Published on : Saturday, March 29, 2014
Katrina Kona, a veteran of association advertising and sales, recently joined IDSA to manage all facets of our event and webinar sponsorship programs, as well as online advertising.
The alumna of Hampton University started her association career at the Society for Human Resource Management selling directory ads for their acclaimed HR Magazine. Tracing her career path, Katrina recalled, “I went on to become marketing manager for the National Society for Professional Engineers where I got my feet wet at event sponsorship sales and publication marketing. Eventually, I moved on to the American Chemistry Council where I expanded my knowledge of sponsorship, publications marketing, media partnerships, and helped establish its associate member program.”
The diversity of her resumé is a product of her vocation to sales. “When I was at Hampton University, one of my professors told the class, ‘The best way to get your training in most professions is by starting in sales because you’ll learn the ins and outs of most organizations and can determine from there where you’d like to focus.’ Somehow, I never left sales,” she noted.
“I think it’s been very helpful to know a little something about each department, the organizational goals, its members and most importantly, how to use this knowledge to bring in additional support.”
Off the clock, Katrina is a Daisy Girl Scout Troop leader and champion fundraiser. She helps raise funds and schedule events in support of Buea School for the Deaf, her family’s school for deaf children in her husband’s native Cameroon, West Africa. She also raises funds for the “Be the Match” Blood Donor program, which is currently seeking a match for her goddaughter who has both Lupus and Sickle Cell Anemia.
Tags: hampton university, IDSA, Katrina Kona
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