Carolina Barbosa Groenendal, 37
Industry Liaison and Sales Director, Kenes Group, Amsterdam
What I do:
I am responsible for the sales overview, engagement and development of Kenes Group’s industry sales team. I manage 10 people located in Amsterdam, Israel and Bulgaria. We raise funds for our global medical and scientific events through sponsorship and exhibition sales and grants.
How I got here:
I started working in an agency that organized international events in Salvador, Brazil. They saw my potential and invited me to work for their company, Eventus Systems. After a few years, I moved to Amsterdam where I started working at Kenes Group as a sponsorship and exhibition sales specialist. I was promoted to team leader and in 2018 was invited to manage the entire sales team, which led me to managing the sponsorship and exhibition global sales team.
Impressive stats:
My company worked on 40 conferences in 2019, and we exceeded overall sales targets by 5%. In 2020, a very difficult year, we retained more than 65% of overall sponsorship and exhibition sales for virtual events.
A specific improvement I’ve made:
This year was all about innovations. I’ve helped the company to reimagine the way the group has done sales until now, to match the needs with the current pandemic and virtual/hybrid scenarios, creating innovative and educational opportunities, helping our supporters to also see value in this “new normal” of events.
What are you working on right now:
Leading a webinar with our major industry partners from different companies (pharmaceutical and medical devices). We will be exchanging knowledge to better prepare for the upcoming year, with the different scenarios we have ahead: virtual, hybrid and face-to-face events. The goal is to understand them better and create new ways companies can support them in those scenarios.
What I do outside of work:
I love photography. That is my favorite hobby and I like to do workshops in different areas—for example, cooking photography, which is not my strength.
Favorite vacation destination:
It’s a hidden gem: a city called Lençóis-Bahia, Brazil. It is situated in a national park called Chapada Diamantina, a place full of waterfalls, caves, mountains and rivers.
Favorite icebreaker line:
Asking about the city's best places, where we can have the best food in town or asking about non-tourist places.
Travel hack:
I never leave home without the world travel-outlet adapter.
Instagram: @carolgroenendal
