Events Director

Description

To create the most innovative, engaging and culturally relevant experiences for our subscribers and audiences – driving brand awareness, driving new engagement, creating brand love and loyalty for Crain and its brands at large, with an immediate focus on Ad Age and Modern Healthcare and more.

The Director role will support the Senior Director of Events and work closely with our marketing and editorial teams on all events. We are looking for an experiential pro with expertise in all event types, specifically conferences, galas, B-to-B awards shows and programs and trade shows. It’s critical that you understand Crain’s overall marketing objectives and can translate those into events that will foster thought leadership, drive industry relationships, revenue and infuse the power of the individual brands on-site (and/or virtually). The position requires a curious, self-motivated individual that is passionate about the events experience and has experience in some/all areas of event production, event customer service, general event marketing, event programming and programming operations, event sponsorship support and ideation, that will support and drive the execution of onsite and virtual experiences for Crain Communications.

This position reports to the Senior Director of Events and Conferences and works collaboratively with Sales, Editorial, Digital, Marketing and Creative, Custom Content departments.

Job Responsibilities

• Execute innovative strategies at both in-person and virtual events that promote the company, build and enhance brand eminence, generate leads, and develop relationships
• Provide strategic and creative direction, design, and management to a variety of activities related to the event operations and event success
• Deep database of venues, vendors, and producers for the event with fantastic working relationships in place
• Develop conference and event timelines
• Handle day-to-day responsibilities with staff, internal stakeholders, and customers (exhibitors and sponsors)
• Concept, direct and manage of all signage, lighting, event flow, ROS, SOWs for partners, staging, hospitality, activations, premiums, F&B, registration, registrations platforms, programming and agenda management and sponsorship support.
• Build and deliver exceptional brand experiences that are on brand
• Build and drive budgets, ROI tracking, revenue tracking and support.
• Preparation and distribution of detailed pre-event communications and post event reporting
• Acute awareness of all competitive events
• Create, drive, and manage end-to-end logistics for assigned proprietary and third-party events, including budget, contract terms, registration process, food and beverage, venue research, registration support, entertainment, conference booth production, transportation, among others
• Intimate knowledge of trade show floor plans, logistics, time schedules, registration, hybrid shows,
• Collaborate cross-functionally with appropriate teams to ensure optimization, appropriate subject matter experts are engaged, and that program launches are maximized for the broadest reach and resulting success factors.
• Project management, including the ability to manage multiple projects with varying due dates simultaneously, identify dependencies, and coordinate across other channels, in accordance with established milestones
• Liaise on and guide digital presence, social promotion, and public relations to support events
• Drive reporting related to ROI around the event
• Lead and participate in client and internal meetings, including regular status meetings, pre-program walkthroughs, onsite meetings, and post program debriefs.
• With the support of a small team most of the time (but not always), this role will both oversee and execute the content, logistics and marketing of events to create quality engaging onsite and virtual experiences to strengthen audience connections the brands, serving clients’ needs and increasing their loyalty to the brand while growing the audience.
• Strong negotiation, project, and time management skills.
• Ability to cultivate relationships and communities with customers across all of the Crain brands.
  
  

Who You Are & What You Will Bring

• To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty with
• consistency.
• Background in event operations, event registration, ticketing and guest management, event sponsorships and/or event agenda management and programming
• Project management focused, including the ability to manage multiple projects with varying due dates simultaneously, identify dependencies, and coordinate across other channels, in accordance with established milestones and ability to maintain a professional composure in a face-paced environment
• Excellent strategic thinking skills with ability to make data-driven decisions
• Familiarity/experience with marketing and marketing practices
• Unmistakable evidence of natural curiosity and creativity
• Inbox 0 type personality
• Must be able to thrive in a team-first dynamic
• Audience and guest obsessed to deliver a great brand experience
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Experience with multiple event registration platforms (including Cvent, Splash…) and multiple virtual event platforms (including Zoom, GlobalMeet…)
• Ability to travel required
• Ability to work irregular hours in addition to normal business hours
• Self-motivated, able to work autonomously and communicate with remote management for extended periods of time
• Experience in media industry
• Passionate about events, the industries and wants to change the world with us
  
  

Preferences

• At least 7 years of experience in event planning and/or execution, in a B-to-B field preferred
• 5 years managing direct reports
• Bachelor’s degree in Advertising, Marketing, Communications, Business, Hospitality and Events, or similar fields or equivalent work experience.
• Use of project management software, such as Smartsheet, and intermediate ability with PowerPoint; sufficient knowledge of Excel; Adobe Pro editing a plus
• Exposure to exhibition and event industry associations and expos: IAEE, IMEX, etc.
  
