The National Association of Counties (NACo), representing America’s 3,069 county governments with 40,000 elected officials, 3.6 million county employees, seeks a Meetings Planner. The meetings planner provides planning, logistical and administrative support for NACo’s conferences and events. This position reports to the Director of Strategic Communications and Operations within NACo’s Counties Futures Lab.

Position Responsibilities and Activities:

Leadership of Grant-funded and Initiative-led Events:

• Hosts 10-15 small-group events for up to 40 county officials
• Primary point of contact and lead planner for these events from ideation to close out, working closely with Counties Futures Lab operations team and content planners to ensure alignment with the educational goals and the budgets set forth in the grant agreements that fund these events
• Draft and finalize event communications, including invitations, promotional emails, registration directions and registrant information
• Develop speaker/participant tent cards, name tags, participant lists in coordination with the program managers or other lead staff
• Build promotion email lists with NACo content management system
• Promptly respond to oral and written requests for event information from participants and NACo staff
• Source and secure location and service bids from local providers (i.e., transportation, dinner/catering, hotel), provide recommendations to program managers
• Manage contracts and delivery of services related to on-site catering and transportation
• Manage shipping and on-site freight distribution
• Travel domestically to support in-person events approximately 8 times per year
• Add event registrations to NACo Membership database and registration platform and internal NACo Events calendar
• Maintain and update relevant calendars and tracking matrices of events across NACo
• Supporting scheduling, planning and on-site day-of logistics for events held in the NACo-NLC Conference Center
• Work closely with Finance and Conference teams to secure contracts and process payments in a timely manner
• Complete purchase orders associated with the payment of relevant conference invoices and monitor expenses associated with purchases
• Track and process participant reimbursements
• Create invoices and process honoraria and speaker fees
• Work with Finance to draft final invoices for services rendered, code appropriately and close out any remaining event details
• Maintain files and conference supply inventories

               Responsibilities at NACo’s Major Conferences:

• Manage requirements of the Counties Futures Lab related to these major conferences, including meeting requirements, food and beverage, AV, and more.
• Managing other logistical items related to the production of the conferences, to be assigned based on interest and need.
• Joining the conferences team for at least one site visit prior to each conference.
• Participate in conference planning teams as a liaison to the Counties Futures Lab.
• Other duties as assigned

• Bachelor's degree preferred, but not required
• Demonstrated experience in managing aspects of association or not-for-profit meetings coordination and management
• Minimum 3 years of meeting planning and/or operations/logistics experience
• Strong leadership skills and customer service orientation
• Experience interacting with elected officials or working in a political environment a plus
• Proficiency with Microsoft office suite
• Experience coding invoices and/or reimbursement forms a plus
• Ability to meet deadlines and manage multiple events at different stages of planning
• Highly self-motivated and ability to work well in a team environment
• Strong written and oral communication skills
• Exceptional attention to detail
• Exceptional Organizational Skills