Natalie Zajac

Senior Event Planner, Vice President, Conference Team @Baird

Redondo Beach, CA, US

Actively involved in the execution of four large annual conferences with up to attendees with oversight for technology, registration, one-on-one meeting process, hotel rooms, and event staff of 40+ internal volunteers; trouble-shoot challenges that arise before and day-of conferences; take active role in conference presentation; act as liaison for presenting companies’ executives; onsite technology expert for all trouble-shooting at conference and large-scale events-Analyze and provide statistical recaps of the events; quarterly recaps into Business Unit/Baird Senior Leadership team for spend and budget reconciliation; provide detailed follow-up, including ROI and year-over-year comparisons, on conferences and other events by incorporating historical knowledge of those events, as well as making strategic and other recommendations for future events to Business Unit Leadership Teams-Research venues for conferences and other events; develop and maintain relationships with current and potential venues and vendors; responsible for venue RFP process and all other prework before presenting options to Corporate Access, Global Equities, and Research Leadership; negotiate contracts valued at approximately $1M+ for hotels for 300+ attendees, as well as other event spaces; conduct onsite inspections of all event sites-Mentor and coach event coordinators and planners, as well as offer day-to-day oversight of work responsibilities; answer questions from teams, business units, and clients-Partner with internal marketing team to brand and develop marketing materials for all conferences and other events; manage communication for conferences; review all communication from coordinators and planners prior to sending to Manager of Conference & IES Services; maintain a variety of conference-specific websites

John Carroll University

Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA), Marketing