Plan Your Event

Sharon Black is the business development specialist for Discover Ames, focusing on sponsorships and partnerships for the organization. Sharon is a people person in every sense of the word, which makes her an excellent asset to our team! She brings 25 years of experience in the travel and hospitality industry with no shortage of knowledge in the corporate, leisure, and military travel industries. In her most recent position she served as the sales manager at Prairie Meadows Hotel and Conference Center.

While she enjoys golfing, riding her bike, and flower gardening, Sharon’s absolute favorite activity is spending time with her grandchildren!

Great Memory in Ames: I’m an Aerosmith fan, and a great Ames memory that popped into my mind was attending the Aerosmith concert at Hilton Coliseum in February of 1998. We had GREAT seats due to “knowing somebody.”  We were in the first row of the parquet, right next to the stage. There was a runway stage right next to our seats. Joe Perry came out on the runway and played a song right next to us. After he finished his song, he reached out to hand his guitar pick to me and this little kid standing next to me grabbed it and took off. I’m still mad about that.

Kim Abels is a sales and event planner for Conference Planning & Management. Before she joined CPM, she was director of visitor experience for Discover Ames, and prior to that was sports director for the Iowa Sports Foundation. She is a member of Meeting Planners International (MPI Heartland Chapter) and the Iowa Society of Association Executives (ISAE).

In her free time Kim spends time with her husband, Brian, and children Madison and Mason. She enjoys camping, golfing, bowling, Clone Cones at Hilton and she is actively involved with her kids’ school events. She is an advocate for organ and tissue donation and is a past member of the Story County Go Red For Women program.

Favorite Ames memory: Ames has provided me with a lot of milestones – graduating from ISU, obtaining my first professional job, meeting my husband, purchasing my first home, the birth of my children – so it is hard to pinpoint one favorite memory.

Veronica is originally from Libertyville, a northern suburb of Chicago. “I moved to Iowa because my grandfather attended Iowa State University and pushed me to visit. I ended up falling love with the atmosphere, environment, and the people. I love trying new adventures, food, places, and meeting new people/making friends and I was able to see myself doing all that in Ames and Iowa State!”

Prior to joining the Discover Ames team, Veronica worked with the Ames Golf and Country Club and the Iowa Events Center. She says she saw the event services coordinator position as a great opportunity to be in the event industry while exploring other areas of marketing and sales. “I have always loved being involved with events, and this position provides the opportunity to improve and expand my knowledge on creating a successful event experience.”

Veronica’s hidden talent is playing the saxophone. She enjoys the outdoors: hiking, biking, kayaking, beach volleyball, and lacrosse. “Ever since Covid, I got into baking and cooking,” she says. “I have always enjoyed photography and sewing, and I do enjoy my lazy days binge watching movies and TV series!”