ON THE MOVE
Planners
Dykstra promoted at SmithBucklin
Paul Dykstra has been promoted to senior director at the Chicago office of association management firm SmithBucklin. Dykstra, who has been with the company for 17 years, is responsible for the management of several beauty and health-care organizations, including Cosmetologists Chicago
"The
Rolling Stones are fabulous,
but do they help get
your message across?"
Kenneth Jones, CMP, is business development manager for
Atlanta-based event firm Aspen Productions (www.aspenproductions.com). A native of Newmarket,
Ireland, Jones also has worked in the hotel and food-sales
industries.
What does your company do? Mainly, we are
involved in product promotion and brand strategy, as well as some
incentive work.
Has your business changed lately? Budgets have
shrunk, but demand has increased, which means working harder with
less money and shorter timelines. And where there is money, it is
spent wisely. Yes, the Rolling Stones are fabulous, but do they
help get your message across?
Describe a recent event of which you’re especially
proud. We launched a new boat motor at an event attended
by 800 or so dealers. We converted a ballroom into an underwater
world complete with a gigantic faux clamshell that opened by
hydraulic pumps. Inside was a screen showing a cartoon animation of
two fish discussing the product.
How do you spend your leisure time? I recently
climbed 19,335-foot Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa. I wanted to raise
money and awareness for Operation Smile, a children’s charity that
repairs facial deformities, mainly in Third World countries. Some
friends and I self-funded the trip. The climb was tough, with bad
weather and altitude sickness, but we reached the summit on
Christmas morning. My next feat, for the same charity, is to run
seven marathons in seven days in the Amazon.