Production Management

The production manager is essentially the person in charge of taking the ideas form the event producers and making them happen. This job typically includes getting the street closure permit from the city, notifying the CTA of the street closure, keeping in touch with the Chicago Police Department about the event,  and working with Streets & Sanitation to get the street closure signs hung up and any cars towed. As a production manager I also handle the orders for the tent, furniture, beer, signage, ATMs, toilets, barricade, security, maintenance, and anything else needed for each event. In this role, I am required to attend all planning committee meetings, meetings with potential sponsors, meetings for beer, meetings for entertainment, and all other meetings to ensure a successful event. 

Vendor Coordination

Vendor coordination requires extreme attention to detail, as  hundreds of applications come across my desk for processing. I keep track of the number of vendors, outstanding payments, and their rental needs. In addition, I am responsible for submitting tax info to the city, getting special event applications together for food vendors for the city, vendor and sponsor placement at the festivals, creating and distributing the load-in instruction packet, and overseeing load-in & load-out. Lastly, I’m on-site for the duration of the festival to ensure everything is running smoothly and to take care of any vendor needs.

Sponsorship Coordination

Sponsorship coordination is all about relationships. I’m friendly, personable and skilled with creating meaningful relationships between sponsors and events. Because I’ve been working in sponsorship for a few years now, I’ve had the chance to build up good connections and have learned a lot about the local and national marketing companies that handle large brands. I’ve been asked to write up sponsorship declarations for festivals, which I then use as a basis to work with potential sponsors. I've also had to develop custom proposals for specific sponsors at events. I create contracts, handle invoicing and collecting payment, and generally act as the point person for sponsors at the events. Being able to identify the needs of the brand and how to create an agreement that both helps the brand but also provides a decent cash give to the event is key. 

Operations Management

Operation management is a role in which I come in for the run of an event,  during operating hours, to make sure all aspects of the event are running smoothly . In this role, every problem that arises during the event is my problem, just as the event's success is my success. Ultimately, as an operations manager, I am responsible for making final decisions during the event.  Where other people often become frantic or indecisive when faced with a big decision, I have the knack for keeping it cool and making appropriate judgement calls. 

Gate, Bar and Retail Staffing

Gate, bar, and retail staffing utilizes my large network of friends, coworkers, and recommendations to fit people with the proper skill sets into the various jobs at events. Every event is different and requires someone with different strengths and skill sets. I have over three years experience identifying strong workers and placing them in job functions where they’ll succeed. Through this job title I also know the ins-and-outs of the various state and federal tax paperwork, compiling and completing basic payroll paperwork, and getting paychecks out to staff on time.