Events Director

About Us:

Mid-States Distributing is the leading Farm, Ranch, and Home Retail Organization. Our 71+ year old company is owned by 29 independent Farm, Ranch & Home retailers (“Members”) who operate approximately 700 stores across the US and Canada with combined annual sales in excess of 7.5 billion dollars.  Our member/owners retail items such as agriculture parts & supplies, petroleum products, hardware & tools, pet food, lawn & garden, animal health supplies, apparel & footwear, sporting goods, and various other products for the Farm, Ranch, and Home.

We are looking for enthusiastic people who like to win!  We place a tremendous amount of emphasis on creating a dynamic and positive company culture.  Most of our employees will tell you that Mid-States is the best place they’ve ever worked.  We value high-energy people with positive mental attitudes who believe in the concept of “serving to wow”!  Our consumers are primarily rural people raising kids, pets, cows, and crops so traditional values like God, family, and patriotism are important virtues.  So, if you are enthusiastic, competitive, have a great attitude, have excellent written and verbal communication skills, like to build strong relationships, like to win, and refuse to eat meat grown in a lab – Mid-States may be the place for you!  If you are not, please apply with our competitors! 

POSITION OVERVIEW:

The Events Director will have meticulous project management skills, managing all aspects of events, including budgets, timelines, and vendors, while coordinating with sales, executives, and other cross-functional teams to ensure success. This person should be adept at working within a team environment and equally comfortable working independently. Strong written and verbal communication skills are an absolute must, as they will be tasked with interfacing and managing projects with internal and external stakeholders at different levels of the organization. The candidate will be required to provide outstanding customer service, be an enthusiastic professional, and be able to build relationships with internal and external partners at conference events. This person will manage the coordination of multiple events simultaneously.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Research tradeshow details and opportunities beyond booth display to find creative solutions for the participation.
• Maintain annual tradeshow calendar with event and sponsorship details, conference results, and expense tracking.
• Produce corporate-level events to include, including vendor summits and customer meetings, which require coordination with executive leadership.
• Build B2B & B2C communication plan for each significant event.
• Work with creative services on branding elements tied to business objectives.
• Exceptional ability to work with cross-functional teams: business subject matter experts, communications (email, social), creative (print and web), and vendor partners.
• Manage logistics with event partners in the coordination of supplies and shipping to shows.
• Expense tracking and working with Finance to process invoices for payments.
• Assist with negotiations for space contracts and book events, arrange food and beverage, order supplies and audiovisual equipment, make travel arrangements, manage event logistics and ensure appropriate communications are shared with the team in a proper and timely manner.
• Execute detailed communications to appropriate team members about logistics and expectations when attending conferences or hosted events.
• Propose new ideas to improve the event planning and implementation process.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS, SKILLS, AND EXPERIENCE:

• 5+ years of professional meeting planning experience and coordination experience required.
  •  Participating as an exhibitor or sponsor at tradeshows is a plus.
• Experience working with event vendors, sales teams, and promotional item vendors.
• Exhibits strong professionalism and confidence when communicating.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS:

Generally, the job requires sitting, walking, and standing. This job is perfo