Event Program Manager at The Fountain Group

Pay: $50-70/hr based on experience
Location: Hybrid in Santa Clara, CA; 2-3 days onsite
Duration: 1 year contract initially

Job Description:

We are looking for a confident Global Events Manager who is passionate about re-defining events in this ever-changing environment, with a focus on innovation and delivery of attendee experiences as guiding principles. In this role, you will primarily be responsible for managing our sponsorship and participation in 3rd party events such as RSA Conference, BlackHat, Gartner Security & Risk Management Summit, AWS reinvent, Google Cloud Next and supporting our proprietary events lead.

This results-focused event manager is responsible for working cross-functionally across Palo Alto Networks, with Field Marketing and GTM/BU leaders as the primary stakeholder audiences. You will manage/influence senior leadership, product marketing, PR, sales, demand gen, communications campaigns, brand and event pipeline goals. This position will report directly to the Sr Director, Global 3rd party & CxO Events.

Skills

Responsibilities:

• Plan and lead the execution of our strategic 3rd party events with a live, virtual and hybrid strategy
• Support our proprietary events leads manage and plan our IGNITE roadshows
• Work closely with executives, senior leaders and stakeholders to define agenda, speakers, training, content strategy, etc.
• Drive all event communications
• Ability to strategically collaborate with cross functional teams
• Have a creative approach to event planning and event design
• Source, lead and drive our trade show portfolio strategy to ensure we are reaching the right audiences at the right time
• Lead the process for sourcing a trade show partner focused on conceptualizing and building booth and assets as we prepare for our return to in person events
• Research, source and manage guest speakers
• Conceptualize and execute on ancillary events which support networking and engagement with attendees, such as evening dinners, dine-around functions, brain dates etc
• Deliver exceptional attendee experiences which drive engagement, attendance, participation and post-event follow-up response
• Work closely with Go To Market (GTM) partners and cross-functional marketing teams to develop repeatable content, tools, systems, processes and guidelines to drive scale and impact.
• Manage key audiences, accelerate sales pipeline and drive marketing-influenced bookings for all events.
• Partner closely with the broader marketing teams to ensure there is consistency of messaging across all aspects of events.
• Maintain a budget for events and closely track spend against targets.
• Set success criteria, measure and report out the impact of each major event on awareness, engagement and pipeline acceleration metrics.
• Validate event investment versus the ROI driven from each major event.
• Develop strong cross-functional relationships to ensure involvement and input on event strategy from product, customer success, and sales.

Qualifications:

• 6+ years delivering successful event experiences, tradeshow and virtual/hybrid event experience required
• Excellent written, verbal, and visual presentation skills
• Creative, collaborative, and resourceful
• Experience sourcing and managing agency partnerships
• Ability to multi-task and prioritize in a fast-paced and dynamic work environment
• Lead and influence cross-departmentally
• Data-driven mindset focused on setting and measuring KPIs and pipeline metrics
• Strong understanding and practice of event strategy
• Knowledge and experience with online event platforms and tools (reg/web/mobile) for digital, live-streamed and in-person events
• Experience working in both digital and in-person event environments
• Positive and motivated self-starter
• Comfortable dealing with ambiguity, with the ability to drive clarity for the team
• Excellent budget and financial prowess