[Open] Hiring - Assistant to the Director of Events and Conferences

[Ahmyra al'Ruley]

A few of you might be looking at this hiring thread and going what the heck, that position doesn't exist!!! Before now, you would be right! However, over that last few months I have been working on some department restructuring to help streamline the department, have more support for Local Events and look at expansion.

I want to thank @Alenya Al'Roran for all of her hard work as Mistress of Revels - NA! She was a huge help to me, stepped into the role and really ran with it. Thank you!

Going forward there will be no more Mistress/Master of Revels, instead there will be an Assistant to the Director of Events and Conferences. Please read further on for an overview, list of duties and responsibilities and requirements. If you have any questions, please email me, DM me here or on Discord.

I will be leaving this open for 3 weeks. Whomever is chosen will need to be able to hit the ground running as we have Anni being held October 4-7 and we have some planning to get done!

Overview

The Assistant to the Director of Events and Conferences (ADoE&C) is an Admin level position in the Department of Events and Conferences at TarValon.Net and reports to the Director of Events and Conferences (DoE&C).

This position shares responsibility with the DoE&C for planning our official events and ensuring that the planning of unofficial events in our Local Events forum follows TarValon.Net's rules. In this position you will work closely with the DoE&C, Conference Coordinator, Amyrlin, Shatayan, and Keeper, as well as the other Directors, particularly Membership, Marketing, Outreach, and Online Events.

This position is a very demanding role due to the fact we have three scheduled official events a year, one major Conference with the potential for more and various Local Events. This position doesn't have much down time, it rolls from one event to the other and planning often overlaps a bit. You will be working closely with the Director of Events and Conferences (Ahmyra al’Ruley) sharing the following duties and responsibilities.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Provide information and advice alongside the DoE&C to the Amyrlin, Shatayan, and Keeper.
• Work with the DoE&C to solicit proposals for each official event and aid in preparation of event proposals.
• Work with Amyrlin, Keeper, and the Director of E&C to choose a location for annual events including: North American events and our Euro event.
• Work with Local Liaisons, Director of E&C, Keeper and Amyrlin to plan details of the events.
• Help make sure our events operate within budget and still provide a good value to our members.
• Assist the Conference Coordinator as needed with Conference planning.
• Assist Local Event hosts as needed with advertising, coordination and reporting of Local Events.
• Organize and delegate! You will need to work with a team of committee leaders, committee members, local liaisons, site contacts, and TarValon.Net executives.
  • Crisis management is key. No matter how much pre-planning you do, the unexpected will happen, it's a given. Recognize issues early and work with the DoE&C to address them calmly and promptly. No event is ever perfect, and problems come up regularly throughout the planning process.
• Moderate all Events forums with the DoE&C to make sure our rules are followed. This includes the Local Events forum.
• Assist the DoE&C in managing all other needs of the Department as they arise.

Requirements:

• Be a site member in good standing, preferably for at least 1 year.
• Attend at least 1 event per year at your own expense. Note that either the Assistant or Director must be in attendance at both North America events. The event ticket is partially covered for ADoE&C, but not transportation or other expenses.
• Be willing and able to spend ~15 hours a week handling Department issues.
  • This role has some flexibility in when things must be done, but with the magnitude of work and at times the need to balance three events at once, the workload can be significant during certain periods of the planning process. It may not be every single day, but sometimes it will be!
  • The last few weeks prior to an event can require a significant amount of dedicated time, so you must be prepared for that. The DoE&C/ADoE&C are the ultimate decision makers when it comes down to crunch time for making our events happen. Be ready for some stressful days leading up to event week.
• Be a team player.
  • Consistent communication with the DoE&C is a must. We are partners and need to be able to work efficiently and effectively together.
• Have attended at least one TarValon.Net event.
  • Bonus points for attendance at more than one kind of event (Anni, Spring Fling, Euro, etc.), and/or significant committee participation.
• Experience planning events (although these do not necessarily have to be TarValon.Net events).
• Be a self-starter.
• Must be professional!
  • You represent our community with outside organizations such as hotels, resorts, vendors, etc. And you will negotiate contracts with these groups.
  • You will communicate regularly with our membership about serious topics, so you will need to be clear and tactful in your communications.
  • You, along with the DoE&C, are held accountable for the responsible management of the event funds that our members pay to attend events. Professionalism, high-performance, and self-starting are an absolute must for this position.
• Must be detail-oriented.
  • You must be able to think logically through the entire event and meet all needs for our members. Everything from transportation, food and dietary restrictions, activities, payments, registration, budgeting, materials, decorations, room assignments, negotiations with the site, etc.
• Must be organized and discreet
  • There is a lot of information to keep track of, including legal contracts with the facilities, schedules, and registration information including medical and private personal information from our members which must be kept confidential.
• Be willing to potentially store and/or transport equipment for events. This may include: the banner case, decorations, welcome bag items, foam swords, etc.

This position is extremely satisfying! Getting to see all your hard work pay off in a successful real life event for your fellow TarValon.Net members is fun. It also requires dedication and determination to do this job well.

Applications should include any prior experience, TV.Net Events attended and a brief description of why you want this position, what ideas you have for the department and how you approach teamwork. Applications can be emailed to events@tarvalon.net, keeper@tarvalon.net and amrylin@tarvalon.net with the title APPLICATION - ADoE&C - YOURNAMEHERE. Applications will be open until May 24, 2024 at 7pm MDT.

 

[Aduiavas Ida]

So, if I'm reading this right, whoever applies for this needs to be able to attend at least one North America event each year?
And how will this position help with Local Events happening in not-America?

 

[Ahmyra al'Ruley]

Local Events have always been a wild card and are up to the organizer to handle.
With the restructuring of the Events department, we are hoping that we can assist with getting awareness out about Local Events to the wider Tower. We aren't the primary organizer nor will we be setting attendance lists or budgets. Nothing is really changing in regards to Local Events - we just offer some help with awareness. This will be the same for US based events, Euro based local events or South Pacific local events.

As for attendance - yes. Just as our MoR's were required to attend their event(s) - this position will be required to attend either of the NA events if I am not able to attend.

Are you thinking more about the Official Euro Party?

 

[Aduiavas Ida]

It's more that I wonder if this position is something Europeans can apply to, considering the lack of official Euro Parties.

 

[Ahmyra al'Ruley]

If they are willing to fly to North America for at least one event per year, while also assisting me with building budgets, signing contracts, and all other listed requirements above for all of our official events then yes, apply away. This is not a location specific position. There is no financial assistance with flights and things like that, only a discounted ticket to the event.

As for the lack of Official Euro Events - I have no bids for Euro. I have a few suggestions that I will be following up on in the next couple of weeks. It is still my hope that we can have a Euro party run the same way as Spring Fling has been the last few years. I (we once the Assistance is hired) will happily negotiate a contract with a hotel, set up the budget, handle registration, etc. We cannot, however, run the event and plan the activities from Canada (or where ever depending on who gets the Assistant position) with no knowledge of the area. We would need a partner closer to the location for some assistance with those things. It was my hope that pairing down the responsibilities for the Local Liaison for Euro Events, based on feedback from our Euro members, that we would have more bid suggestions. That has not been the case and the Events department cannot do it alone.