Associate Director of Event Planning

Overview

The Office of Events and Conference Services (ECS) complements the mission of the university by coordinating and supporting a wide variety of comprehensive programs. Under direct supervision from the Director of Events and Conference Services, the Associate Director for Event Planning will provide expertise and guidance to those both within the university community and external guests to assist in the successful and efficient planning and execution of meetings and events occurring on campus.

The associate director will, in collaboration with the scheduling team, recommend and assign space based on established criteria, type of event, and other needs of those planning the event. The associate director will also maintain an accessible database of room set examples, recommended vendors for decorations, catering, floral, entertainment, etc., and meet with those planning events to coordinate the logistics of using vendors external to the university.

The associate director will provide planning tools to internal and external event planners and ensure that information is current and accurate. This position is critical to the success of the summer conference operation, managing many of the aspects of the program, including logistics, guest relations, contracting, and invoicing.

The projected salary or hourly pay range for this position which represents the full range of anticipated compensation is up to $68,000.

• Collaborate with ECS team to provide customer-focused experience for all constituents (students, faculty, staff, alumni, local community, external visitors, conference guests, and business partners).
• Schedule and participate in site visits with potential campus facility users.
• With a particular focus during the summer conference season on external guests, utilize established protocols, policies, and procedures to ensure that high levels of service are consistently delivered to all guests.
• In consultation with the Office of General Counsel (OGC), establish and maintain guiding documents for those planning events on campus, to include planning checklists, preferred vendor lists, and forms specific to the space being utilized.
• Establish and maintain positive and productive working relationships with other university service providers; refer those planning events to relevant campus service providers as needed, depending on event and location.
• Serve as a resource to other university service providers regarding the status of events being planned on campus.
• Participate in regular meetings with departmental professional and student staff to ensure the needs of facility users are understood and met by the appropriate campus resources.
• Collaborate with other departmental staff to effectively capture event needs of all clients requesting space for special events.
• Establish and maintain relationships with external vendors, business partners, and service providers; coordinate with Procurement and Payment Services to establish and maintain positive working relationships and preferred vendor lists.
• Steward preferred vendor lists and communicate them to those planning events.
• In consultation with other university departments, ensure compliance with established safety, insurance, and other requirements and protocols to protect the university.
• Consult with OGC for contract negotiation, review, and execution with external conference guests.
• Follow and enforce university policies and procedures related to space allocation priorities and principles.
• Steward clients (internal and external) who have reserved space on campus for special events, managing details and logistics from initial contact through the completion of the event.
• Based on established protocols, collaborate with various campus departments to coordinate and meet academic, co-curricular, conference and special event needs.
• Maintain current user/client information (e.g. student organization and university department contacts, org. numbers), effectively utilizing available technology.
• Prepare accurate statistical reports on facility usage and scheduling for dashboard indicators and other requested reports.
• Provide operational support to the Office of Events and Conference Services.
• Learn and effectively utilize the designated software program (currently Conference Programmer) for maintaining accurate conference records, to include basic functions (invoicing, space assignments, etc.), serving as back-up to other departmental staff.
• Learn and effectively utilize space scheduling software (currently College Net 25
  
  Live) to serve as a consultant to and back-up for the departmental scheduling team.
• Collaborate with campus service providers to deliver support services to external conference groups when needed.
• Assist with vendor policy maintenance and refinement.
• Maintain records for conference and event services consistent with university requirements and recommend/create reports to support recommendations for improvement.
• Hire and supervise departmental student staff in…