WILLIAM J. HORTEN, CME
Arlington, VA *****
*************@*****.***
www.linkedin.com/in/billhorten www.billhorten.com PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY
Marketing Communications Manager and community organizer with a strong history of increasing business development and building public awareness. Event Marketing professional with 10 years of experience managing external and internal meetings, trade show exhibits and federal government conferences with annual budgets over
$1M. Resort Manager with 3 years of international experience. Career supported by a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theatre Arts and Mass Communication, Towson University, MD.
● Marketing Management ● Leadership ● Customer Service
● Spanish Fluent
● Purchasing Management
● Interrelationship Skills
● Small Business Owner
● Social Media Expert
● Interpersonal Skills
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
SOCIAL MEDIA & WEB CONTENT
● Creates content for social media (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter) and ghost authors website blogs for business development purposes and assists in the bid preparation for federal government contract proposals.
● Designed and provided website content for tourism marketing of eco-resort; updated website via WordPress.
● Created content for Facebook for tourism marketing and property sales of eco-resort/community. EVENT PLANNING & EXHIBIT MANAGEMENT/MARCOM
● Coordinates meeting logistics, prepares budgets, negotiates vendor contracts for hotels and audio-visual services, manages design of promotional materials, provides off-site support, and manages webinars and webcasting for federal government contracts with the Office of Child Care (OCC), the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE), the Office of Family Assistance (OFA), the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and the National Institutes of Health Conferences, Administrative, and Travel Services (NIHCATS II) Task Order Contract.
● Planned and implemented internal and external corporate meetings and events for information technology company with $300M annual sales. Managed combined annual budget of $1.2M across a national tradeshow in Las Vegas, 25 regional tradeshows, 20 sales roadshows, and a major corporate employee incentive trip.
● Managed and effectively coordinated a cross functional sales and marketing team of 70 for Mitchell Int. at the NACE Convention with 30,000 attendees. Developed exhibit designs, transportation and construction of space rentals, organized all vendors, live entertainment, hospitality suite and awards ceremony. Conference resulted in an increase of attendance by 50% over prior years.
● Internal meetings: Selected sites at nationally renowned vacation venues and negotiated hotel and catering contracts. Planned agendas and entertainment; provided on-site support.
● Developed and managed vendor relationships, including destination management companies, video production houses, audio-visual production companies, display houses, furniture and decor suppliers, and more.
● Managed staff of 1 coordinator, including work direction, training and performance reviews.
● Managed promotions budget of $100K, including all corporate sponsorships, association memberships, and website advertising.
● Measured meeting success through attendee surveys and saw increases in positive ratings year after year.
● Delivered fun! Created energetic and exciting events. Involved all stakeholders. And brought in the crowds.
WILLIAM HORTEN PG 2
EVENT PLANNING & EXHIBIT MANAGEMENT/MARCOM
● Launched and managed an eco-resort of 22 vacation villas (up to 39 rooms) with twin goals of maximizing revenues and converting visitors to villa owners, resulting in 19 room average occupancy out of 26 during high season and 29 room average occupancy out of 39 during the next high season with villa sales worth
$2.1M.
● Managed staff of 8 workers, including maids, maintenance and pool staff, and gardeners. Develop training programs to ensure high standards of service.
● Purchased and installed appliances, furnishings, decorations, linens, cleaning products, etc.
● Marketed resort through advertising programs (internet, print, and broadcast), relationships with travel agencies, membership in Tourism Chambers, trade show exhibits, and social media.
● Designed and maintained website, Facebook presence and Twitter feeds.
● Implemented reservations system, and managed all finances of resort.
● Developed personal relationships with all guests, resulting in numerous return visits and a rich adventure vacation experience for our customers.
WORK EXPERIENCE
Marketing Communications Manager BLH Technologies, Rockville, MD 2015 - Present Resort Manager Osa Mountain Village Eco Resort, Costa Rica 2010 - 2013 Trade Show and Event Manager Mitchell International, San Diego, CA 2006 - 2009 Trade Show Coordinator Mitchell International, San Diego, CA 2001 - 2006 EDUCATION AND PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
Bachelor of Arts, Theatre Arts and Mass Communication, Towson University, MD Board Member (Publicity Chair), Adventuring (non-profit since 1979), Washington, DC Member, Association of Meeting Professionals, Washington, DC (Publicity Committee) Affiliated with Meeting Professionals International, San Diego Chapter CERTIFICATION AND SOFTWARE TRAINING
Certified Manager of Exhibits, Exhibit & Event Marketers Association, June 2006 Software: Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Office Project Management: Microsoft & Huddle Social Media Design: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, MeetUp, and HootSuite Web design: HTML, WordPress & Dreamweaver
Reservation System: WebReserve
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