Downers Grove, Illinois, United States
With over 20 years of expertise delivering virtual, in-person, and hybrid events, I thrive at the intersection of strategic planning and flawless execution, ensuring events align with organizational goals while attracting target audiences. From large-scale global conferences to high-touch executive engagements, I’ve built a career on crafting programs that connect people, elevate brands, and generate results. Career Journey My passion for events began early in my career, managing industry tradeshows and customer conferences. Over time, I expanded into leading large-scale, integrated event strategies for global brands like AWS and Yext. Along the way, I’ve developed expertise in orchestrating programs that engage audiences and contribute directly to pipeline growth and revenue targets. I continue to partner with cross-functional teams, lead multimillion-dollar budgets, and introduce innovative event strategies that engage audiences both in person and virtually. Achievements • $28M Influenced Pipeline: Designed and launched Yext’s Virtual Summit program, achieving 9,000+ registrations and 3,500 attendees. • 20% YoY Pipeline Growth: Built field marketing plans aligned with regional objectives, driving results through targeted event strategies. • 100% Platform Uptime: Delivered seamless virtual events for AWS re:Invent, engaging 230K+ registrants and 140K+ attendees globally. • $8M Closed Revenue: Led Yext’s inaugural Masters activation, hosting C-level executives with $1M+ opportunity values. Impact I specialize in building scalable, repeatable processes that integrate content, data, and technology into event programs. I’ve elevated event marketing to a key driver of revenue and brand awareness. My work has shaped innovative event strategies, setting new benchmarks for engagement and ROI. I take pride in my ability to collaborate across stakeholders, from sales and marketing to product teams, to ensure that every event delivers value. Future Vision I’m driven to continue pushing boundaries in event marketing, leveraging emerging technologies and data-driven insights to create more immersive, personalized event experiences. I aim to continue elevating events as a critical component of integrated marketing strategies—driving engagement, revenue, and customer loyalty in today’s evolving landscape.
Own regional-wide marketing programs that focus on all segments. Consolidate and integrate marketing programs with global and regional teams for demand generation. Liaison with global and regional teams to create a communication framework.
Develop the event marketing strategy for virtual, 1st and 3rd party events, as well as oversee timelines, budgets, logistics, and post-event analyses. Ensure the strategic event marketing plan aligns with the needs of key stakeholders, business objectives, and the interests of the target audience. • Develop, manage, and execute high-profile executive level events, including Yext’s first Masters activation, which included hosting 20 executives from accounts with a $1m+ opportunity value and resulted in $8m of closed revenue. This week-long event included coordinating logistics for luxury home rentals, planning daily chef-prepared meals, securing tournament access, and arranging transportation to/from the airport and Augusta National Golf Course. • Build field marketing plans to align with regional objectives to drive pipeline growth and enhance customer engagement, resulting in a 20% YoY increase in influenced pipeline. • Elevated Yext’s traditional webinars into a comprehensive virtual event program strategically aligned with lead generation and pipeline acceleration goals, resulting in a 45% increase in registration. Introduced and launched a semi-annual Virtual Summit program with a cohesive strategy incorporating multi-session agendas and interactive experiences, resulting in over 9,000 registrations, 3,500 attendees, and $28M in influenced pipeline. • Analyze event performance metrics, attendee buyer’s journey data, and feedback to assess success and identify areas for improvement.
Managed and executed the virtual side of AWS re:Invent, one of the premier global technology conferences in the cloud computing industry, drawing 40,000 to 50,000 customers. • Successfully managed and executed the inaugural hybrid event strategy for AWS re:Invent, ensuring alignment with leaders in America, Europe and Asia. The program drove 230k+ virtual registrations and 140k+ attendees in its first year. • Collaborated with content owners to implement a comprehensive virtual strategy featuring live streams of five keynotes and 22 leadership sessions, along with GMT and SGT rebroadcasts tailored for European and Asian audiences. The program also included 25 “Live from re:Invent” segments and over 450 on-demand breakout sessions, achieving an average engagement rate of 33 videos viewed per unique attendee. • Defined and implemented streamlined processes with the video production team and virtual platform vendor to ensure content was efficiently created, thoroughly tested, and flawlessly deployed, resulting in 100% platform uptime. • Identified potential risks and developed a contingency plan to address issues related to technology, operations, or other critical aspects of the event. • Led cross-functional teams and external partners to ensure timelines, roles, and responsibilities were clearly defined and executed. • Facilitated post-event debriefs with all cross-functional teams to evaluate success, identify areas for improvement, and develop actionable insights for future events.
