IMA Summit Awards

Welcome to the IMA Summit Awards

The IMA Summit Awards will take place on Tuesday, July 12 during the IMA Summit 2022 at The Cliff Lodge in beautiful Snowbird, Utah.

The IMA Summit is the premier event that brings incentive and recognition professionals together for networking and education each year. It’s the industry’s premier three-day event to make new connections, learn the latest trends, discover best practices to improve your programs, and celebrate the accomplishments of members and the wider incentive community.

To ensure that your nominations are viewed by the elite of the Incentive industry, we are busy assembling an incredible judging panel comprising of IMA Members, along with industry experts from across the globe. As always they are challenged to discuss and debate each nomination, ensuring that only the best of the best secure the top prize.

The IMA Summit Awards offers the perfect chance to toast the industry’s finest achievements, whilst providing a greatly anticipated networking opportunity and the chance to celebrate with friends old and new.

IMA members submit nominations for FREE! The nomination fee for nonmembers is $99. Nomination deadline for 2022 has now closed. Thank you to everyone who submitted, your entries are now with the judging panel – the short list will be announced soon!

We look forward to celebrating with you at the IMA Summit this summer!

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The IMA advocates for and promotes the use of incentives and recognition to improve business performance

Our Partners

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Check out the 2021 Awards Ceremony

Thank you to the 2022 Awards Sponsors & Partners

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Meet the 2022 Judging Panel

SR. Manager – Gift Cards Applebee's

Armineh Sarkissian

• I joined Applebee’s five years ago to oversee and manage the Applebee’s Gift Card program. I have spent my career working at The Walt Disney Company and Diageo in various capacities ranging from Finance, Marketing, Licensing and Pre-Paid Gift Cards.

Sales Manager, Continental Premium Corporation

Lore Rincon

Lore Rincon serves as Sales Manager at Continental Premium Corporation, a manufacturers sales representative firm who specializes in brand name merchandise. As a 20 year veteran of the incentive industry she takes pride in working with customers to place brand name merchandise in corporate gift, employee reward and customer loyalty programs. As a passionate ambassador of brand name merchandise, Lore has participated in several industry panel discussions, presented, and moderated education sessions. She currently serves on the boards of the Incentive Marketing Association (IMA) and the Incentive Manufacturers & Representative Alliance (IMRA) while also working on several committees for each organization.

Editor, Incentive and Editor, Incentives & Destinations, Northstar Meetings Group

Lisa Grimaldi

Lisa is the editor of Incentive and editor, incentives & destinations, for Northstar Meetings Group. A New Jersey native, she holds a B.S. in journalism from Boston University and a post-graduate certificate in magazine editing from Columbia School of Journalism.

National Sales Manager, Premium Incentive & Global Military, Sony Electronics

Shelly Colla

o Shelly is an experienced Premium and Incentive management professional with roles spanning across multiple disciplines. She has worked with Sony Electronics for almost 25 years and has had the honor to lead their U.S. Premium Incentive Group for the last 13 years. With Customer Relationship Management as her core skill, she has built valuable relationships across the industry.

Director of Business Development, Fiserv

John Hornbogen

My background has provided me the experience across a multitude of environments including Sports Management, to Retail Operations, Procurement & Sourcing, Payments & Loyalty, Corporate Sales & Marketing, to Product Sales & Development. I have been gifted the ability to evaluate and appreciate all scopes of programs and opportunities as they work their way thru the cycle process from being conceptual to finished product.

Summit Awards

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Co-Founder, Behavioral Grooves Podcast

Tim Houlihan

Tim Houlihan is intensely curious about why people do what they do. With 20 years of primary and secondary research into motivation and goal setting, and nearly 300 episodes of interviewing experts for his weekly podcast, Behavioral Grooves, his understanding of human behavior helps policy makers, marketers, human resource executives, and sales leaders make better decisions about their constituencies.

