PROFILE
a
s someone who's been
planning and executing
events of all kinds since she
was in high school, Kimmy Senella is
the perfect fit for Regional Director
of Sales at American Golf. She works
every day to help national revenue
managers develop tournaments,
assist clients in finding the best
courses for their tournament needs,
and build relationships with
potential clients so that when they
are on the hunt for a tournament
venue, they know where to go. With
Senella's eight-year anniversary at
American Golf this month, we sat
down with her to learn a bit more.
•••
when did you first realize you
wanted to have a career in event
and tournament planning? I knew
from a young age that I had a niche
for event planning, so I earned my
bachelor's degree in Recreation,
Hospitality & Tourism Management
from California State University-
Northridge. During college I did
internships with LA Live and ING,
because I wanted to run large-scale
sporting and non-profit events. My
first job right out of college was with
a non-profit group where we
planned events, raised money,
secured vendors and venues, booked
tables, and flew all over the country
executing events. I worked on the
wedding planning event side at
American Golf for a little while, but
ended up finding my best fit in
tournament planning
•••
how does your background in event
and wedding planning help your
work in managing tournaments? I
think I have a certain advantage
because I have experience in private
events both at American Golf and
with external companies. There is a
lot of crossover between event and
tournament planning, in managing
logistics, fundraisers, vendors,
timelines and a lot of people and
moving parts. The main thing I
really had to learn when I started
this position was golf.
•••
what is your favorite part of your
job? That I'm doing something
different all the time. I'm in a
different city or at a different course
every single day. It's a nice change of
pace. I also love the clientele.
Working with golfers and helping
nonprofits and corporations plan
recreational, hospitality-focused
events means I get to interact with
and help really great people do fun,
meaningful work.
•••
what advice would you give
someone who has never planned a
tournament? I try to be honest with
them from the start: tournaments are
a lot of hard work, but we can help
lay the groundwork to really see
results. And I always encourage
clients to have a list of people they
can count on to be on committees, to
sponsor parts of the event and to
participate in the event.
•••
>
click here to contact Kimmy
Senella and learn more about American
Golf tournaments and events.
kimmy
senella
Regional Director of Sales
credits strong working
relationships and change
of pace with love of her job
