Conference Services Director

**ABOUT**

The Dalhousie Student Union (DSU) is an incorporated non-profit with the objectives of:

- acting as the official representative organization of Dalhousie students;
- serving as the medium of communication between Dalhousie students and the governing bodies of the University;
- encouraging Dalhousie students to have an awareness of their responsibilities in the local, provincial, national, and international community;
- providing services and programming that enhance student life in a financially, socially, and environmentally responsible manner.

With over 20,000 members, the DSU is here to make sure students get the most out of their experience at Dalhousie. The DSU advocates for student rights, builds community on campus through events, supports over 250 societies, and provides discount services

**OVERVIEW**

The DSU Conference Services Director organizes and oversees event bookings from planning to execution, ensuring efficiency and smooth operations. They meet with clients (including student societies, Dalhousie Departments, and external third parties) and representatives to learn about their event needs and budgets. From there, they will develop plans and guidelines with staff, book catering and venues according to the clients' preferences, arrange programs, and coordinates other services. They lead and encourage staff to reach goals, maintaining an active communication line to promptly and efficiently resolve any issues in order to provide top of the line service in and outside of the Dalhousie community.

**HOURS OF WORK**:35hrs weekly September-April, 30hrs weekly May-August

**WORK TERM**: 1 year Maternity Leave Contract

**RESPONSIBILITIES**
- Responsible for booking room reservations for internal and external clients.
- Act as the group organizer's contact and plan all details of the client's event or conference needs including menus, audio-visual, room layout, meeting times, check in/out procedures etc.
- Coordination of various support services for meeting and lobby space including maintenance and custodial, event technology, food and bar services, and transition to SUB Coordinator responsibilities.
- Ensuring good general order and appearance of the facility as it applies to overall cleanliness and room conditions.
- Reviewing and streamlining space reservation and allocation process on an ongoing basis to meet student and public needs.
- Relay all details of conferences and events to relevant departments in a professional, thorough, and timely manner.
- Run weekly Sales & Catering reports and ensure the system is current and up to date, upkeep of Sales & Catering menus, resources, pricing and function diary.
- Responsible for preparing and distributing Event Orders and floor plans on a daily/weekly basis. This includes the prompt distribution of last-minute changes to affected departments.
- Ensure the efficiency of Function Tracker to track, solicit, book, produce booking's and follow up on accounts.
- Build a close partnership with associated Dalhousie Departments to ensure all contractual terms agreed upon are carried out as well as to maximize function space for the highest profitability for the DSU.

Client Relationships
- Overseeing clients while in-house, ensuring their events go as they expect and anticipating their needs.
- Conduct site visits for clients.
- Conduct pre
- and post-conference meetings with groups to plan and address strengths and weaknesses of an event while soliciting repeat business.
- Ensure close relationships are established and maintained with clients to encourage repeat business.
- Resolve guest complaints when necessary.

Finance & Revenue
- Responsible for financial aspects of the department including accounts receivable, invoicing customers, collections, preparing journal entries, and month-end review.
- Accurately forecast and project group revenue.
- Be fully accountable for the achievement of departmental revenue targets.

Supervision
- Hires, trains, and directs part-time staff Conference Service Staff.
- Foster a co-operative team spirit with and between Conference Service Staff, facilities, A/V, catering and custodial teams.
- To be Health & Safety conscious and actively involved in maintaining a safe work environment.

Marketing and Promotion
- Conducting formal and informal surveys on an ongoing basis with students and external clients for the purpose of improving upon service levels and maintaining good customer relations.
- In collaboration with the Communications Department, Responsible for the promotion of the building as a conference and meeting facility, including lobby vendors.

Performs all other job-related duties as directed by the General Manager.

**QUALIFICATIONS**
- Prior experience in the planning and implementation of events, with experience in budget development and control required.
- Ability to manage many projects and tasks simultaneously using strong time management and prioritization skills.
- Must be able to work