IRF president Stephanie Harris announced the Accelerate program during the organization's 2023 Education Invitational event in Las Vegas.
The Incentive Research Foundation has launched
Accelerate, an initiative for mid-level incentive, reward and recognition
professionals who want to get more involved in the incentives industry and move up
the career ladder. The program was announced by IRF president
Stephanie Harris during
the organization’s annual Education Invitational event, which was held June
5-8 at Resorts World Las Vegas.
The year-long Accelerate program will kick off in 2024. The inaugural class will consist of 8 to 10 incentive professionals who meet the
criteria outlined by the IRF. Interested
parties can apply here for the
free program. The deadline for submitting an application is Oct. 31, 2023; participants will be announced
in December.
Accelerate participants will
have quarterly
meetings with their assigned board-of-trustees mentor and monthly meetings with
the IRF volunteer committee. They’ll also participate in one research paper, attend
the 2024 IRF Education Invitational and, at year's end, make a presentation to the board on what they
learned from the program.
Introducing the program during her opening remarks, Harris said, "The IRF has been looking at what we can do as a foundation to foster the
growth and development of future leaders in our industry. Dan Polulak
came to us last year with some thoughts on a program to do just that. Ashley
Slauter, IRF’s manager of foundation
services, has led the charge in realizing this vision. So today, thanks to the
generous support of Scott Young
and his associates at the Meeting Company, I’m proud to introduce our new Accelerate
program.”
In addition to Accelerate, the IRF has evolved in other ways. The 2023 Education Invitational offered two half-day educational
sessions instead of the traditional single day. It also offered a wide variety of
networking activities that participants could choose from — ranging from
foodie tours to helicopter rides to free
time — and the popular trip auction, which supports the IRF's many research projects and studies, included several lower-cost options.