Event Manager Services

Zhanna Yagafarova Event Manager Hospitality & Guest Experience Leader

Los Angeles, CA, 90212 +1-801-***-**** ****************@*****.*** https://www.linkedin.com/in/zhanna-yagafarova

Senior Event Manager with 15+ years of experience delivering high-profile events in hospitality, corporate, and lifestyle sectors. Adept at full-cycle event planning, vendor negotiations, and cross-department coordination across Hilton, Marriott, IHG, and luxury independent venues. Proven track record of managing 300+ events globally — from intimate VIP experiences to summits with 3,000+ attendees — while maintaining brand standards and exceeding guest expectations. Delivered 300+ corporate and lifestyle events ranging from 10 to 3,000+ guests — from concept through execution, including full-cycle logistics, hotel coordination, client engagement, and post-event evaluation. Skilled at translating global strategies into regionally relevant programs, upholding consistent brand standards, and delivering exceptional guest experiences. A proven relationship-builder who partners effectively with global teams, hotel owners, operators, and stakeholders to achieve results in complex, multicultural environments. Fluent in English, Russian, and Brazilian Portuguese.

●Marriott, IHG, Hilton, Hyatt, Four Seasons, Radisson, Accor - 100+ hospitality technology and compliance projects across EMEA and Central Asia

●Instagram/ Facebook (META) – produced all event production for corporate events in Eastern Europe 2016-2018

CORE COMPETENCIES

OPERATIONS & STRATEGY: Event Lifecycle Management, Client Relationship Management, BEO Coordination & Internal Communication, Upselling & Revenue Optimization, On-site Guest Experience Execution, Brand standards compliance, Pre opening and transitions, Hotel chain operational procedures, international hospitality regulations, International Vendor Management, Portfolio performance analysis, Project execution.

TECHNOLOGY & INTEGRATION: Guest Faces technologies, AV systems, PMS, Uniguest, Wi-Fi projects, Сloud panels, Digital signage.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT: Agile, Lean ops, Six Sigma, Scrum, Kanban, SLA monitoring, P&L optimization. Event production and MICE.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Hospitality Consulting Services February 2024 – Present

Independent Practice serving international hospitality brands across North America and EMEA regions. Providing tech-focused operations consulting to premium hotels, helping streamline vendor management and improve on-site efficiency.

Senior Operations Manager

●Planned and executed 5 mid-scale corporate and lifestyle events ranging from 50 to 300 guests, managing full event lifecycles including venue coordination, BEO documentation, vendor alignment, and post-event evaluation.

●Increased supplier efficiency and compliance by developing vendor management strategies utilizing performance based contracts and SLA tracking systems.

●Aligned program objectives and standardized operations by partnering with senior stakeholders, crafting strategic documentation, streamlining internal reporting, and reinforcing communication across distributed teams.

●Accomplished coordination of 5 middles scale events, achieving a 95 % client satisfaction rate, by proactively identifying and resolving operational issues, managing budgets, and leading pre and post event strategy meetings

MIKENOPA March 2016 – February 2024

Premium hotel technology provider with Headquarter in Prague Czech Republic serving 700 + hotels across international hotel chains in the UK and EMEA - IHG, Hilton, Marriott, Hyatt, Radisson, Four Seasons, Accor, and many others https://www.mikenopa.com

Director Central Asia (Operations Manager) September 2022 – February 2024

Responsible for sales growth and product improvement strategies in the region (6 countries), working with hotel owners and operators to enhance the overall guest experience. Managed procurement, sales, and equipment supply chain relationships across borders, with partners, suppliers, and subcontractors. Guided brand compliance, pre-openings, renovations, transitions, and service quality enhancements, collaborating closely with internal partners and hotel teams. Reporting to the Company owners, 4 direct reports.

●Achieved a 30+ premium property portfolio, secured 36 strategic projects, and established a first mover edge in emerging hospitality tech markets by spearheading an international expansion initiative and building scalable operational infrastructure.

●Scaled managed portfolio from 4,500 to 6,000 rooms across 20+ sites in Central Asia — Equivalent to managing 25–30 projects focused on the technical implementation of guest-facing technologies in hotels.

●Negotiated and executed C-Suite level procurement contracts, securing $1M+ in hardware equipment sales plus recurring service fees resulting in 20% year-over-year revenue growth, using advanced contract negotiation strategies and ROI analysis.

●Led cross-functional team of 8 specialists across quality assessment and compliance projects covering 50 hotels in 6-country Central Asia region.

●Built vendor ecosystems across 6 countries with $2M+ annual contract value, achieving 60% response time improvement. Served as a strategic liaison between global suppliers, partners, and property GMs, supporting cross-border initiatives and managing escalations.

Director of Sales March 2021 – February 2022

Responsible for sales growth and key account management of all the hotel chains in 14 countries total. Coached a team of 11 key account managers, assistants, and engineers. Supervised the flawless execution of 50+ project implementations, ensuring 100% compliance with brand SOPs in a zero-error environment governed by a strict three-strike vendor policy.

