Aug 2018 – Jun 2022 · 3 yrs 10 mos · Dubai, UAE

• Head of department for a portfolio of conferences for the Middle East business including events in the UAE, KSA, Bahrain and Doha.
• Introducing best practice and industry standards to ensure effective management and delivery of world leading events
• New product validation, market analysis, commercial potential and launch studies to enable conferences to be used as a tool for new event launches and brand expansion into new territories
• A member of the Messe Frankfurt Middle East leadership team sitting on the management board
• A member of the Messe Frankfurt global digital working group to share experiences and learning between the global network of international offices
• Conception and delivery of digital, hybrid, community and webinar digital events and meetings
• Operations management from conception to delivery
• Responsibility for a P&L of 2.5 million USD
• Content driven event strategy for exhibition engagement
• Strategic planning to improve engagement for existing brands via primary market research and event strategy development
• Video conception and production to communicate with audiences via bite sized content
• Post event reports and intelligence white papers
• Working with government partners, consultants, associations and subject matter experts to develop strong market leading event programmes
• Securing accreditation for event programmes to ensure value and relevance provided to audiences
• Creation of digital strategy including platform selection, technology stack evaluation and supplier selection based on use case
• Customer buyer behaviour and needs analysis
• Digital marketing and channel strategy
• Creation of event format, feature areas, sales inventory and packages for event sales
• Preparing commercial bids and tender documents for government PCO contracts
• Event marketing from brand development to onsite delivery (visitor, exhibitor, partner)

Dec 2016 – Apr 2018 · 1 yr 4 mos

• Key achievements & responsibilities:
• Creation of the international event content strategy for 2016-2017 and development of a plan to achieve the annual budget of 4 million USD (80,000 USD per event target minimum). Including European, African and MENA events
• Analysis of event portfolio performance and contribution of established brands, repeat events, geo roll outs and new launches and their contribution to GP
• Management of the production schedules and productivity targets for 8 event producers and two team leaders to meet KPI’s and revenue targets
• Introduction of a weekly training programme to support production department talent development and to improve team engagement in line with the needs identified from team needs appraisals
• Created a departmental career progression plan with KPI and role specific deliverables to provide greater clarity for team members about their career progression opportunity within the team
• Creation of the topic validation evaluation strategy with clear guidelines for aspects to consider and the weekly ‘dragons den’ style GO/NO go meeting for new event ideas
• Responsibility for the budget and financial performance of 40+ conferences (with 1 day training) per year
• Interdepartmental management of event targets for sales, marketing and operations to achieve event targets through daily, weekly and quarterly management meetings and reporting
• Board level presentations of event production content strategy for conferences, training, masterclasses and expert sessions to communicate the content and commercial vision for growth
• Fostered close working relationships with government departments and industry associations through effective negotiation of partnership agreements, strategic endorsement and affiliation to accreditation programmes
• Championed the social media messaging and promotion of events through persona and interest based content marketing to generate inbound enquires and sales leads

Feb 2016 – Nov 2016 · 9 mos

• Advanced Conferences & Meetings FZ-LLC is a premium business-to-business events company focusing on the dynamic and ever changing requirements of the MENA region. Our events are highly efficient networking and learning opportunities, bringing senior decision makers together and providing up-to-the-minute information on industry trends, government initiatives, technological advances and developments in regulation. As such, they act not only as extremely effective tools for gaining competitive advantage, but also as high level platforms for change in the industries they serve.
• With our headquarters in Dubai, UAE and with regional representation in Iraq, Lebanon, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, Advanced Conferences & Meetings operates across the MENA region, combining our local knowledge and contacts with the latest international standards.
• Event Production Manager
• Creation of topic seed ideas and validation of potential event products
• Management of a team of production specialists
• Development of marketing strategy and coordination with marketing managers
• Training and developing new event producers
• Managing a portfolio of events and the forward schedule
• Event and portfolio budget management
• Coordination with event operations
• Marketing and sales briefing
• Sponsorship & Sales team briefing
• Creation of quality event content and editorial for marketing promotion
• Website, direct mail, advertorial and copy writing
• Event production of high quality conferences, workshops and training courses
• Developing strategic partnerships with the public and private sectors
• Launching events into high potential markets, sectors and industries
• PLEASE DON'T CONTACT ME ABOUT EVENT SUPPORT SERVICES AND SOLUTIONS - Including branding, screens, build, logistics, hotels, data build, marketing, SEO or other event services this is not within my remit at this job****

Nov 2013 – Jan 2016 · 2 yrs 2 mos · Dubai

• The Event Hub provides specialist conference and event expertise to the events industry, associations and corporate clients. Services range from event content planning, research, event management, training and needs assessment and planning to event director responsibilities and event team training.
• Key achievements & responsibilities:
• Event consultancy including topic validation, programme research and production, sales and marketing strategy development and onsite event coordination and operations
• Market research studies, user groups, expert panels and training and strategy support for new events teams
• Speaker acquisition and management for client managed events
• Masterclass sessions for marketing copywriting and brochures to deliver optimized ROI
• Headhunting for events professionals
• Event sponsorship and delegate campaign support
• Key clients included: Reed Exhibitions (World Future Energy Summit, International Water Summit, Global Airport Leaders Forum, Retail Middle East), MEED Publishing (Water Development Forum), ACM Events (Weather Tech GCC, Water Demand Side Management), Informa Conferences (Arab Health Congress), IQPC (Government Leadership Summit, Telecoms Middle East), dmg:events (Index Interior Design, The Big 5 Conference)

