Senior Meeting Planning & Hospitality Specialist

William Blair•Chicago, IL

7d•Onsite

About The Position

Join William Blair, the Premier Global Partnership, as a Senior Meeting Planning & Hospitality Specialist. This role will coordinate the planning of mid-to-large-scale onsite and offsite meetings, events, and conferences. You will work with business units to establish budgets and meeting/event objectives, manage site/conference room selection, hotel room block coordination, ground transportation, and contracts. You will troubleshoot issues during meetings/events, manage post-meeting/event communication, including final budget reconciliation. This role involves conducting pre- and post-conference meetings with various teams, establishing vendor relationships, and acting as a resource for internal clients and less experienced team members.

Requirements

Bachelor’s Degree required
5-7 years of hospitality and/or meeting planning experience required
Strong ability to work independently to achieve team objectives and exercise good judgment
Expertise in delivering clear, effective written and verbal communication
Proven problem solving skills
Expert organizational skills and ability to prioritize tasks and handle many responsibilities simultaneously
Proven commitment to satisfying internal and external customers
Strong detail-orientation to ensure that high standards are met or exceeded
Ability to guide and mentor staff
Proficient knowledge of Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Power Point)
CVENT or meeting planning tool working knowledge
Flexible with late or early event related hours

Nice To Haves

Hospitality Management degree preferred

Responsibilities

Coordinate and manage the sourcing and planning of mid-to-large-scale, high-visibility firm meetings, events, and conferences.
Create and manage event budgets using existing templates from program history, industry knowledge, and collaboration with internal Client Events peers.
Liaise between hotel and venue contacts for room/site selection, hotel room blocks, event space set-up, food and beverage selections, and more.
Collaborate with meeting planning staff to provide excellent service to all participants.
Serve as an escalation point for conference/meeting questions or issues.
Collaborate with internal planning partners on pre- and post-conference meetings with all parties involved in the execution of event.
Troubleshoot complex issues during firm events, meetings, and conferences.
Liaise and proactively communicate with Information Technology to ensure technology is running smoothly.
Analyze reports summarizing meeting trend data, recurrent problems and financial data.
Identify opportunities for improvement and recommend changes to enable improved customer support, efficiency and cost savings.
Proactively track spending against established event budgets.
Build strong working relationships with vendors.
Prepare and present post-meeting financials to business unit contact(s).
Review meeting/event related bills for payment.
Provide training and act as a resource for less experienced employees.
Provide support for internal meetings, events, and conferences as requested.
Guide and mentor Meeting Planning & Hospitality Specialists and Associates.
Serve as a resource and escalation point for internal clients and Meeting Planning & Hospitality staff.
Support in-office meetings and events as requested.
Additional responsibilities as requested.