Laura Eells

About Laura Eells

Event and Project Manager with over 11+ years’ experience spanning both domestic and international in-person & virtual events ranging from 50 – attendees. Includes both association and corporate clients with expertise focused on strategy, innovation, tradeshow, sponsorship management, conference logistics, sales, education, and registration. Proven team and client leader, with a drive for efficient, elevated execution while working in-person and virtually.I am currently working 100% remote from central Illinois for my employer (Smithbucklin) who is based out of Chicago, IL.My current clients include Legal Marketing Association (LMA), Railway Supply Institute (RSI), and WERC (Worldwide ERC). Previous clients within recent years include American Express, Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBS), International Oil Spill Conference, KeHE Distributors, Mimecast, Neural Engineering Conference (a subset of - EMBS), SHARE Association, The Society of Gastroenterology Nurses & Associates (SGNA), and Texas Speech-Language-Hearing Association (TSHA).

Experience

1. Event Manager

   Smithbucklin

   Mar 2022 — Present · Chicago, IL, US

   Event Manager Position owning client relationship and project managing cross-department client teams. Develop & implement event strategy to achieve overall event goals. Leading cohesive teams of 5-15+ • Event Strategy specialist, presenting and consulting on client teams to increase revenue, attendance, implement innovation, and to increase profit margin & cost savings.• Tradeshow and Sponsor Manager for a variety of clients ranging from 50-500+ exhibitors/sponsors, overseeing floorplan management, sponsorship prospectus development & implementation, on-site signage/structure design elements to ensure event-branding purpose. Created interactive ‘Hub’ experiences bringing exhibits & education to one large hall ensuring education/sound management with decorator & AV teams minding sponsor satisfaction/branding.• Lead 5+ conferences annually with 500 – attendance and individual budget expenditures across B2B, Tech, Corporate, and Association clients implementing pre-event forecasting and event financial reconciliation.• Virtual Event Manager leading team and collaboratively transitioning 7+ in-person events to virtual events from spring ‘20 – fall ’21 while learning/understanding 5+ different virtual platforms and misc. virtual networking tools. Resulted in client, attendee, and sponsor satisfaction and engagement while meeting challenging timelines and contract negotiations.• Managed 2 international virtual events for 500+ speakers, attendees, & sponsors specializing in project management for 20+ team/board members, education management of 500+ speakers, and building registration website. Ensuring end-to-end experience satisfaction and schedule management minding cross-time-zone logistics & communications.• Assisted in creating, negotiating, and managing contracts ranging in value for third-party vendors across AV, general service contractors, hotel, DMC, security, technology, and more.

Education

• Illinois State University

  Bachelor of Science (B.S.), Mass Media: Media Management, Promotion, and Sales

  2008 — 2012

• Istituto Lorenzo de'​ Medici

  Communication Studies

  2011 — 2011