Trade Show & Industry Activation Manager

Job Description

The Manager of Trade Shows and Industry Activation will be primarily responsible for the coordination and execution of all Link Snacks, Inc. (LSI) trade appearances, exhibits, and supporting industry events (ex. sales meetings, after parties, sponsored events). This role will report to the Sr. Manager of Experiential Marketing and be located in Minneapolis, MN at the Jack Link’s Support Center. This role will be required to drive clarity in collaboration between cross-functional teams involved in the development of Jack Link’s core and emerging brand exhibiting opportunities. They will represent the point of contact for the LSI organization and all industry associations in facilitating our exhibiting program. They will also act as liaison to Link Snacks supporting 3rd party agencies tasked with creative ideation as it relates to the development and build of physical exhibiting environments. This role will have at times, direct reporting responsibilities to our C-suite of leaders, dependent on the specific channel and project being executed. Exemplary organization and communication skills will be required as driving a large cross functional team towards organizational objectives unique to each show will require a champion to direct traffic, hold accountability towards deadlines, lead in cross functional communications and updates, and embody excellence in execution as these events go live. The ideal candidate for this role will be a self starter that is not afraid to roll their sleeves up and jump into each project. One who thrives on the tangible return of watching a carefully planned event come to life before their eyes, and who revels in the opportunity to share these wins with the organization. A well-honed public speaker who can bring a level of enthusiasm for the subject matter to the table, and one who is comfortable in communicating with senior leadership in moments of both positive feedback and constructive commentary.

The responsibilities of this position shall consist of, but not be limited to, the following:

Will directly manage and work booth environments at each registered trade show event on behalf of Link Snacks family of brands

Principle driver of trade show and industry activation calendar; publishing and updating for organizational visibility

Process developer and owner of coordination efforts via cross-functional team tasked with trade event development

Will directly manage the cataloguing of trade event related data (i.e. individual show plans, access credentials, punch lists, invoices, agency renderings, etc.)

Will build and maintain system for collecting event data and disseminating to LSI trade members following each event

Develops and maintains of individual show checklists, ensuring preparedness for each event

Manager of 3rd party agency relationships for purposes of exhibit development and execution

Manager of trade show and industry activation budget, adhering to designated budgets and reporting as directed by Sr. Manager of Experiential. Will be accountable for executional expenditures and budget adherence for agency supports.

Cultivator of strong relationships across LSI strategic partners, executional resources, industry associations, and participating LSI team members

Will function as the executional resource for trade show activity, directly overseeing field operations pre/during/post event where necessary

Will manage LSI owned equipment to and from events and while in use. Ensuring inbound and outbound freight is properly coordinated from Marketing Warehouse

Manage the registration of each brand with selected shows as indicated by manager, working closely with the appropriate brand management team members to ensure messaging and communications are tailored for each event

Drive dialogue with hosting associations for each registered event on behalf of all LSI brands; exploring additional marketing opportunities within each event as directed

Reconcile estimates and billings for each event

Assembly of show plan materials for share out with cross functional team attending event

Assist the Sr. Manager of Experiential in the development of well-articulated briefing materials for agencies, partners, and cross functional team members

Ensure information related to trade event happenings and upcoming industry opportunities are published to internal marketing outlets (leadership updates, internal announcements)

Actively participate in Brand and Agency strategy meetings to gather & log action items impacting trade show and industry activities

Maintain an updated calendar of promotional activity and communicates to key stakeholders

Reconciliation of costs related to trade show or industry activities, ensuring accounting process is followed with planned events

Maintain relationship with agency charged with executing environment builds and creative ideation

Maintenance of post event data, ensuring that outreach and follow ups are directed to appropriate team members and responses are issued to inquiring parties

Ensures proper cataloguing of newly created process documents on MS Teams, for broader team sharing