by Midwest Meetings
With a decade of experience in developing and implementing meetings, conferences, and events ranging in size from 45 to 28,000 attendees, Mitchell Biersner, CMP (Certified Meeting Professional) prides himself on his expertise to maximize ROI for organizations and clients. He’s recently come home to the Midwest, where he’s currently in between industry jobs and actively searching for the next great opportunity.
It’s a story all too familiar to other industry professionals still feeling the after-effects of budget cuts and staff reductions in recent years. Biersner discusses how he got here, his perspective of the Midwest job market, and what he’s doing to prepare for a return to the meetings industry.
It’s a story all too familiar to other industry professionals still feeling the after-effects of budget cuts and staff reductions in recent years. Biersner discusses how he got here, his perspective of the Midwest job market, and what he’s doing to prepare for a return to the meetings industry.
I had been living in Washington, DC and working at AARP when the opportunity to move back home to Iowa serendipitously presented itself. Within six weeks of applying, I was packing my bags and moving back home to be the Marketing & Event Coordinator for Main Street Waterloo.
A year later, my position was eliminated and I have been working at Target for the past 10 months while looking for a new job. It was during this time that I was approached for an interview as part of the “How Did You Get Here” series. At that time, I had a few nibbles, but nothing solid. I had just completed an interview with the Grundy County Development Alliance for a part-time position coordinating a local tourism program - the Barn Quilts of Grundy County.
It all started as I was preparing to return to DC for a wedding in mid-September. My grandma called and said there was a part-time position with the Barn Quilts of Grundy County and, because it would mean I would be in charge of tourism activities in the county, she thought I would be perfect.
I was skeptical. It was part-time (I wanted a full-time job that would allow me to sleep in past 5 a.m. on a regular basis), didn’t include a job description (or a place to find one), and didn’t say how much it would pay. By all appearances, it wasn’t exactly the next rung on the experience ladder I was hoping for. But, I knew that it would be a step back into the industry, would supplement what I was making at Target, and it certainly wouldn’t hurt. So, after returning from my week-long trip to DC, I applied.
I received a confirmation email (and a job description) in early October. I was asked to let them know if I was still interested in the position after reviewing the job description. They were hoping to fill the position by November. I responded, yes, I was still interested and please keep me posted.
Two weeks later, I followed-up to check the status as I hadn’t heard anything. The response stated that they wanted to wait longer and possibly not hire until after the first of the year (now two months away) because it was a busy time in the office and the hiring manager didn’t feel that she would be able to train me appropriately. I responded that I have experience jumping in and hitting the ground running, as that is what happened when I started at Main Street Waterloo - I was assisting with an event within two weeks of my start date there.
I was offered an interview the first week in November. The interview went well - very informal and not stressful. It became apparent that my experience would be perfect for what they were looking for. I was even table to talk about a tourism planning case study I had written on the Barn Quilt project as part of my MTA (Master of Tourism Administration) program at The George Washington University. They were still wanting to wait until after the new year before making a hiring decision. Not ideal, but I remained positive that things were moving forward.
After Thanksgiving, I received an email that the Executive Director (my hiring manager) had resigned and there were discussions amongst the Board of Directors about how to fill both positions. Was I still interested in a position with the organization? I said yes, keep me posted as to how things would work out.
Two days later, I received a phone call from the Executive Director. She wanted to know if I was interested in working in a temporary, part-time position filling in for her while a permanent solution was found. I would be able to come in for three hours a day after working at Target to respond to phone messages, emails, and to make sure the bills were being paid. The pay would be minimal. She stated that, while they could work with a temp agency, she liked that I had worked with a chamber-like organization, which would be better than no experience with a similar organization. (I also learned later that a Board member was impressed that I had used “melded” in my cover letter/resume). I said, yes - let’s see where this goes.
I learned in the interview that my hiring manager filled the following roles:
•Executive Director, Grundy County Development Alliance
•Executive Director, Grundy Center Chamber of Commerce
•Coordinator, Barn Quilts of Grundy County
•Executive Secretary, Grundy Center Development Corporation
•Executive Secretary, Grundy County Community Foundation
GCDA is the parent organization; the others have Memorandums of Understanding for services. My role with GCDA also means I represent the county with regional marketing and economic development organizations, so my influence goes beyond the county line.
