On this Worker Highlight, we sat down with Shallan Miller and talked about all issues occasion advertising, her path again to this position after the Covid-19 pandemic and her perspective on the significance of cultivating resilience, communication expertise, and protecting an open thoughts.
Meet Shallan Miller
Shallan is a Senior Advertising Occasions Supervisor at Cloudera. She manages a variety of inside and exterior occasions. “You title it, I’ve labored on it.”
“Planning an occasion is much more than meets the attention.” Shallan shared.
The method usually begins with discovery calls – numerous them. It’s essential, nonetheless, to know the scope, viewers dimension, and price range. Subsequent, we select the situation, supply venues, associate with lodges and establish all distributors. Then, there may be a variety of planning and collaboration with a variety of inside stakeholders reminiscent of inventive model crew, gross sales, product advertising, subject advertising, demand gen, associate advertising, subject enablement, internet, company social accountability, executives, and extra. Final however not least, now we have the times main as much as the occasion (that are usually essentially the most intense), the precise on-site execution and naturally, post-event reporting.
“This was only a high-level overview!” Shallan mentioned. “There may be much more element behind the scenes to make even the smallest occasion attainable. We contact virtually each space of the enterprise to remodel concepts into profitable experiences.”
Shallan is a part of a small however mighty occasions crew. The group began from the bottom up following the Covid pandemic and after the lifting of the mandatory restrictions. After the crew’s creation, they got down to construct a best-in-class occasions machine. “A number of of us hail from very giant corporations with extraordinarily excessive requirements. We needed to set that very same excessive bar right here at Cloudera,” she mentioned. “This is among the finest occasions groups I’ve labored on – we set bold objectives and all help one another to realize them. Everybody brings a novel set of abilities to the group and I’m actually proud to be a part of it.”
That is no small reward. It’s not a secret that yearly occasion coordination and occasion planning make prime ten lists for many demanding jobs. Along with pent-up demand for occasions in a post-pandemic world and rising prices to provide them, occasion advertising groups should do extra with much less yr after yr. For this crew, it means considering creatively in a high-pressure setting to make the expertise really feel like occasions previous to the pandemic. “This can’t be executed with out an impressive crew that works nicely collectively,” Shallan added.
Navigating the pandemic with occasions on maintain, Shallan discovered Cloudera as life returned to regular.
Earlier than Cloudera, Shallan labored in occasions for over 18 years – 13 years at UnitedHealth Group, the most important healthcare firm within the US. “When the pandemic hit occasions got here to a screeching halt,” she mirrored. Given the state of affairs, the UnitedHealth Group requested Shallan to make use of her logistics expertise to guide the Covid-19 testing websites throughout California. On this position, Shallan led 88 occasion coordinators as they facilitated Covid testing throughout the state. After six months on this position, Shallan realized it wasn’t what she was captivated with so she left the corporate and began working full-time constructing her new dwelling. She didn’t escape logistics although! “I went about constructing our home in the identical method I venture handle occasions. I noticed nonetheless that building was VERY totally different than occasions and Covid restrictions made every part tougher”. Rapidly, Shallan realized that when company occasions began up once more, she needed to return to occasion planning!”
“Quickly after deciding to rejoin the workforce I interviewed with Cloudera and instantly liked his imaginative and prescient. I used to be impressed by how he needed to construct his crew and what occasions he needed to convey to life. I used to be intrigued to be part of it. It’s been a little bit over a yr and a half since then and it’s been fairly the journey!”
Origin story: Whereas working throughout industries, occasion advertising turned her ardour.
Shallan grew up in a small city in Minnesota and after school moved nearer to Minneapolis. She acquired her begin in property administration as an workplace supervisor, the place she began coordinating company occasions. “There was nobody else to do it so I simply realized easy methods to plan and execute them,” she mentioned. After buying some expertise, she transitioned into the retail trade and labored for Macy’s company, operating their occasions. Through the 2008 Recession, Shallan transitioned into the healthcare trade and began as an occasion coordinator, working her method as much as Director of occasions at Optum. On this position she deliberate every part from gross sales kick-offs, third get together occasions, government summits, incentive journeys, sports activities sponsorship occasions, trade conferences, roadshows, and so forth.
“The occasion trade rapidly turned my ardour,” she mentioned. “Through the pandemic, I needed to do some soul-searching and actually think about one other line of labor. On the time we didn’t understand how lengthy it will take for occasions to come back again or if it will ever be the identical.” Luckily, it did come again, and in an enormous method! “Such a work is absolutely the place my coronary heart is,” she exclaimed. “I like bringing concepts to life and observing the attendee expertise. There may be a variety of pleasure that comes with that. When attendees come up and thank me for a fantastic occasion and share what they realized, I do know I’ve executed my job proper.”
Classes realized: It’s about staying nimble, discovering your voice, and open strains of communication.
When reflecting on her years in occasion advertising a couple of issues stood out for Shallan:
Being Versatile: “You must be okay with ambiguity,” she mentioned. “It’s essential as a result of within the occasions world, particulars are continually altering and you’ve got to have the ability to adapt.”
Discovering Your Voice: “It’s actually essential to talk up so your voice is heard with authenticity,” she mentioned. “For instance, when planning an occasion, a stakeholder could have an concept they need to implement, however from my expertise I might imagine it is not going to work. It’s as much as me to share that perspective and rationale clearly. Nevertheless, additionally it is essential to maintain an open thoughts. Typically, introducing new occasion ideas that possibly you didn’t consider is precisely how you discover new finest practices”.
Staying Communicative: “Final however not least, protecting strains of communication open is essential,” she provides. “Particularly when coordinating with others, it’s important to guarantee all of the dots are linked.”
What’s subsequent?
In her time without work Shallan and her husband like to journey, hold busy with family and friends and fine-tune their new home. In fact, there may be at all times the subsequent collection of Cloudera occasions to consider too. “I simply got here again from Evolve London which concluded our spring occasions calendar and we’re already ramping up planning for the autumn and winter. There’s by no means a boring second, however I wouldn’t have it another method.”
We thanks Shallan for contributing to Cloudera and sharing your story!