  

If your experience is close but doesn’t fulfill all requirements, please apply. We are on a mission to build a special team, we are focused on hiring from different backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences.

This position is exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act and is not eligible for overtime pay.

Pay Transparency Disclosure:

The estimated base salary for this position is $100,000 - $140,000.

The final salary offering will take into account a wide range of factors, including experience, accomplishments and location. The salary range provided should not be considered as a salary limit or cap. In addition to base salary, Crain also offers competitive benefits including retirement plan savings contributions and bonus opportunities based on individual and company performance.

#director

#events

#full-time

About Crain Communications:

Crain Communications is a leading business news and information company with a portfolio of 24 media brands that provide indispensable coverage and data for professionals globally and across sectors, including advertising, automotive, finance, healthcare, staffing, and workforce solutions. Many of Crain’s brands are the most influential media properties in the industries and communities they serve, including Ad Age, Automotive News, Pensions & Investments, Modern Healthcare, Staffing Industry Analysts, as well as Crain’s regional business brands. For more than a century, our dedication to deep sector expertise and journalistic integrity has enabled us to provide trusted insights across all our platforms, empowering today’s business leaders to make industry-shaping decisions. To learn more about Crain Communications, visit crain.com.

Environmental Demands

Where you work matters. The job posting will provide specific information on where and when your amazing work would be performed. Employee work location is determined by the needs of the specific team and may include on-site, hybrid or remote.  Employee work location is subject to change.

• An “in-office” role would require the employee to come into the office most days with occasional flexibility to work remotely if tasks can be performed elsewhere and if the manager approves.
• A “remote” role would allow an employee to work from a home office that is in one of the states Crain does business in. We can only employ a remote / "work from home" employee if they reside in one of these states: AZ, CA, CO, FL, GA, IL, MD, MA, MI, MN, NV, NY, NC, OH, OR, TN, TX, VA, WA, WI, and Washington, DC.
• A “hybrid” role would be a mix of in-office and remote work. There may be a specified schedule for coming into the office or it could be at the discretion of the employee with the manager’s approval, subject to change.
• Employees who live within a reasonable commute distance from a Crain office are expected to work on-site 3 days per week.
  
  

Many positions will also include work done in “the field.” Depending on the role, this may include conducting in-person interviews, attending work-related events, meeting with sources or clients. Specifics will be noted in the job posting but are subject to change as a role evolves.   Employees may be exposed to adverse environmental conditions, specifically during field work. Other typical job functions are performed under conditions such as those found in general office work. 

Travel to cover news stories/events, meetings with clients, and to our geographically separated offices may be required.  It is the nature of many positions to experience non-standard working hours and be on-call when needed for responding to email, meeting with clients, attending work-related events, story development or breaking news. Most employees perform work Monday through Friday, although early-morning, evening or weekend shifts may be required.   Work schedule and travel requirements are subject to change as a role and needs evolve over time.

Physical Demands

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of many Crain jobs and are subject to change.

Physical activities will include frequent in-person or virtual interactions.  For most positions, it is essential to be able to remain at a desk/computer workstation for prolonged periods, perform computer-related tasks, and create/maintain documents within filing systems.  Must have close visual acuity to perform an activity, such as preparing and analyzing reports and information, transcribing, viewing a computer terminal, or extensive reading.  The typical physical requirements are light work—exerting up to 25lbs of force occasionally and/or up to 10lbs of force frequently and may include climbing, pushing, standing, hearing, walking, reaching, grasping, kneeling, stooping, and repetitive motion.  Some positions will have additional physical requirements, including exerting up to 50lbs of force to move and/or carry equipment, supplies, files, or other materials as the role requires.

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential job functions and meet the environmental and physical demands of the role.

Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities The contractor will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. However, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, or (c) consistent with the contractor’s legal duty to furnish information. 41 CFR 60-1.35(c)