Event Director
Emerald is seeking an Event Director to lead NY NOW. NY NOW – The New York Gift + Home Show is the largest home and gift wholesale tradeshow held twice annually in New York City. The event is rich with diverse products for discerning retailers, museum stores, and specialty buyers.
The Event Director for NY NOW is responsible for the execution of the event's strategy and look-and-feel on the show floor. Specific responsibilities will include management of floorplan, re-imagining and re-merchandizing the event, execution of new show sections and features, management of programming (content, features, talks), and management of co-locations with other shows and partners. The Event Director will also work closely with the Bulletin Wholesale product team to elevate New York Now and power a seamless, tech-enabled show experience.
The Event Director will report to the Group Vice President, New York Now, and will work collaboratively as a peer with the GVP’s other reports, including VP of Marketing, VP of Sales, General Manager, VP of Operations, and senior members of the marketing, design, sales and operations teams. The Event Director’s commission compensation will be tied to event revenue and contribution.
The best candidate for this position will be both a design thinker and a business-minded event leader with an expert understanding of the strategic, financial and experiential elements that make an event successful. The candidate must have strong aesthetic judgment and a creative and thoughtful approach to event design and execution, ensuring all aspects of the show look cohesive, on-brand and consistent. This person must be a strategic problem solver and team player with the ability to partner closely with other members of the show team, including marketing, operations and sales.
This position will be based in on NYC-Broadway office on a flexible hybrid schedule.
Responsibilities
Show floor
- Draws floorplan for event in collaboration with Sales (who are responsible for curating particular sections) and collaborate on best brand placement throughout the show floor, optimizing for discovery and for the most compelling and intuitive retailer/buyer experience.
- Generates ideas for re-merchandizing show floor to deliver a better buying experience for retailers.
- Determines programming schedule for event in collaboration with Sales and Marketing.
- Executes show floor and programming in collaboration with Operations and Marketing.
- Ensures that the onsite experience for both exhibitors and attendees is of a high quality and is reflected in above average and improving NPS scores.
- Explores potential to launch onsite rebooking, collaborating on rebooking process and systems directly with Sales.
- Has comprehensive knowledge of revenue pacing against goals and proactively recommends ways to accelerate pacing.
- Implements the strategic plan for the event.
- Guarantees seamless and effective event execution on-site.
Show Experience and Design
- Maintains consistent look and feel across the entire show floor: ensuring lounges, registration area, activations and other key moments feel on-brand and consistent.
- Coordinates with Design and Operations Teams to ensure deadlines for on-site signage, lounge designs, and other design deliverables relevant to the show are met.
- Acts as final vote and decision maker on aesthetic and design decisions for the physical show.
Collaboration
- Owns/Manages deadlines across all relevant departments (marketing, sales, operations).
- Works with Bulletin Wholesale product team on deadlines needed for product roadmap/integration work that supports a seamless, tech-enabled show experience.
- Works closely with Marketing and Operations to ensure that pre-show communication, collateral and materials are accurate and on-message for all exhibiting brands and all buyers.
- Works closely with Sales to execute timely renewals process.
- Works closely with Operations to schedule and execute necessary touch-base meetings.
- Works closely with co-located shows to ensure effective positioning and collaboration.
- Assists Marketing with development of the attendee and exhibitor marketing plan.
- Builds strong internal relationships with groups that support event execution (Marketing, Sales, Operations, Registration, HR, Finance, IT).
- Creates budget in collaboration with all departments and manages budget each show cycle.
- Provides consistent communication to management on revenue/cost challenges and opportunities.
External
- Assists SVP develop and manage new partnerships that support sales/attendance goals.
- Maintains customer relationships as an ambassador in the market.
- Continually analyzes the needs of current and prospective clients and proposes programs that meet those needs.
- Manages relationships with vendors and researches/evaluates new vendors for future partnership.
Qualifications
- Commercial leadership experience over a large-scale retail tradeshow or similar event with ownership of P&L, budgeting, and floorplanning/merchandising
Customer experience obsessed, with a proven track record of successfully quantifying and elevating show and customer experience
Exceptional design judgment in relation to show and brand aesthetic
Demonstrated success engaging and collaborating to drive strategic outcomes through internal and external teams
Demonstrated success leading a large, distributed team, with the ability to cultivate an atmosphere of collaboration, integrity, trust, diversity, and respect
Proven ability to work in a self-directed way and take initiative on core tasks
- Expert communicator across all forms of communication, with the ability to actively listen, synthesize, and speak effectively in front of groups of customers and employees
Expert at problem solving especially under time constraints and in challenging situations
- Ability to assess risks for conventions/trade shows
Ability to effectively negotiate with internal and external partners
To support our commitment to provide a healthy and safe work environment we require all of our team members to have received the COVID-19 vaccine. We utilize CLEAR as our verification partner.
ABOUT EMERALD
Emerald’s talented and experienced teams grow our customers’ businesses 365 days a year with products that create connections, deliver content, and drive commerce. We produce over 140 annual events, create and deliver content through print and digital channels, and power commerce through our seamlessly integrated in-person and digital platforms and channels. For more information, please visit http://www.emeraldx.com.
At Emerald, we strive to foster a diverse and inclusive community. We actively recruit and champion candidates who bring new perspectives from varied professional backgrounds and experiences, and we are intentional about ensuring a positive hiring experience for everyone. Our job postings don’t contain experience inflation, and most don’t require college degrees. Instead, they’re crafted to focus on outcomes and transferable experiences that are assessed in a structured interview process carried out by trained hiring teams.
COMPENSATION & BENEFITS
Target Compensation: $120,000-125,000 (Incentive eligible)
Please note that this range reflects a reasonable estimate of the target compensation for this position, and may ultimately vary based on a candidate’s qualifications.
We offer a competitive benefits package designed to strengthen our employees’ physical and mental health, including unlimited vacation for exempt employees, flexible working locations, 401(k) plan with a company match, medical/dental/vision coverage with inclusive provisions including transgender services and fertility benefits, parental and caregiver leave, dependent, commuter and FSA benefits, professional development programs like Toastmasters, and mental wellness tools such as the Headspace app and weekly guided meditation programs.
If you need accommodation in our application process or have questions about our posted salary range, please email our Talent Acquisition team at [email protected].