SSP welcomes Kelly Smykal

SSP welcomes Kelly Smykal, who will be assisting the Society for Scholarly Publishing (SSP) and the Development Committee with sponsorship and exhibit sales. Kelly works in Kellen’s Chicago office and will be the primary contact for exhibits, sponsorship and advertising. Kellen provides association management services for SSP.

Smykal joined Kellen in May, 2013, bringing her 10 years of experience in sales and recruiting to her current position. She has successfully served many clients including Pressure Sensitive Tape Council (PSTC), Institute of Packaging Professionals (IoPP), Interior Design Educators Council (IDEC) and Society of American Travel Writers (SATW). Prior to joining the Kellen team, Smykal was a sales representative for Elements, a consulting firm.  There she helped build brand development through promotions and sales while introducing several lines of juvenile products to the US market.

“For many years the SSP Development Committee volunteers have done a remarkable job generating support to help fund the SSP Annual Meeting and more recently, regional events. Sponsorship support as well as exhibit and advertising sales help support the development of new programs for SSP members and allow us to keep membership and registration rates affordable. Over the last year, SSP has added new programs and opportunities for industry suppliers to reach scholarly professional programs and we’ve reached the tipping point of needing to provide additional support for our tireless Development Committee,” said Melanie Dolechek, Executive Director of SSP. “We are excited to welcome Kelly to the team. I’m sure many SSP members will be hearing from her soon.”

The Development Committee, led by co-chairs Veronica Showers, Client Development Manager at Aries Systems and Rebecca Shumbata, Sales Manager at Kudos Innovations, will take on a more advisory role, providing information and advice about the scholarly communications industry as well as generating ideas and innovative strategies for increasing the value of these channels to sponsors, exhibitors, and advertisers.

In 2017, SSP will roll out several new sponsorship opportunities that provide brand visibility throughout the year and a new, redesigned website for The Scholarly Kitchen will allow for advertising.