Manager, Meetings/Events/Conference Services

7/2006 - 10/2008

American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy

Manager

• Provided extensive and comprehensive meetings/event planning and conference management for 26 committees and 28 courses annually. Coordinated arrangements for ASGE Governing Board, Budget and Finance Committee and other leadership events. Managed critical aspects of the Society’s Annual Meeting (DDW®) with 16,000 to 20,000 attendees. Handled all hotels contracts and logistical arrangements for society programs. Provided travel administration for the society’s travel agency, ground transportation, exhibits and conference rooms, sketch all floor renderings, exhibit booths, society’s postgraduate education courses at DDW and in conjunction with other GI Societies National Meetings such as ACG, AASLD. Coordinated all logistics arrangements with hotels, including all food/beverage, audio visual, daily activities for each and every events. Worked with exhibition companies, such as Freeman Decorating Company, Freeman AV, and GES to deliver exhibit, drayage and décor services. Managed housing companies such as Travel Technology and Experient to coordinate housing logistics with number of hotels for city wide conventions in Chicago, Washington, New Orleans and San Diego for all major events. Developed meeting/travel manual procedures for society. Worked diligently with society’s travel agency to enhance association procedures and implement new ideas to better serve the society. Initiated several cost savings programs with hotels and airlines and diligently monitored budgets to cut costs and preserve resources.

9/2004 - 7/2006

Sodexho

Manager

• Provided extensive and comprehensive meetings/event planning and conference management for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois (client). Handled all hotels contracts, conference rooms on site, renderings and sketches of floor plans of any major events in the company’s large conference rooms for any corporate events, foods/beverages, audio visual, daily activities including all logistics of each event, payroll management. Supervised and managed a staff of four meeting management professionals.

12/2000 - 9/2004

Marketing Innovators

Manager

• Provided comprehensive meetings/event planning arrangement for company’s corporate and association clients in planning off-site meetings and special events. such as president’s awards meeting, board of directors meetings, pharmaceutical companies meetings, annual meetings at various locations, domestic and international. Handled all budgets, site inspections, Letters of Invitation, Letters of Agreement, Requests for Proposal, recommendation of site and site selections, prepare all logistics, negotiate and execute all contracts, hotels, facilities, transportation, miscellaneous vendor contracts, prepare all meetings/events materials, rooming lists and developed the entire meeting/event program. Booked and ticketed international/domestic airline reservations for corporate and leisure clients. Negotiated and implemented all leisure vendor contracts including over rides, cars and hotels. Also handled all group and incentive travel programs, conventions, exhibits and conference management, develop menus, food and beverage with hotels/facilities, ground transportation, group airline contracts and travel direct. Prepared cost analysis, agendas, invitations and registration materials for each programs. Implement all logistics as detailed in the banquet event orders at site of meetings/event. Also arranged all optional activities, speakers, entertainers, audio visual work with different local destination management companies. Managed all programs from start to finish, also reconciled and prepared the final billing for each client. Handled all international travel with a volume of about $30,000,000 million dollars in travel annually for all company clients. Created discount airlines ticket consolidators department with annual savings of about 25 to 50 percent in domestic and international travel. Prepared weekly sales reports and supported back office account system.