Drove the annual event marketing strategy, planning and execution for North America and Latin American tier one events that helped to increase the adoption and usage of AWS services. Built the yearly field events calendar aligned to campaigns, key programs, and business priorities. • Responsible for the strategy, development, and execution of tier one events focused on the global campaign quarterly themes ranging from 5,000 to 20,000 customers. • Influenced and aligned with key stakeholders in North America and Latin America on event strategies, which led to an increase of 50% in multiple country inclusion. • Grew Innovate (an event designed to provide best practices to prospects) registration by 21% and attendance by 7% in 2021 by creating persona-based content tracks and targeting category-specific audience engagement. • Increased AWSome Day (a training event) registration by 22% in 2021 by offering content in multiple languages. • Created comprehensive event project plans and built the template other event managers adopted. • Led event work streams including event platform build out, session recordings, closed captioning production, and event moderation activities. • Drove operational excellence and maintained relationships with cross-functional teams that deliver key aspects of events such as breakout content, registration, demand generation, and keynote address. • Delivered post-event reports to sales and marketing leadership teams with data-driven analysis, including goal attainment, attendee feedback, lessons learned, and recommendations for future event improvements. • Continuously built processes for repeatability and scalability of all events activities.
Developed a strategic marketing plan with sales leadership that targeted specific customer markets with relevant programs. Executed the plan across a variety of different marketing channels, from digital marketing and AWS led events, to third-party activities that helped the sales team engage with targeted accounts and move them through the lead funnel. • Created, managed and executed area lead generation programs to drive platform adoption and accelerate usage within new and existing accounts. • Partnered with area Demand Generation Reps and Inside Sales team to develop demand generation strategy for key field events to drive audience acquisition. • Managed area budget and worked with cross-functional digital marketing and events teams to execute programs. • Built reports and dashboards in Tableau and SalesForce to provide visibility into program results and measure effectiveness, including outbound metrics, lead distribution, pipeline contribution and ROI.
Developed and executed the annual strategic marketing plan for an SAP consulting partner delivering the programs and activities to support pipeline generation and revenue targets for multiple lines of businesses. Responsibilities included demand/lead generation, content development, SEO, social media, event management, public relations and management of marketing budget. • Built strategic programs for SAP’s new and existing products, resulting in over $5M in annual SAP software license revenue. • Program manager for sponsorships at SAP events, including the Americas SAP Users Group (ASUG) Conference and SAPPHIRE. • Partnered with the sales organization to develop strategic programs and create buyer personas for decision-makers to address product or solution gaps in the pipeline. • Consistently produced a 5-7% lead rate by analyzing program results and ensuring closed-loop analysis is conducted to continually improve. • Increased company following by 32% YOY by developing and implementing an integrated social media strategy for Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and the company blog. • Improved the lead-to-opportunity conversion rate by 25% by implementing a marketing automation tool. • Managed the development, production, and distribution of relevant content, including ebooks, white papers, infographics, whiteboard videos, etc., to support company image, messaging, awareness, and lead generation programs.
Managed and analyzed results of all marketing campaigns and recommended changes to approach based on performance. Responsibilities included lead generation and event management. - Increased net new and install base leads 25% by developing and implementing webinar programs. - Researched and implemented a sales and marketing database, which resulted in improved targeted marketing and measurement from marketing campaigns.
Planned and managed events to build awareness and influence pipeline. Responsible for all logistics and post-event activities. • Delivered events on time, within budget and exceeded expectations. • Planned, managed and executed successful exhibitions at SOLUTIONS, Comdisco’s premier annual conference for current and potential customers. • Managed and executed event strategy and logistics for over 15 industry trade shows annually. • Worked collaboratively with Comdisco’s Corporate Communications Group, as well as various advertising and public relations agencies, to ensure current and consistent messaging for all advertising, signage and presentations at all events. • Performed analysis of event attendee data to capture patterns in order to better understand prospect opportunities and trends.