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Leading the Field
Ten women who are making a difference in the incentive industry

By A.E. Smith
IncentiveMag.com

MAY 01, 2006 - -- It is a sad fact that according to the most recent research on the progress of gender equality in the workplace, the glass ceiling is still solidly in place at many U.S. offices. Women are underrepresented in the upper ranks of industries as diverse as education, accounting and law, and those who do rise up the corporate ladder can expect to earn just seventy-six cents for every dollar earned by their male counterparts*.

The good news is that this disparity seems to be less pronounced in the incentive industry than in many others. Women are well represented in top positions at many incentive houses, destination management companies and industry associations, and they are gaining ground in the traditionally male-dominated special markets divisions of manufacturers.

The 10 women profiled below are among the best and brightest minds working in the performance field today. Each has taken her own path to success, with personal motivations that range from frustration to family obligation. But with a combination of creativity, courage, resourcefulness, tenacity and attention to detail (qualities of great use for any incentive planner), all have excelled. Together they serve as role models to those of us currently working in the industry and to the young women and men of the next generation.

* Source: National Association of Female Executives (NAFE) 2005 Salary Survey

Leading Women:
Martha Rogers: Founding partner, Peppers & Rogers Group Consulting

Gail Fitzgerald: Vice President, Hotel Sales & Marketing, Bellagio.

Lois LeMenager: Chairman of the Board and CEO, Marketing Innovators International.

Michelle Smith: Vice President, Business Development, O.C. Tanner. Vice President, Incentive Marketing Association.

Marilyn Carlson-Nelson: CEO and Chairman, Carlson Companies.

Karen Renk: Executive Director, Incentive Marketing Association.

Brenda Anderson: CEO, Society of Incentive & Travel Executives.

Norma Jean Knollenberg: Owner and CEO, Top Brands Inc.

Joyce Landry and Josephine Kling: Founding partners of Landry & Kling Meetings at Sea.

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