●Personally initiated 50+ new projects, including cold contacts, leading to the 80% Brand market share in managed region.

●Planned and implemented technical infrastructure for over 100 hotel-based events across 14 countries, including high-speed Wi-Fi, wired internet, and livestream support—ensuring smooth digital experiences for up to 3,000 attendees per event.

●Organized 6 international and charity events for IT professionals in cooperation with Hilton and Radisson. Represented the company at Hotel Brands Annual international IT meetings and Conferences.

●Oversaw cross-functional programs in collaboration with global IT, construction, and operations teams—conducting site visits for construction and renovation, performing product assessments for existing hotels, and successfully transforming properties into international brands, winning 90% of regional project tenders.

Business Development Manager March 2016 – March 2021

Conducted comprehensive market analysis and bolstered business development strategy reviews, enabling selection of optimal events that increased brand visibility by 20% and secured 10+ new partnerships. Reported to the Company owners.

●Seized a new opportunity of regional product adaptation, activating the R&D team to attend to client requests, resulting in signing 54 new contracts during 2016-2021

●Partnered with hotel IT teams to design and sell tailored guest internet packages for event organizers, resulting in a 15% increase in internet-related revenue for the hotels and a 25% boost in event attendee satisfaction scores.

●Led the rollout of livestream-ready infrastructure for key hybrid events, coordinating vendor requirements, signal routing, and bandwidth allocation within hotel networks—executed with 100% uptime during event hours.

Rhapsody Events November 2015 – March 2021

Premium event management company, Body & Soul member producing 100+ corporate events annually with $2M+ combined event budgets for Fortune 500 clients

Special Projects Manager

●Managed site inspections, vendor logistics, AV and catering coordination for VIP events—ensured smooth guest experience with zero complaints.

●During the 2018 FIFA World Cup, supported the Brazilian Record TV channel Team, fulfilling producer responsibilities and facilitating international media coverage.

●Created event room diagrams and seating plans, shared with ops teams for flawless execution

●Introduced add-on services (enhanced AV packages, branded signage, menu upgrades) that increased event revenue by 18% year over year.

●In 2016, organized the first Instagram event in reqion with over 70 participants for the influencers and other Instagram and Meta events in whole area in 2016-2018

Mikenopa Conference Services September 2014 – March 2016

Technical AV support services for events and conferences for international hotel chains IHG, Hilton, and Marriott, and corporate companies such as Facebook, Association of European Business in Russia, RBCC, Embassy of Germany in Russia, CCI France.

Business Development Manager

Built market intelligence products and analytics solutions:

●Acquired and formed partnerships with new clients, resulting in more than 15 new leads in 12 months

●Organized 200+ events

●Introduced video mapping as a new high-margin product to the company portfolio increased, event upsell revenue by 18% YoY.

●Participated as a hosted buyer at international exhibitions, including IMEX Frankfurt, IBTM World, and the Meeting Show London, and built trusted relationships with suppliers.

Interstate Hotels & Resorts October 2013 – August 2014

Four 4* and 5* hotels in Krasnaya Polyana, Sochi, venue for the 2014 Olympic games

Regional Sales Manager

Responsible for sales operations during the pre-opening, opening, and the entire duration of the Olympic Games -2014:

●Co established a sales department from the scratch across four hotels—including a 5* Marriott property—overseeing a combined total of 1,148 rooms.

●Solely responsible for the sales department managing Olympic VIP groups (JetSet) and events in the 5* Marriott hotel during the Sochi-2014 Olympic games, managing operations in a highly demanding environment.

●Built strong relationships in the local community, resulting in 5 long-term contracts

PROJECTS

●IHG Connect Global Pilot Aruba Central Implementation

Led first global Wi-Fi connectivity pilot for IHG hotel chain, collaborating with corporate IT teams to enhance guest connectivity in the Pilot property. Implementation became brand's official connectivity standard, adopted across 100+ hotels globally.

VOLUNTEERING AND LEADERSHIP

●Founded and directed IHG Connecting Friends annual summit series, managing $75K+ event budgets, coordinating 70+ international participants, and facilitating 20+ strategic vendor partnerships over 5-year period. Events generated $300K+ in partnership deals and established industry networking standard.

EDUCATION

Project Management with Concentration in Agile Certificate program UCLA Extension

Post-graduate Degree “Management and Marketing in Tourism” Institute of Economics, Management and Law.

Master’s Degree in History, Full Government Scholarship, Kazan State University CGPA 4.96/5.

Successful Negotiation: Essential Strategies and Skills (Coursera, Sep 2023, Credential ID U3EVE457RZP8)

EXECUTIVE STRENGTHS

Strategic vision and leadership, cross cultural and global expertise, stakeholder management, cross functional team leadership, client centric relationship building, resilience and agility, effective communication and influence, innovation and creative problem solving

TECHNICAL SKILLS

Jira, Smartsheet, Trello, PMS systems, Uniguest solutions, AV/event systems, Salesforce CRM.

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