Tim Houlihan is a co-founder of Behavioral Grooves, a weekly podcast with listeners in more than 170 countries. Tim and his co-host explore why-we-do-what-we-do with researchers in behavioral science, popular authors and thought leaders. It was voted the No. 1 Behavioral Science Podcast by Habit Weekly in 2021, a Stockholm-based media company, and is one of the Top 20 Behavioral Science for Business podcasts in Psychology Today in 2021. It ranks among the Top 100 Behavioral Science podcasts in the world by Chartable.

Tim is also the founder and chief behavioral strategist of BehaviorAlchemy, a consultancy that applies a behavioral lens to improve the lives of workers, customers and policy makers and his clients include the Global 1000. He has conducted workshops across Europe, the Middle East, South America, and North America. He is a frequent university guest lecturer and symposium speaker.

Previously, Tim was Vice President of Reward Systems at BI WORLDWIDE where his responsibilities included a global portfolio of reward systems and platforms.

If we are to truly improve behaviors, we must understand the roles that context and the unconscious play in our daily lives.

Director, Project Management, O. C. Tanner

Karen Gray

Drawing upon 26 years of recognition industry experience in sales, consulting and project management, Karen leads the team responsible for implementing O.C. Tanner’s global recognition solutions and their supporting strategies. In 2014, she engaged in the development and roll-out of the company’s new implementation and project management methodology. Leveraging her background as advisor to top organizations on recognition best practices designed to inspire and deliver impact, Karen applied her knowledge of appreciation and engagement strategies to construct a framework for implementation that maximizes value within a streamlined approach. A results-oriented professional with a passion for coaching, developing and motivating high-performing teams, she thrives on fostering a culture of engagement and empowerment through servant leadership and appreciation.

Hinda Incentives, President

Mike Donnelly

As a 35-year veteran of the incentives, recognition, engagement, and loyalty industries, Mike is responsible for all leadership aspects of Hinda, including sales, marketing, product development, strategic direction, and operations. Mike leads the company’s efforts in helping clients achieve their goals with well-developed solutions and managed programs. Mike was the 2020 recipient of the Karen Renk award from the Incentive Marketing Association in recognition of his outstanding service to their organization and the industry. Mike has also been named one of the top 25 most influential people in the incentive industry by Incentive Magazine. He has received numerous industry honors, is a CPIM, a board member of the Incentive Federation, and has served on the board of the Incentive Marketing Association (IMA),. Mike joined Hinda as a consultant in 2013 and was named president of Hinda Incentives in 2014.
Favorite thing to do at work: Brainstorm! Innovate! Create! I love idea generation and the creative and strategic planning processes. I love to innovate new and exciting product and service capabilities with my fellow Hinda teammates and our valued partners.
Best advice I was ever given: Came in the form of a quote, "… Leadership is ACTION, not POSITION.”

Vice President, Client Development, Telos Gifting

Jim Atten

Jim Atten has been in the gift card space for over 15 years. He is the Vice President of Client Development at Telos Gifting, the fintech incubator who developed GiftCards.com and currently operates GiftYa.com, GiftCardGranny.com, and PerfectGift.com. Prior to Wolfe, he led the growth of gift card programs at RetailMeNot, RPG Card Services, and Sears Holdings. Jim is the past president of the Incentive Gift Card Council (IGCC) and serves as a member of the Board of Directors and Vice President of the Incentive Marketing Association (IMA).

Director, Gift Card Program for Panera Bread®

Christine Mitchell

Christine manages all aspects of Panera Bread's multi-faceted Gift Card Program. This includes defining and leading long term growth strategy, cafe merchandising and promotions, third-party card mall and B2B expansion, online distribution and sales, reporting and marketing to deliver seamless customer experiences and aggressive year-over-year profitable sales growth. She also oversees all external partner and vendor relationships and work closely with other Panera business areas, including franchisees. Prior to joining Panera, Christine worked on brand and marketing management for international brands including Sperry, TripAdvisor and Zipcar.

