Brian Dunne, CPIM, managing director, Giftcard Consulting, was awarded the Karen Renk Fellowship Award at the IMA Summit. The prestigious award was established in 2014 to honor Renk, who served as the IMA executive director for its first 14 years.
 
Dunne was recognized for championing the IMA and the incentive industry. He is a frequent speaker on gift cards, loyalty, incentives, and motivation. Dunne was a leader in establishing and growing the IMA Europe Chapter, where he served as President of IMA Europe for eight years. In 2016 he was instrumental in spearheading the transition from a Strategic Industry Group to a Chapter of the IMA which has served as the catalyst for the IMA Europe's recent growth and success. Dunne also served on the IMA Board of Directors.

Long-time IMA and IMRA member Pete Mitchell received the 2017 IMA President's Award at the annual IMA Summit.

Mitchell, also a past IMRA president, has a passion for the incentive industry. He shared that passion with many IMA and IMRA members, including 10 years facilitating the Special Markets Dialogues where manufacturers and reps meet annually to hold robust discussions on issues affecting them. An entrepreneur at heart, Mitchell revamped, expanded and grew incentive programs for many companies at a time when the industry itself was just starting to grow. He also created and operated several businesses before landing at Samsonite.

Mitchell has long been a voice for involvement in the IMA. Shortly before moving into long-term disability earlier this year, he reached out to all IMA members to encourage involvement, continued collaboration and education to "bake a larger pie so everyone gets a bigger piece."

Four long-time industry leaders were inducted into the new IMA Hall of Fame at the Summit.

Greg Canose With over 35 years of experience in the incentive industry Canose has served as a mentor and leader to many. He made consistent and important contributions to the IMA since its inception, including serving as the first president of the IMA Board of Directors. Canose was an active member of IMRA and the IMA. He was also instrumental in the formation of the IMRA SIG.

George Delta, Equire

As a co-founder and general counsel of the Incentive Federation Inc., Delta uses his deep knowledge of the industry to monitor federal and state legislation and he works diligently for the best interests of the industry. His accomplishments include his work to avert an industry disaster when OSHA stated its proposed ergonomics rule that safety incentives do no work and lead to under-reporting of injuries, and his extensive work on the protection of I.R.S. Code 274(j). Delta has been active in the incentive industry for over 20 years.

George Kling, (posthumous) Over his 50+ years in the incentive industry, Kling is known for having helped many people and brands get started in the industry and for bridging the gap between promotional and premium products. Kling taught distributors how to sell incentives and showed brands how to sell to the advertising specialty market. Kling is a Past President of the Association of Incentive Marketing, a precursor to the IMA. He was a member and advisor of many state and regional incentive and promotional product associations and organizations.  Kling passed away in 2013.

Karen Renk, (posthumous)

Over 18 years ago, Karen Renk envisioned an association that encompassed all aspects of the industry, one that would deliver a united message to the corporate world. To realize this vision, she helped create the IMA and served as its executive director for 14 years. Before forming the IMA, she served as the Executive Director for IMRA. Renk was valued for her support of IMA members and their careers as well as championing the growth of IMA and the incentive industry. Renk passed away in 2014.  In 2015 the IMA began awarding the Karen Renk Fellowship Award in honor of her tremendous efforts.

Five IMA member companies and their incentive partners took home six IMA Circle of Excellence Awards at the 2017 Incentive Marketing Association (IMA) Annual Summit.


2017 Winners

Congratulations to our latest industry professionals receiving their Certified Professional of Incentive Management (CPIM) designation. We appreciate your hard work.

Congratulations to our latest industry professionals passing the Incentive Professional (IP) examination. We appreciate your efforts in obtaining your accreditation.

Tanya Fish, IP ITA Group Leslie Jasper, IP ITA Group Erica Kasischke, IP ITA Group

Luke Kreitner, IP Incentive Solutions Jada Sudbeck, IP Hallmark Business Connections Dena Williams, IP ITA Group

The IESP's new white paper " Reward Management For The Next Generation" explores the evolution of reward and recognition programs including the ability to track, motivate and reward behavior on a global scale. The white paper is available in the Resource section of the IESP website.

Watch for more new resources coming from IESP in the near future.

Results of a new research study show the majority of U.S. businesses are increasingly using gift cards as a reward tool for multiple groups, (channel, sales, employee & customer), and that investment in gift card rewards is both significant and growing.

The B2B Gift Card Buyer Study from the IGCC and the Incentive Research Foundation (IRF) provides encouraging news for the gift card and payments industries.

Please welcome our new IMA members!  Click on the company name to visit their website.

Francesca Vanderwall, Ulta Beauty

Michael Bernstein, Raise.com Brenda Gilpatrick, Raise.com Chris Joyce, Raise.com Krista Lee, First Data

Sina Pelleymounter, Incomm Mike Schindler, Raise.com Davide Secchi, Amilion Joe Rice, Raise.com

When IMA influencers share on social media, audiences listen! It only takes a few minutes to share a post from the IMA LinkedIn Company page or tweet about the IMA. When Mike Landry posted about hosting the IMA Circle of Excellence program at the Summit, IMA members and non members alike shared his post. Looking at the numbers shows that two shares of Mike's post helped him reach over 700 new people in addition to his own network. Next time you're on social media take a minute to share a story from the IMA!     Follow the IMA LinkedIn Company Page     Join the IMA LinkedIn Group     Follow the IMA on Twitter

If you haven't donated, it's not too late. You can still make the difference!

Learn more about the Philanthropic drive on our webpage

For the first time ever, the intersection of the sports-event and incentive industries will be examined by big-name brand marketers at the TEAMS Conference & Expo. Co-sponsored by Incentive magazine and the IMA, the Rewards and Recognition Roundtable at TEAMS '17 in Orlando will provide sports-event organizers and host cities the opportunity to understand how they can use non-cash incentive programs using brand-name merchandise and gift cards to achieve their objectives.

Read our news release

8 Rules for On-Site Gifting

Behavioral Economics

National Gift Card Implements First Gift Card Sequencer Machine of Its Kind in the World 

GC Incentives Removes up to 40 Percent of Overhead Costs for Incentive, Recognition Programs

Top Brands Announces The Vera Bradley Experience

CPS Cards Launches ConceaLabel™ to Help Retailers Combat Gift Card Fraud