Content area
Full Text
MEETINGS MAN
Kris R. Delas Armas, senior event services coordinator, SmithBucklin Corp., Chicago
www.smithbucklin.com
Delas Armas, age 30, oversees client conferences for association management giant SmithBucklin. "I am in charge of leading a staff team to produce and implement successful meetings," he explains. "The most important metric to my success is tied to the event's budget. The best part of my job is when the client's expectations are exceeded!" His event philosophy: "People have the need to belong and look to events as a means to communicate. We should always feel empowered to bring fresh ideas to the table and execute."
BEIJING BOUND
Ulrike Ellmann, general manager, Vok Dams China, Beijing
www.vokdams.de/cn
After Ellmann interned at Vok Dams' headquarters in Germany and its Los Angeles office after college, she "was hooked" on events, she says. Now in charge of the company's operations in Beijing and Shanghai, she oversees 25 staff members producing events for major international brands. As China's economy grows, she predicts a growing focus on quality and "creative event solutions" there, she says. Fluent in three languages, the 31-year-old turns to sports to relax, competing last year in a 100-kilometer (62 mile) race in Hong Kong - "It took 27 hours to finish."
SALES STAR
Katie Rogers, director of sales, EventWorks, Los Angeles
www.eventworks.com
"Relentless" in her commitment to making each event as unique and memorable as possible, 34-year-old Rogers came to America from Australia and "fell into special events," she says. She finds event inspiration just about anywhere. "I had one of my savvier clients call me a few years back and ask if I'd seen the latest J. Crew brochure," she says "We ended up designing an amazing opening reception that was vibrant and modern - all around an image of a crate of flowers in that catalog!" Although the recession is putting the bite on event budgets, "On the flip side, new products and technologies are making it possible to remain creative and, most importantly, remain excited about what we do," Rogers says. "I think there...