VP Sales, Workstride

Brian Dodds

Over 25 years of experience building corporate strategies and delivering programs that support employee engagement, sales productivity and channel performance. Brian has served on RPI’s board of directors for over a decade including past presidency and Education Chair. As a current board member of IMA, Brian serves on the Education and Summit committees.

VP of Engagement Strategies, C.A. Short Company

R Scott Russell

R Scott Russell has over 25 years-experience helping Human Resources and Operational Professionals improve business performance and employee productivity. His background in Employee Engagement, Recognition, Incentives and Event Management have positioned him as a thought leader in the industry. Scott is a Certified Recognition Professional, through Recognition Professionals International and a Past President of the esteemed organization.
Scott started his career in recognition with Redenvelope.com and then moved into culture and recognition roles with Verizon for 12 years before joining the C.A. Short Company in 2016. Scott is currently the Vice President of Engagement Strategies, based just outside of Charlotte, NC. Scott’s passion for recognition/engagement and reputation for success have made him a sought-after speaker and entertainer. Scott is a seasoned public speaker and performer, his first album, Angry Wine is available now. He currently co-hosts the All-In Employee Podcast available everywhere.

President, The Incentive Research Foundation

Stephanie Harris

Stephanie Harris is President of the Incentive Research Foundation (IRF). In her role she directs the strategy and efforts of the IRF, an organization that funds and promotes research and education to increase the understanding, effective use, and benefits of non-cash incentives to businesses globally. Prior to joining the IRF, Harris was part of the American Express Meetings & Events leadership team, leading global event strategy, thought leadership, and marketing. She started her career in incentives with Maritz, where she was VP of Brand Marketing & Strategy.
Harris resides in St. Louis with her husband, four children, Labrador Retriever, and two miniature donkeys.

VP, Business Leader, Loop Commerce - GiftNow

Ly Dorn

In my earlier days, I thought my calling was to be a broadcast journalist and news anchor but quickly learned that instead of reporting what other people were doing, I'd rather be helping others do what they love. My name is Ly Dorn, and I've been in the gift card, gifting, and incentive industry for over 20 years. Who doesn't love a good gift card?

I am currently the Vice President, Business Leader of Merchant Solutions at Loop Commerce/ GiftNow. I've been helping world-class brands drive additional demand with our next-generation gift card and patented digital product gifting experiences for the past three years.

Prior to Loop Commerce/ GiftNow, I worked at CashStar, Inc., a Blackhawk Network Company, as a Director of Retail Development, helping merchants implement digital and physical gift card platforms.

One of my proudest achievements in the industry is helping to build out a world-class merchant network of over 200 brands at American Express Incentive Services (a joint venture between Maritz and American Express), which was later rebranded as InteliSpend.
My time spent with merchants helping to deploy and participate in corporate gifting and first-party gift card programs has been invaluable, and I look forward to what is to come.

Chief Strategy Officer - HMI Performance Incentives

Lincoln Smith, MBA, IP

For over 25 years Lincoln Smith has been a recognized leader in the incentive marketing industry. He is currently the Chief Strategy Officer for HMI Performance Incentives where he works with companies in over thirty industries to design strategies to accelerate growth and increase customer engagement. His leadership and approach has led HMI to win 6 Incentive Marketing Association “Circle of Excellence Awards” in unique categories in the last four years for manufacturer, distributor, and service provider clients. Prior to joining HMI, Lincoln worked as a Strategist for Agency.com helping organizations transition to digital business models.

Lincoln is a current Board Member of the Incentive Marketing Association Incentive & Engagement Solutions Providers (IESP) where he is a regular contributor and thought leader. You can follow Lincoln’s loyalty leadership through HMI’s blog and LinkedIn.

Lead Program Manager, Gift Cards, Delta Gift Cards

Tracy Ng

Tracy Ng is a brand marketer, builder and innovator at the core, having launched, grown and/or scaled programs from licensing, consumer products and global promotional programs at Warner Bros, to development of Disney Channel content into franchise powerhouses across lines of business at The Walt Disney Company, and most recently connecting the world through the gift of travel at Delta Gift Cards.