Senior Meeting Planner - Lumbermens Merchandising Corporation

LMC is the leading buying group for a network of independent building material companies across the US. As their buying group, LMC negotiates and facilitates procurement opportunities for the most desired brands in the lumber and building materials industry. We also work to provide operational support with focus on logistics, capital equipment, technology, and marketing. By leveraging the billion dollar buying power of our members, LMC ensures our members have a competitive edge to capture more of their local market share.

The Senior Meeting Planner will serve as project leader on specific events, coordinating teams that plan, implement, and manage all aspects of events.  They will initiate and lead meetings with stakeholders to plan scope and format of events, timeline design, vendor sourcing and management, visual and graphic design, establish and monitor budgets, and/or review administrative procedures and event progress. This position requires work in our office Monday through Thursday, with the option to work remotely on Fridays, as well as the first Monday of each month.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Manage and support all strategic, operations and logistical activities for meeting and event related projects. 
• Organize facilities and manage all event details such as lodging, catering, setup, entertainment, transportation, registration, AV, and production technology.
• Maintain, report, and forecast meeting budgets.
• Use technology to manage the planning processes for meeting, including meeting registrations, approvals, budget and actual spend, calendars, meeting logistics, attendee registrations etc.
• Negotiate with vendors to secure contracts, maintain budgets and ensure event needs are met.
• Conduct research, find resources and make recommendations regarding event possibilities.
• Design and build websites that provide exceptional user experience and maintain efficient backend attendee management and reporting.
• Understand the unique needs of different types of events.
• Develop and maintain a strong working relationship with dealers, exhibitors, vendors, and internal staff.
• Partner with Marketing and other stakeholders in the development of communication plans and materials including invitations, promotional materials, meeting websites and other meeting/event collateral.
• Support execution of delivery in line with the overall strategy.
• All other duties as assigned.

Qualifications:

• 5+ years of experience in the field of meeting and event planning.
• Bachelor ‘s degree in business administration, marketing, meeting management, public relations, communications, hospitality, or equivalent work experience required.
• Cvent experience (Meeting/Registration development, On Arrival, Mobile App/Attendee Hub) is required.
• CMP and established relationships with vendors in the event industry preferred.
• Strong knowledge of program/event management and budget maintenance. Exposure to project planning/forecasting financial implications.
• Excellent computer skills, knowledge of Microsoft Office tools, CRM Systems, Concur, and able to learn new technology quickly.
• Able to work with minimal direction required.