Regional Events Manager

The Regional Events Manager is responsible for ensuring market relevancy with regional events and activities. This role manages regional events and initiatives that drive brand awareness and optimize returns for Virtuoso events and other programs while maintaining global consistency across all regions as set by the Global Events Team. The Regional Events Manager will be required to support the regional business plan/Playbook and budget. This position primarily focuses on Canada regional events and supports US regional and global events as assigned by the Senior Director, Global Events Operations.

The **Regional Events Manager** reports directly to the Senior Director, Global Events Operations, under the Global Events Division, and to the region’s General Manager. The Regional Event Manager will be responsible for ensuring global event consistency, through regional tailor-made events and other deliverables as assigned and will be expected to drive a positive return both financially and through member and supplier feedback in line with department’s KPIs.

Please submit your CV in English.

**Essential duties and responsibilities include the following.** Other duties may be assigned.
- Responsible for successfully planning and executing events across Canada and US regions, as assigned, including but not limited: destination & hotel search, event budget development & maintenance, contract negotiation, registration management, event operations planning and on-site execution, survey creation, final bill reconciliation and reporting on final numbers and delivering accurate forecasting.
- Responsible for scheduling and communicating logístical details of assigned meetings and events with internal departments such as Regional General Manager, Member and Partner Relations, Network Communications, Product Marketing, Finance, Service Center, and Event Operations Staff assigned to support the event.
- Gathers all necessary details to build online registration sites for all events with specific functionality (request to attend, open registration, close registration, dietary restrictions, targeted audient, event specific questions, etc.).
- Responsible for destination and hotel availability search as determined by regional team, collecting hotels responses, and creating detailed OpEx budget to determine estimated event costs and projected margin.
- Ability to negotiate vendor contracts maximizing favorable terms and deadlines for the event.
- Liaise with hotels on event details as required by the event to include, but not limited to room setup, menu selection, room block pick up report, final bill audit, etc.
- Collaborate with other internal departments on tasks related to the success of the events assigned to include, but not limited to contract review process with legal team, event creative needs, communication plan for the event, membership & partnership teams, etc.
- Create, duplicate, distribute and assemble meeting & event materials, including name badges, tent cards, signage, packets, and other creative materials as requested, for review and approval.
- Provide onsite support when traveling on assigned events.
- Generate and understand registration reports for assigned events with the ability to do mail merges for communication with attendees.
- Schedule and manage team meetings related to the event to include kick-off meetings, event operations review before event operation, event debrief after event operation, Virtuoso Staff pre-con, and other meetings as needed.
- Ability to manage multiple projects at the same time with tight turn-around in an atmosphere that is conducive to changes and delays.
- Weekend and evening hours will be required during peak periods.
- Assist, travel and operate regional and global events in conjunction with the larger Events Operations team as determined by the Senior Director, Global Events Operations without conflicting with regional duties and events’ schedule.
- Participate in Global Events Calls as time zone permits. The Regional Event Manager must review meeting recordings if the time zone does allow for in-person participation.

**Educational and Skills Requirements**:

- Bachelor’s Degree in Event Management or Tourism and Hotel Management highly desirable
- 5+ years of proven experience with planning and executing events
- Travel industry experience preferred
- Bilingual (English / French), highly preferred
- Excellent customer service skills and demonstrated ability to address and resolve complaints with a high degree of professionalism
- Pro-active and engaged with the ability to anticipate events and team needs
- Ability to work effectively with vendors and all levels of staff
- Understanding of diversity, foreign cultures, and customs
- Strong communication, presentation and writing skills, demonstrated ability to exercise independent and sound judgment
- Strong organization and time management skills
- Ability to develop and manage assigned deadlines
- Able to read, un