Year-End Letter from Executive Director Niki Hall

On behalf of the IMA CC, I would like to thank everyone for another great year. Looking back on 2011, there are so many people and organizations that help to make the Incentive Marketing Association Canada Council possible and I wish to express my thanks to all of them.

2011 allowed me to work with a remarkable board including Carol DeVille from The Branding Company, Eleisha Stevens from OC Tanner, Johane Desjardins from Rewards Nation, Gaetana Surdi from Intelispend Prepaid Solutions and Ron Benegbi from Ron Benegbi Consulting joined us in the Fall. It was a pleasure working with each of you and I look forward to introducing our new board in January.

At our Spring Education Session we tried something different with an expert panel including Jo-Anne Pusateri from Carlson Marketing, Michelle Smith from OC Tanner, Ron Benegbi from Carlton Group and Edward Thompson from Absolute Motivation providing Insider Secrets to the industry. Because of the interaction with our audience we had a fantastic time. All participants learned a lot whether they were newcomers or industry veterans.

We held our 7th Annual Golf Tournament at the beautiful Lionhead Golf Club, the staff and venue was wonderful as always. With their help the tournament was another great success and along with a great day of golf and networking with friends in the industry, we were able to make another generous donation to Starlight Children’s Foundation. This day would not have been possible without the generous support of our Title Sponsors, Hole Sponsors, Players and the many, many companies who donating prizing this year.

At our Fall Education Session we discussed the trend of Coopetition and how it may work in our industry. We were lucky enough to have Bill Termini from Hinda, Gaetana Surdi from Intelispend Prepaid Solutions, Douglas Garcia from Preferred One and Alan Chippindale from Brand Alliance to discuss how they have used Coopetition and why it has been an asset to their business.

Lastly we’d like to thank all of our members. You are the heart of this organization. We are here to serve you with our education sessions, newsletter, white papers, golf tournament, PPPC Tradeshows and social events. Please contact me at nikihall@powergate.ca with any suggestions you have for the New Year. We wish you all a happy holiday and a healthy new year.