Trade Show Director

Responsibilities

• Strategy Support: The Trade Show Director supports the Event Director in developing and implementing trade show aspects of event strategy.
• Develops trade show strategies, solutions and innovations that are tailored and relevant to client needs to support the overall event strategy and achievement of event outcomes.
• Supports future year(s) site selection strategy and confirms venue ability to deliver on client trade show specifications.
• Data oriented trade show leadership with experience defining key success metrics and driving toward those metrics as part of the overall show strategy
• Collaboration and regular communication with client leaders/show owner.
• Trade show Management: The Trade Show Director is responsible for planning, managing delivery of the financials on all aspects of trade shows including coordination of trade show project plan, exhibit hall floor plan, show floor specialty areas, show floor education and poster sessions, exhibit and sponsor prospectus, general service contractor management, exhibitor management and coordination with show sales teams.
• Develops and manages project plan and timeline including end-to-end logistical management of trade shows.
• Manages trade show project scope, identifying issues and developing contingency plans.
• Manages trade show financials including development of Exhibit, Sponsorship and Advertising revenue projections, developing budgets, monitoring of financial performance and ongoing issue resolution, oversee monthly financial reconciliation and oversight of Accounts Receivable team member.
• Proactively communicates project status, program deadlines, identifying any areas of concern and addresses issues to ensure tradeshow outcomes are met.
• Leads floor plan management and oversees space selection process.
• Partners with Education to design, develop and manage logistics for show floor education.
• Supports prospectus and contracts development working in coordination with Marketing; determines exhibit and sponsor opportunities and pricing and contract rules and regulations with Sales.
• Oversees third party supplier needs (General Services contractor, signage, security, First Aid, promotional products) and coordination, leads RFP processes, selection and ensures high quality supplier relationships and service delivery.
• Oversees exhibitor communications and ongoing customer service.
• Oversees Sponsorship Fulfillment programs in collaboration with Sales, to ensure creation, collection, inventory and fulfillment of sponsor benefits.
• Responsible for show analysis, determining data required to support trade show growth in alignment to overall event strategy.
• Contributes to overall team success by identifying problems and proactively seeking out methods to improve self-performance and/or efficiency of an operation or task.

Requirements

• 10+ years of trade show management experience
• Ability to travel up to 20%, possibly both domestic and international (travel may include weekends)
• Excellent knowledge of meeting and event industry terminology and comprehensive knowledge of tradeshow management. Demonstrates expertise in managing trade shows and exhibit and sponsorship fulfillment.
• Proficiency with basic computer programming, including the Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook), and MS 365/TEAMS
• Strong communication skills to present and guide decision making of committees and ability to negotiate successfully on behalf of the client.
• A strong understanding of union and labor requirements in different states and destinations.
• Familiarity with venues, facilities, convention centers, general service contractors and convention city packages throughout the country.
• Budget management: developing a budget with assumptions, and forecasting
• Project management experience to include meeting deadlines on time and on budget.
• Achieves favorable financial results through strong negotiation skills

Nice to have

• Experience with international meetings and tradeshows is a plus.
• CEM Certification or related professional certification is highly preferred.

Benefits

• Whether you are just beginning your career or are a mid- or senior-level professional, working at Smithbucklin will offer you countless opportunities to develop transferable skills, acquire meaningful knowledge and gain rich experiences at an accelerated pace. By working collaboratively with smart, ambitious, multi-talented, genuine and hardworking colleagues, you will build meaningful, deep and enduring relationships that will serve you well throughout your career, regardless of your chosen path. In addition, as a 100 percent employee-owned company, Smithbucklin offers all of our people - regardless of position or compensation - an equal chance to experience the fulfillment and reap the benefits of ownership. As owners, our employees control the destiny of Smithbucklin and are unified in the goal of building a great, enduring company.
• Smithbucklin is a hybrid work environment with in-office days established as Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. Employees will work a standard 40-hour week, with the possibility of additional hours based on project deadlines.
• Smithbucklin considers several factors when determining compensation, including a candidate's recent coursework, training, experience, and certifications, among other considerations. The expected pay for this role is $120,000-$135,000.