The Conference & Events Planner is responsible for helping to plan MAG conferences, held twice per year, MAG webinars and meetings for merchant payment professionals. The Planner will leverage their knowledge of conference and event planning to focus on conference content and the overall program.

The Planner will possess exceptional skills in the following areas: professionalism, presence, clear, concise, comprehensive, and articulate communication, exceptional customer service, relationship management, time management, attention to detail, pro-active follow through, prioritization, conference logistics & planning and management of multiple projects simultaneously. Prior experience with a membership association and sponsor support is a plus.

This role is highly visible and critical in supporting MAG’s mission to drive positive change in the payments industry by enabling members and sponsors to engage in educational and networking opportunities available through its conference and webinar events. 

Speaker Management
• Manage fast-paced speaker process to ensure speaker preparedness and timelines are met including speaker confirmations, scheduling and managing speaker planning meetings and calendars, and ensuring speaker registration, agreements, bios and photos are received and processed.
• Setup and manage the MAG’s speaker and session management software for conferences (currently Cadmium Education Harvester), which collects and manages content from speakers and tracks completed tasks.
• Oversee execution of speaker prioritization based on MAG sponsorship commitments.
• Track progress of speaker and guest requirements and proactively follow-up as needed to ensure completion.
• Provide overall support to speakers and their staff as well as guest inquiries.
• Assist with receiving and reviewing PowerPoints for the conferences from external speakers, support preparation of internal PowerPoints. 

Conference Planning & Execution
• Use conference-planning experience and creative ideas to contribute to overall conference management and smooth execution.
• Procure, coordinate, and manage all furniture and stage setup for all MAG conferences.
• Coordinate and manage on-site all General Session slides for MAG conferences.
• Lead the planning, coordination, and execution of any virtual/rebroadcast requirements as well as any post-conference session maintenance.
• Manage additional tasks and projects prior to and following conferences as required 

Webinar Planning & Execution
• Lead planning, execution, and overall project management for the MAG webinar schedule including scheduling and executing content planning meetings with MAG Staff, webinar speakers, and live day webinar event support/execution.

Communications
• Effectively communicate with members, prospective members, sponsors, and prospective sponsors accurately on a timely basis.
• Manage conference and webinar communications process including maintaining communication calendar and drafting regular conference and webinar related communications for review.
• Publish regular mass communications in collaboration with Communications team (currently utilizing Constant Contact).
• Collaborate with staff to ensure timely delivery of conference and webinar content required for marketing collateral.
• Manage conference website and all ongoing updates 

Other
• Attend all conference and webinar events to support overall execution according to staff assignments.
• As needed: attend Engagement Committee and monthly board meetings held via conference call as well as three in-person board meetings to support staff with notes, planning, and logistics 

Qualifications
• 2 to 3 years of experience in conference or event planning
• Associate’s or bachelor’s degree
• Exceptional verbal and written communication skills
• Attention to detail and pro-active follow through is required
• Ability to manage multiple priorities on a timely basis

• Excellent skills with Microsoft Office Suite, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint
• Ability to manage and deliver on tight deadlines
• Self-starter and strong prioritization skills
• Top-notch customer service
• Handles ambiguity well
• Strong collaborator
• Basic competency in the Zoom webinar tools or other similar webinar hosting technology
• Basic competency with collaboration tools such as Zoom, Monday.com, Dropbox, and Microsoft Teams
• Experience with event management systems (such as Cvent, IMIS, CTE, etc.) a plus
• Experience with communications management systems (such as Constant Contact, Informz, Mail
Chimp, etc.) a plus
• Experience with analyzing conference analytics; proficiency with Survey Monkey a plus
• Experience with virtual and/or hybrid events a plus
• Occasional travel is required for MAG conferences and other meetings 

About the MAG
The Merchant Advisory Group (MAG) plays a vital role in helping merchants and the industry shape innovative approaches to payments. Providing unparalleled collaboration and networking opportunities for merchants and sponsors, the MAG collaborates with industry stakeholders and advocates for merchants’ interests. The MAG represents over 150 U.S. merchants which account for over $4.8 Trillion in annual sales at over 580,000 locations across the U.S. and online.

Roughly $3.5 Trillion of those sales and over 100 billion card payments
The Merchant Advisory Group is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin or ancestry, age, disability or veteran status or other protected status.

MAG Employee Benefits
Interested candidates can view the current MAG Employee Benefits here:
https://www.merchantadvisorygroup.org/about/careers#:~:text=MAG%20EMPLOYEE%20BENEFITS

About Merchant Advisory Group

The Merchant Advisory Group (MAG) was founded in 2008 by a small visionary group of merchants in the payments field dedicated to driving positive change in payments through multi-stakeholder collaboration. The MAG represents 165 of the largest U.S. merchants which account for over $4.8 Trillion in annual sales at over 580,000 locations across the U.S. and online. Roughly $3.5 Trillion of those sales and over 100 Billion card payments are electronic which represents approximately 62%* of total U.S. card volume. MAG members employ over 14 million associates. The Merchant Advisory Group is an Equal Opportunity Employer.  All qualified applicants will receive consideration without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin or ancestry, age, disability or veteran status or other protected status.

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