Experience

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  Hilltop live productions

  May 2007 - Jun 2011

  Client marketing, account manager and vendor manager

  Previously known as Oppikoppi Productions, I really valued and enjoyed working with this great family of music event organizers for nearly 5 years. As one of the largest music events/production companies in South Africa, I had the opportunity to wear many hats and worked at festival projects that stretched over 4 days, with more than 20 000 people, to small intimate indoor gigs with 300 people.Project Manager, Media Liaison, Vendor Department Manager and Sponsorship Account Manager were some of the job titles I had the privilege of "wearing." I however become known for my excellent taking charge abilities, communication and organizing skills as an Account Manager for leading sponsorship brands: Jose Cuervo Tequila, Pepsi,Vodafone, BAT (British American Tobacco) and Windhoek Lager Beer. I also headed-up the vendor booking department, where I sourced, booked and did placement planning for more 300 -400 vendors in a year. My work involved plenty of travelling (which I loved and still do) and very long hours. In a busy month, 3-4 events were scheduled. Every event involved a different music theme, cultural environment, demographic and sponsors. My flexibility to adapt, working under severe pressure and keeping my cool in an organized chaos type of environment came naturally as I love being an organizer and communicator. Duties further included, but were not limited to:-meeting and coordinating with a variety of suppliers for each event, sourcing and maintaining sponsorship relationships-writing of grants and event feedback reports, budget planning, writing and proofreading of press releases and radio scripts, on-site management and organizing-Executed promotional duties that included detailed planning and execution of product launches, branding, organizing hospitality areas, media areas, accreditation and interviews, guest lists, food and beverages-Organized and conducted on-air radio interviews with heavy-weigh South African media ...and so much more! Show less

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  Blue mandala communications

  Jan 2011 - Jan 2012

  Communications coordinator and office manager

  Blue Mandala is a small, but dynamic,website development company offering a holistic approach to website design and creation.I joined Blue Mandala and its two owners in October 2011 with very little experience in web design. Through tremendous patience and hard work, I mastered the skill of designing a WordPress website from scratch, used plug-ins and wrote creative copy for more than 10 Shambhala Meditation websites. Actively assisted in creating the new Retreat platform and have experience in online tools - ASANA, CONSTANT CONTACT and FRESHBOOKS.Through my previous project management and communication/Public Relations skills, I assisted in ensuring that a client's new website design needs were met within the set timeline. Clients were based in not only Canada, but also America, South Africa and Europe. Duties included, but were not limited to:- Provided website back-end support for 10 - 20 Shambhala.org websites through real time online communication, Skype and phone calls-Assisted in creating a new not-done-before special FAQ section; I kept this section on the mother site up to date and carefully selected what questions were to be posted-Assisted with other clients - including Metta Programs based in the US and 4-5 personal websites where I provided social media guidance and social media editorial calendars (Facebook and Twitter), continuous communication and follow-up.-Did in-depth research on the back-end of Facebook and Twitter to provide the best possible way for clients to use these online social tools to their advantage-Developed and maintained website project schedules/work pathways to define activities, sequence, dependencies, work effort and duration -Conducted email, online marketing and research tactics to develop digital sales and marketing plans of the new Shambhala org. and Retreat Guru platform-Created a social presence on the web (Facebook and Twitter) by sourcing images, quotes, comments and content relevant to each client Show less

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  Venture communications

  Sept 2013 - Feb 2014

  Public relations coordinator

  Excited to be working for Arlene Dickinson, I had the opportunity to work with a variety of clients for this creative agency - including Toyota, Three Farmers (Camelina Oil), Regus, Mayo Clinic, Urban Cultivator and Jack Daniels. Working closely with the director of Public Relations (located in Toronto), I assisted in coordinating events, product copy, 4-6 press releases a month and establishing close relations with various media entities that included Calgary Herald, Best Health Magazine, Alive Magazine, Zoomer Magazine and Calgary's Culinaire Magazine. A true highlight: I managed to organize a live interview with Three Farmers, the owners of the healthy Camelina Oil, on Calgary's Breakfast Television. Both my client and Director was over the moon about this opportunity.Some duties included:-researching and contacting relevant media entities that would publish press releases announcing our client's products or events. I engaged with more than 25 media entities in a month-monitored online and print media daily for articles/mentions on our clients; actively engaged in online tools CISION and MRP reports-Reached out to 20+ journalist to attend the Mayo Clinic's prestigious event on Prostate Cancer. I secured a live radio interview between the award winning Mayo Clinic medical surgeon specializing in Urologic Oncology, and a local Calgary station - 660 News-coordinated editorial calendars for clients on regular basis for press release distribution-developing and drafting of MRP reports-writing of media pitches/copy, media outreach,follow-up, relationship building-Took my own initiative regularly by taking on unscripted responsibilities and challenges.-Showed natural leadership qualities by taking charge of situations and gave direction when the director was unavailable.-maintained strong and professional internal and external relationships through face-to-face communication wherever possible and regular phone conversations. Show less

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  Junewarren-nickle’s energy group

  Feb 2014 - Nov 2014

  Events marketing specialist

  As the Marketing lead for event marketing for the 2014 Canadian Energy Supply Chain Forum, I wrote event specific copy and designed weekly e-newsletters through Hubspot that reached more than 15 000 contacts per week. I also took on a new initiative to source and interview specific industry professionals to write bi-weekly articles on the industry, which was added to the e-newsletters. Me and my team successfully reached the target audience and an attendance of 900+ people for the 2 and half day eventSome of my duties in this role included:-Sourced, collaborated and managed 4 -6 stakeholder accounts that included: Calgary Economic Development (CED), British Columbia Innovation Council (BCIC), Resources Industry Suppliers Association (RISA), Productivity Alberta (PA), Freight Management Association of Canada and Supply Chain Management Association of Alberta (SCMA)-Assisted in writing the copy and designing promotional event material for distribution; including a mailout brochure that was mailed to 18 000 contacts-Assisted in the design and copy of the official event video which generated 800+ views in a few months-Worked with internal and external creative teams (based in Vancouver) to develop compelling brand identities and campaigns, while considering traditional and nontraditional marketing platforms (print, online, email, etc.) -Assisted with the writing and editing of key messages for use in marketing activities (print, online, email, social, press releases, etc.) as well as interpreting marketing reports-Acted as social media administrator and content aggregator for Twitter, Blogs, LinkedIn activities. Increased a Twitter following for the campaign by 40%.- Harnessed and build media relations with editors of The Daily Oil Bulletin, Oilsands Review and New Technologies Magazine. Show less