IMA Announces Next Step of Association Management Transition Process

Nov. 18, 2015 - PRLog -- Today, the Incentive Marketing Association (IMA) announced that Karen Wesloh of the Minneapolis-based Harrington Company will assume the position of Executive Director of IMA effective January 1, 2016. This news comes following the Board of Directors being informed by current Executive Director Donna Chrobak that she will be pursuing another opportunity within the incentive industry. The Association Management agreement signed between IMA and Harrington earlier this year provided an option for IMA to have Executive Director services provided by Harrington. The IMA Executive Committee, after discussion with Chrobak, elected to activate that option.

“We are implementing a transition to the Harrington Company after an extensive search for an association management company best suited to support the IMA as it refines its structure to better serve membership,” said IMA President Spencer Toomey. “Part of our criteria was the ability to fill the critical Executive Director role, for which we found the Harrington Company superbly qualified with its proposal that Karen Wesloh fill that slot,” he continued.

Wesloh, a full partner and Senior Account Executive at Harrington since 1992, received her Master of Business Administration in Marketing and Strategic Management from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota. She is a Certified Association Executive and Certified Meeting Professional and has been actively involved in preparing the Harrington Company to become IMA’s association management company since its selection in May.

Donna Chrobak expressed her great confidence in Wesloh and the Harrington Company: “Based on my experience working with the Harrington Company for the past several months, I believe that the IMA membership and board will be pleased with the level of commitment, professionalism and ability to deliver results that Karen and the Harrington Company has demonstrated. She continued, “They have already gone far beyond to try to understand our industry and our organization, and I know I am not alone when I say that ‘they get it’.”

Rounding out the transition team, Association Management veteran Steve Slagle has agreed to lend his advice and guidance to ensure an orderly and effective transition of the Executive Director role from Chrobak to Wesloh. Slagle became a good friend to IMA during his 16 year tenure as president of PPAI, received the IMA President’s Award in 2011 and will be the 2016 inductee to the PPAI Hall of Fame this coming January. Slagle emerged from retirement in 2015 to provide critical insights and support to the IMA taskforce in its search for a new association management company.

President Toomey also announced that an Executive Director Transition Team, consisting of himself, immediate past-president Rick Low and Executive Vice President Sean Roark will coordinate the transition with staff members Chrobak, Wesloh and Slagle.  Efforts on the Executive Director transition have already begun and are expected to be fully implemented prior to the IMA Summit scheduled for July 18-20, 2016 in Houston, Texas.

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 Incentive & Engagement Solution Providers (IESP), the Incentive Gift Card Council (IGCC), the Incentive Manufacturers & Representatives Alliance (IMRA), the Incentive Travel Council, IMA-Canada, and IMA-Europe.

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


Incentive Marketing Association

9700 W. Bryn Mawr Ave., Suite 210

Rosemont, IL 60018

847.447.1082