They say the eyes are the mirror of a person’s soul. Or maybe it’s his desk. At least, that’s the way it is with Jay Karen, CAE.

“My desk and I are mixtures of sentimental and practical,” says Karen, president and CEO of the Charleston, South Carolina-based Professional Association of Innkeepers International.

On the practical side are dual monitors for multitasking and Moleskine books where, Karen says, “good ideas go to sleep.” But his sentimental side is more in evidence with a bobble-head gift from his staff (that’s his bobbling head), his favorite baseball card (1933 Lou Gehrig), a cigar box from a trip to Cuba with members, family photos, and a green pottery piece that belonged to his great-grandfather (it holds paper clips).

The headset sits perpetually on his head for phone calls and internet audio. “It makes me feel like an air traffic controller all day long,” he says, “which isn’t far from the truth as an association executive.”

Jay Karen