Event Director, Sales and Production Experience

Karen L. Thompson

Ph: 206-***-**** --- **************@*****.***

CORE COMPETENCIES

Program/Event Management

• Team Director (general contractor) - Rock & Roll Marathon, Seattle and San Francisco, Seattle Marathon and Half Marathon.

• Experienced in booth sales, sponsorship sales (as show organizer)

• Business Plan Strategist: Individual Event analysis (P&L, Forecasting, success metrics)

• $50 Million revenue responsibility

• Event production & Logistical expertise, live and virtual

• Experience working with City Officials (street closures, fire marshal and crowd control regulations)

• Brand adherence, Collateral and signage design and production

• Public Relations/Promotional Agency event experience

• B2B, B2C and B2G Experience

• Successful Contractor negotiations (Venue knowledge, floor plan guru, fire marshal, Security, IT, catering, Rooming, entertainment, etc.)

• Digital Space Communication - Social Media Familiarity, writer of Newsletter and Web Site content

Team Leadership

• Successful manager of 25 staff and 200+ union personnel, multiple locations

• Regional Cost Center/Division Account Profitability

• Key Metrics Driver: Event success measurement, staff performance, bottom line results

• Corporate Account Management, Sales Presentation, Contract Proposals

• Successful cross-collaboration across multiple departments (legal, safety, sales, ops, CS, IT)

• Corporate Roll-outs: Client Portals, Expense reporting systems, AP/AR, CRM Database, New Product & Services

• Performance Management, Annual Reviews, Training and Goal Setting

• Current President of Emerald City Rotary Club/Community Public Speaking Experience

Agency and Promotion Experience

Agencies: U.S. Concepts Marketing, Los Angeles, CA; Burson-Marsteller/HCM, Los Angeles, CA; Richardson-Hurshell, Seattle, WA

Coordination of Promotions/Press Events/Corporate Events: Olive Garden, Coca-Cola, Make-A-Wish, Lubriderm/Lipton Mall Promo, Famous Amos Cookies, Metaxa Liqueur, City of Hope, Protection One Alarms, Salish Lodge, Starbucks Perfect Oatmeal, Microsoft Vendor Fair, MS Product Fair, MS TechReady.

Volunteer Meeting Planning & Community Service Experience

2011-2012, President, Emerald City Rotary Club; 2007-2011, Fundraising Committee Chair

• Weekly Club Meetings: coordination of Program Agenda, Speakers, Registration, Menu, AV, etc.

• Annual Auction: Venue negotiation, sponsor and item procurement, Entertainment, invitations and catalog production

• President’s Award Dinner: Coordination of Program Agenda, Presentations, Awards, Menu, etc.

• Monthly Board Meetings: Agenda creation, announcements, Chairperson assignments

• Annual Golf Tournament: Recruitment of Players and Sponsors

• Supervision of Educational Programs, grant writing & Fundraising

EMPLOYMENT

2012 – Present, DIRECTOR OF EVENTS

Center for Military Relationships and Families, Seattle, WA

Company: Government contractor providing resilience training, workshops and special events for government employees and their families nationwide.

Responsibilities: Supervising event and program managers in the production of workshops and retreats nationally for government employees and their families including housing, menu, meeting content, marketing, registration and event reporting processes.

2010-2012, DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS

Thompson Consulting, Renton, WA

Company: Providing Product Sales and On-site Event Management services nationally for private companies. Assisting companies with branding and marketing their services at national conventions. Produced simultaneous events through Live and Virtual mediums. Negotiated with vendors for shipping, printing, labor, construction, etc.

Program Responsibilities: Oracle OpenWorld, Consumer Electronics Show, ConExpo, National Restaurant Expo, Unified Wine Symposium, MS GameFest, Penny Arcade Expo, MacWorld.

2008–2010, DIRECTOR OF SALES & MARKETING Triumph Expo & Events, Seattle, WA

Company: Locally-owned event contractor supplying services to Fortune 500 companies and small event producers.

Responsibilities:. General event management, sales and marketing for Seattle, Portland and Vancouver, BC including P&L goal establishment, revenue projections, key client relations, sub-contractor negotiation, marketing materials production, website maintenance, performance management, meeting facilitation and training. $10M budget.

Established credit policy decreasing receivables by 70% & average DSO from 60 to 30 within 3 months

Introduced performance management and training standards, techniques and metrics resulting in cross-departmental accountability and improved sales, customer service, and operational excellence

January 2001 – August 2008, DIRECTOR OF ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT & CLIENT SERVICES

GES (Global Experience Specialists), Renton, WA

Company: Globally recognized producer of large events and conventions.

Responsibilities: Full responsibility for client service excellence, event profitability and production. Key account and vendor negotiations. Collaboration with corporate partners from finance, legal, call center, sales and operations departments.

Achieved annual revenue goals of $50 Million across multiple cost centers for five consecutive years

Awarded Manager of the Year for three years consecutively, across multiple company locations

Produced Region's first International event and reduced costs by $100K after first year

EDUCATION AND TRAINING

-Bachelor of Arts in Advertising, Michigan State University

-Software Experience: MS Outlook, MS Word, MS Excel, Oracle, Siebel CRM, FMS (Financial Mgmt System), EBMS (Event Business Mgmt), Auction Tracker

-Additional Training: Ongoing leadership seminars, Social Media Initiatives, Quality Action Team Facilitator, Miller-Heiman Strategic Selling, Best Practices, Train the Trainer, Respectful Workplace/Reasonable Suspicion, etc.

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