Incentive Marketing Association honors long-time members with 2 prestigious industry awards

Aug. 20, 2015 - PRLog -- The Incentive Marketing Association (http://www.incentivemarketing.org/default.asp) (IMA) recently awarded two of its most prestigious awards to long-time members Sean Roark, CPIM, vice president of incentive programs for PromoPros / IncentPros, who was honored with the inaugural Karen Renk Fellowship Award, and Brett Hatch, global senior director of corporate gifts for Maui Jim, who was honored with the 2015 President’s Award. Both awards were presented at the IMA’s recent Annual Executive Summit, held in Nashville.

The Karen Renk Fellowship award was established in 2014 to honor Renk, who served as executive director for IMA’s first 14 years. In her role as executive director, Renk guided the Incentive Marketing Association, championed the business case for incentives, and mentored a wide group of individuals for the betterment of the industry and the association. She was known for a number of qualities including mentoring, character, collaboration, and professionalism.

The Karen Renk Fellowship is awarded to the IMA member who best exemplifies these qualities in service to the association, either through their work within the organization or through outreach to the community at large.

“I can think of no one that deserves this award more than Sean Roark,” stated Tom Renk, husband of Karen and who, along with their daughter Kate Marie, presented the inaugural award.

“Sean’s contributions to IMA, including his role as the current executive vice president of IMA, treasurer of IMA’s Recognition Council, and member of the board of directors of the Incentive Federation, speak to the dedication he has for IMA and the incentive industry,” added Donna Chrobak, current executive director of IMA.

“It was during the past year, however, when Roark spearheaded the effort to vet and negotiate an agreement with a new association management company on behalf of IMA that his true level of dedication came to light. And it was this tremendous commitment of time and energy to benefit the IMA that earned him this prestigious award,” Chrobak noted.

At the IMA Annual Summit, IMA 2014-2015 President Richard Low noted that Brett Hatch has been an active IMA board member and instrumental in helping develop the IMA mission. His marketing guidance has helped steer the IMA towards its ultimate purpose, providing meaningful content to the end user community, and has helped the IMA forge relationships with the Incentive Research Foundation and other associations in the incentive space.

Professionally, Hatch is the global senior director of corporate gifts for Maui Jim. He started the division in 2000, and now Maui Jim has become known as the “World's Most Memorable Gift Experience.” “His model of merchandise experiences is the standard to which we are all held,” stated Low.

In addition to his service to the IMA Board of Directors, Hatch has also served on the board of directors for the Incentive Research Foundation and chair of the IRF Invitational, as chair of the IMA Global Task Force that coined the phrase "Business Improvement Starts Here," as a member of the IMA Strategic Task Force from 2008-2010, and is currently a member of three of IMA’s Strategic Industry Groups: Incentive Manufacturers & Representatives Alliance, Incentive Gift Card Council, and Incentive Travel Council. He has authored articles for industry publications, including: Incentive Programs: Now More than Ever during the recession to educate the industry on the positive impact of incentive programs.

Added Low, “I am honored to present Brett Hatch the 2015 IMA President’s Award. This is a guy you really want to know.”

About the Incentive Marketing Association

Business improves when employees and customers are recognized, rewarded, and engaged through effectively structured programs with defined goals and proven returns. The Incentive Marketing Association (IMA) is comprised of the companies who are leaders in the incentive industry.  IMA provides education, resources and research to promote the use of incentive programs to the business community and is the umbrella organization for the Global Incentive Council (GIC), the Incentive Gift Card Council (IGCC), the Incentive Manufacturers & Representatives Alliance (IMRA), the Incentive Travel Council, the Performance Improvement Council, the Recognition Council (RC), IMA-Canada, and IMA-Europe.

More information about IMA and the incentive marketplace is available at www.incentivemarketing.org.