will really miss working with one of the most talented and professional staffs anywhere, as well as hundreds of passionate industry leaders who have built IACC into the respected organization that it is today."