Shelly Olesen, Vice President Sales & Marketing, C. Cretors and Company, will receive this year’s NAC ICON Award at ShowEast. She will be presented with this special honor as part of the Final Night Awards Ceremony sponsored by The Coca-Cola Company on Thursday, October 26th at the Loews Miami Beach Hotel.
“We are very excited to be able to honor Shelly for her outstanding contributions to the concession and cinema industries,” stated Andrew Sunshine, President, Film Expo Group. “Her dedication and hard work to the concession industry is to be commended and celebrated.”
“Shelly Olesen is a tireless advocate of the industry and an exemplary member of our Association,” according to Rob Novak, President of NAC. “I can think of no better description than ICON to capture what she has meant both personally and professionally to those of us in the world of entertainment food and beverage.”
Before entering the concession industry, Olesen received her Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education/Science from the University of Illinois. Student teaching abroad in Bath, England opened her eyes to the world of travel. To date, Shelly and Martin, her Danish-born husband of 26 years, have shared their travel passion by visiting all 7 continents and more than 80 countries.
Today, Olesen continues to utilize her teaching and mentoring skills with 32 years at Cretors, working her way up through the ranks from Western Regional Sales Representative to Senior Sales Manager, to Senior Market Manager, to Director of Sales and Marketing and finally to her current position as the first female Executive VP in which she directs the company’s overall domestic and international commercial sales and marketing efforts.
Olesen has been a member of the National Association of Concessionaires for 32 years and currently sits on the executive board. In addition, she is a member of Women in Exhibition and has been honored as Friends of Exhibition, Person of the Industry, Bert Nathan Memorial Award, Key Women in Exhibition and Distribution and Top Women in Global Cinema.
For Shelly Olesen, support and success go hand in hand. “As you work to build your support foundation in your career…. family support is equal if not more important.” Olesen believes that the best is yet to come and that it is a string of moments that will help her continue to achieve her chief aim to share the lessons learned through professional and personal travel and pay it forward to future generations.
Shelly is married to industry veteran Martin Olesen who is the Global Sales Manager for Great Western Products/Mountain Manufacturing a division of PFG.
About ShowEast
ShowEast will take place from October 23-26, 2023 at the Loews Miami Beach Hotel in Miami, Florida. After 35+ years, ShowEast is the longest-running and most successful film convention for major, regional, and independent cinema professionals. The show will attract an estimated 2,000 domestic and Latin American motion picture industry professionals and will feature product presentations and screenings of major upcoming films, exclusive sponsored events, plus exciting and informative seminars.
About Film Expo Group
The Film Expo Group is the premier organizer of networking events in the motion picture industry. The Film Expo Group produces ShowEast, held in Miami; CineEurope, held in Barcelona; and CineAsia, held in Bangkok.
Additional information on ShowEast can be found at www.showeast.com.