Nov 2012 – Nov 2013 · 1 yr · Dubai

• Ispum Events is a B2B Conference company with its head office located in Dubai and with its sales office in Bangalore India.
• Key achievements & responsibilities:
• Recruitment and training of a new team of 5 conference producers
• Creation of new event concepts within the healthcare, construction, oil & gas, healthcare and technology sectors including successful delivery of European and Middle East events
• Development of training courses and delivery of in-house training courses for corporate clients
• Set up and launch of the Bangalore office including management of the licensing, office rental and business operations
• Event budget responsibility and presentation of event revenue projections and strategy at board level meetings

Oct 2011 – Oct 2012 · 1 yr

• dmg events was founded in 1989 and now manages over 80 events in up to 25 countries each year. Headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, it is currently active in North America, the Middle East, North Africa, Europe, Asia, and Australia, employing over 300 staff. dmg events is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Daily Mail and General Trust plc, one of the largest media companies in the United Kingdom.
• Key achievements & responsibilities:
• Creation of conference products to compliment and support the well-established dmg::events exhibition portfolio
• Development of new conference topics for launch as a part of the newly established conference division
• Production of certified training courses and master classes in cooperation with the marketing and sales teams to drive revenue
• Event production of industry-leading event programmes, including speaker invitation and confirmation
• Cooperation with exhibition directors from each of dmg:events sectors including Adipec, the Big 5, The Hotel Show, INDEX, In Retail
• Launch of The Green Build Congress, SMART Build, Middle East Concrete, FM World

Oct 2009 – Oct 2011 · 2 yrs

• IQPC has offices in major cities across six continents including: Berlin, Dubai, London, New York, Sao Paulo, Singapore, India, Sydney and Toronto. IQPC leverages a global research base of best practices to produce an unrivaled portfolio of problem-solving conferences.
• Key achievements & responsibilities:
• Career progression achieved from Conference Producer to Senior Conference producer and finally Senior Conference Director
• Production of LSE conferences: 26 speakers, 2-day conference, 2-day training workshop, two streams and a one day focus day (inside a 30-day production cycle), Geo focus: Middle East & Africa
• Detailed telephone research to identify industry trends and to highlight areas that may present a commercial opportunity
• Creation of research reports for evaluation and development into new LSE event concepts
• Project leadership through multi-stakeholder project management, event budget management, optimization and control
• Creation of the marketing brief, sales brief and operations handover brief
• Peer-to-peer coaching and development of new event producers
• Development of interactive and innovative event formats including 1-2-1 networking, round tables, and interview style presentation sessions
• Delivery of high performing events District Cooling Summit – 600,000 USD in event revenue, Road Planning & Development 350,000 USD

Oct 2008 – Aug 2009 · 10 mos

• As above- duplicate to include regional co name.

Aug 2008 – Aug 2009 · 1 yr

• Fleming. offers a complete portfolio of Conferences, Trainings, Exhibitions, Blended Learning, and Online Conferences on 5 continents in various industries.
• Key achievements & responsibilities:
• Worked closely with industry HR and training departments to create a training and development plan for the year
• Sourced trainers and expert professionals to deliver on the required development plans
• Developed public training courses including Basel II Risk Management, Operational Efficiency in Oil & Gas, Certified Inspection Officer, Certified Marketing Manager, Mini MBA Programmes
• Completed detailed market research to track and monitor industry trends and areas that require training support
• Benchmarking against training providers to position the organisations training services
• Ensured the correct accreditation and support for the training events to increase their commercial and educational appeal

Jan 2006 – Jun 2008 · 2 yrs 5 mos

• Key achievements & responsibilities:
• Initially hired as a conference marketing executive but promoted after six months due to high performing campaigns and ability to demonstrate ROI
• Recruitment, training and management of a team of 5 event marketing executives
• Data management and cleaning structure put in place and two data management executives hired to maintain the quality of the company data
• Negotiation of media partnerships to support conference products in exchange for emarketing, branding and print exposure
• Use of the CMS, and analytics tools to track and monitor marketing performance for reporting to the MD
• SEO and digital direct marketing and traffic generation campaigns to generate inbound marketing enquiries

Oct 2004 – Dec 2005 · 1 yr 2 mos · Greater Barcelona Metropolitan Area

• Key achievements & responsibilities:
• Learner assessments and lesson planning to understand learning needs
• Lesson planning to include key content and activities to ensure an engaging education experience
• Phonetic coaching for pronunciation and grammatical exercises to improve learners’ technical ability
• Delivery of classes at Toyota, Burberry, Danone and other businesses in Barcelona

Nov 2003 – Sep 2004 · 10 mos · Manchester Area, United Kingdom

• Key achievements & responsibilities:
• Working as the PA to the director of Forest Bank Prison, a class C Facility located in Salford Manchester
• Diary management, creation of official documentation, minute taking and a key gatekeeping role and time management of the senior management team
• Collection of KPI data for the contract management criteria for the facilities performance management
• Managed the press requests during a high-profile incident at the prison

Aug 2003 – Oct 2003 · 2 mos

• Working in the international department of MCI helping to cover a period where there was no trade mission coordinator. I was also assisting the head of department.
• Responsible for organising travel plans for Trade Missions to Malaysia, China etc. Visa application, organisation of meetings, offering of invitations and some general administrative work.

Feb 2001 – Feb 2002 · 1 yr

• Key achievements & responsibilities:
• 1 year work placement as a part of my management degree
• Account management tasks for blue chip clients from brief to delivery
• Development of collateral for marketing campaigns in coordination with the design department