What I do:

As a meeting and event planner, I bring people together for venues both large and small, such as seminars, off-site meetings, conferences, trade shows, and conventions. And the goal is to do it all seamlessly, from selecting the location right down to preparing for audio-visual needs. I'm a detail-oriented self-starter—a professional requirement I rely upon to plan my events successfully. From start to finish, my company counts on me to prepare a successful event, and oftentimes that includes planning the meeting's purpose and message itself. This means I'm typically juggling surveys and feedback from employees and external parties, interviewing executive team members, and evaluating feedback to determine what people are interested in learning, new trends in the industry, human resources needs to be fulfilled, and more.

My work is fast-paced and demanding, and I constantly manage a lengthy list of vendors, which include everything from hotels, convention sites, caterers, entertainment sources, transportation providers and more. On a daily basis, I issue requests for proposals which outline the details of my company's needs and as a result, at any given time, I have multiple responses coming in which I must manage, evaluate and respond to. That often brings my financial management skills into play, as I negotiate contracts with vendors and service-providers and prepare a detailed budget, sometimes a year in advance, forecasting what each element might cost.

But my work doesn't end at the final hour or day of an event. I'm heavily involved in the follow-up, measuring how well the purpose of the meeting was achieved—from how smoothly organized the event appeared to be to the amount of press coverage received. This can include issuing surveys to attendees, interviewing employees, and frequently searching the web for mentions of my company during the dates of the event.

Recently, I've started adding online meetings to my company's event calendar. Webinars and live meetings are an exciting way to bring people together from near and far to learn about a specific topic or hear from industry leaders. Webcasts and podcasts allow people to view or listen to the event after it's happened, which helps me extend the value to more people for a longer time. Some people find this work stressful—I prefer to think of it as energizing!

How I use Smartsheet:

Smartsheet is my life-saver! With Smartsheet, I'm able to manage my very active calendar of meetings and events and make sure everything happens as scheduled—whether online or off. I use multiple sheets simultaneously and, for larger events, often have a number active sheets dedicated to specific aspects of the event. For instance, lodging alone often requires its own sheet with proposals, contracts, staffing requirements coming in and going out daily.

Because I work with a team of professionals that include creative, marketing, sales, and executives for each event, I rely upon Smartsheet to communicate what’s happening today and what’s coming tomorrow—that means keeping an eye on upcoming deadlines, sharing contracts to be negotiated, and discussing options for location, entertainment, caterers, speakers, and more.

The file attachment feature lets me quickly share detailed timelines, incoming proposals, and contracts with others. It saves all of our email inboxes and provides me with a convenient way to track reviews, who’s made comments, and what’s they’ve shared. Discussion threads let us take the conversation deeper, as we collaborate about all aspects of the event, exchange ideas, and finalize plans. And alerts let me know just when someone’s shared something new, so that I can review and respond quickly—and we can move to the next steps of the event.