Salt, Matt Salt Becomes SIPA’s Agent of Change and Leadership
I took part in my first SIPA Conference last June and was thrilled to be part of such a hard-working and talented staff. Julie (Utano) personally checked all the meeting rooms and speaker setups, Kati (Fritz) handled registration as smoothly as I had ever seen—I’ve been in the association world for 20 years now. And Anne (Moore), who is part-time, seemed to be doing everything that fell in between.
And then at 7 a.m. on the busiest day, Matt Salt stood tall, looking bright-eyed and comfortably in control. As co-chair of the Conference, Matt had been around the office a bit, but mostly in passing—stopping in for a meeting or introducing us to his two young sons just before they embarked on a camping trip. (He and his wife Wendy have a 15-year-old daughter as well.)
But here was another side of Matt; he made sure everything got done and did so in such a positive and team-building way. It made you stand up straight, but with a smile. He is a reassuring presence.
The SIPA Board decided this week to make that presence a full-time one in the SIPA office. The Board named Matt as the new full-time executive director of SIPA—leading conferences and everything else. In June, the Board had voted to eliminate the executive director position, but in reevaluating the staffing needs and structure of the office—especially in light of the challenges of today’s economic climate—it was decided that an executive director would be needed.
Working for SIPA on a contract basis since June, Matt has overseen a reorganization of the SIPA office that has included the outsourcing of fulfillment and financial management and a reassignment of various office tasks. He has also been responsible for overseeing the development of many new member benefits including the SIPAlert Daily articles, job board, chapter meetings and searchable content on the website.
“We have been very impressed with Matt’s leadership and organizational abilities in this interim period,” said SIPA President Guy Cecala. “So once we reassessed the situation and determined that an executive director is indeed the best way to go, it was an easy decision. His success as co-chair of the SIPA 2010 Conference, international background—as we accelerate our efforts there—and experience working for a longtime SIPA member [FDAnews] made him a very attractive candidate.”
Matt started his conference and marketing career with IBC in its London headquarters. He then joined Euromoney, where he organized coal-related events all over the globe. That led to his becoming conference director for Financial Times Energy, based in London and then Arlington, Va. His responsibilities at FT Energy included managing all aspects of conferences and tradeshows both domestically and internationally.
He joined FDAnews in July 2001—where he stayed until joining SIPA—and was responsible for conferences, marketing, sponsorship, advertising and content sales, rising quickly to the position of publisher. Also a co-founder of The Langfords Group, Matt is a British national carrying a green card and looks forward to obtaining U.S. citizenship in the near future.
He takes over a small but very productive office staff. Julie coordinates the conferences, marketing efforts and website upkeep, among other tasks. Kati is in charge of membership, fielding calls and office manager duties. Anne comes in three times a week to help with the conferences mostly. I write these SIPAlert Daily articles and put out the monthly Hotline newsletter. (If you have any leads, tips, articles, job moves or anything else of that sort, please email me here!)
We are all very excited to move forward and continue to add and improve our member benefits. If it takes a dash of Salt to perfect the recipe—he would say “dashing”—then so be it. The servings should be just right now.
**************************************************************
Come network with Matt and SIPA at two great upcoming events:
The New York Chapter Presents:
“How to Make Social Media Work for Specialized Publishers”
Wednesday December 1, 2010, 12 pm
Abigael’s on Broadway
1407 Broadway (between 38th & 39th Streets)
Come to this networking lunch and presentation by
Matt Bailey, founder and president, SiteLogic Marketing
Sign up now!
And the DC Chapter presents its:
Holiday Networking Reception
Wednesday, December 8, 4:30 p.m.
Kiplinger Building, 1729 H Street, N.W., Washington, D.C.
This cocktail reception will provide a great chance
to connect with local SIPA colleagues and peers.
Registration is only $35 if you pre-register ($45 at the door).
Sign up today!
[text_ad]