There are board meetings to coordinate, events to plan, and I’m branching out into economic, community, and tourism development. Grundy Center is also conducting a community-wide strategic planning process, so it’s a perfect time to have new leadership (i.e. - me) be involved with where the organizations, community, and county are going. (Grundy County is a rural Iowa county in northeastern Iowa. There are nine communities and a county population of roughly 12,500. We are part of the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area, which has a population of around 160,000). It is the perfect situation for someone green to the economic/community development realm. I also appreciate the ability to remain close to family and work to represent my home community and county. I get the opportunity to work with the other communities in the county on their events and projects. I’ve already lent event planning consulting services to one community.
Everything’s not final/official yet - I’m hoping to be officially hired in a full-time capacity by the end of February. The GCDA Board is pursuing contracting with a neighboring county’s economic development director who would mentor me on a part-time basis. In a year, that arrangement would be evaluated before I take on all responsibilities myself (no contract for services with another county). I’m really excited about the opportunity and hope they make the appointment official sooner rather than later (so I can stop working two jobs and 12-hour days, like I have since December 7).
I did have the opportunity to propose my compensation and benefits package, as I was asked what it would take to keep me there. Of course everything is negotiable, but how often do you get the chance to “name your price” when you’re offered a job?
Working three-hours a day goes by extremely fast when keeping projects for five organizations moving forward. But, my previous project management experience (and having worked for a Main Street organization and in that structure) has helped tremendously. I’ve been busy reviewing Board meeting minutes, agendas, planning documents, financial reports, bylaws, etc. to make sure I know as much about the organizations as I can. The strategic planning that has been occurring has also been helpful to understand where the organizations have been and where they want to go. I’m now an office of one, but with active Boards, working for different communities, and the ability to manage my own projects, it’s been a great experience.
UPDATE: 03/15/12 Mitch was offered and accepted the position of Program Manager for Grundy County Development Alliance. Congrats! Mitch.
A year later, my position was eliminated and I have been working at Target for the past 10 months while looking for a new job. It was during this time that I was approached for an interview as part of the “How Did You Get Here” series. At that time, I had a few nibbles, but nothing solid. I had just completed an interview with the Grundy County Development Alliance for a part-time position coordinating a local tourism program - the Barn Quilts of Grundy County.
It all started as I was preparing to return to DC for a wedding in mid-September. My grandma called and said there was a part-time position with the Barn Quilts of Grundy County and, because it would mean I would be in charge of tourism activities in the county, she thought I would be perfect.
I was skeptical. It was part-time (I wanted a full-time job that would allow me to sleep in past 5 a.m. on a regular basis), didn’t include a job description (or a place to find one), and didn’t say how much it would pay. By all appearances, it wasn’t exactly the next rung on the experience ladder I was hoping for. But, I knew that it would be a step back into the industry, would supplement what I was making at Target, and it certainly wouldn’t hurt. So, after returning from my week-long trip to DC, I applied.
I received a confirmation email (and a job description) in early October. I was asked to let them know if I was still interested in the position after reviewing the job description. They were hoping to fill the position by November. I responded, yes, I was still interested and please keep me posted.
Two weeks later, I followed-up to check the status as I hadn’t heard anything. The response stated that they wanted to wait longer and possibly not hire until after the first of the year (now two months away) because it was a busy time in the office and the hiring manager didn’t feel that she would be able to train me appropriately. I responded that I have experience jumping in and hitting the ground running, as that is what happened when I started at Main Street Waterloo - I was assisting with an event within two weeks of my start date there.
I was offered an interview the first week in November. The interview went well - very informal and not stressful. It became apparent that my experience would be perfect for what they were looking for. I was even table to talk about a tourism planning case study I had written on the Barn Quilt project as part of my MTA (Master of Tourism Administration) program at The George Washington University. They were still wanting to wait until after the new year before making a hiring decision. Not ideal, but I remained positive that things were moving forward.
After Thanksgiving, I received an email that the Executive Director (my hiring manager) had resigned and there were discussions amongst the Board of Directors about how to fill both positions. Was I still interested in a position with the organization? I said yes, keep me posted as to how things would work out.
Two days later, I received a phone call from the Executive Director. She wanted to know if I was interested in working in a temporary, part-time position filling in for her while a permanent solution was found. I would be able to come in for three hours a day after working at Target to respond to phone messages, emails, and to make sure the bills were being paid. The pay would be minimal. She stated that, while they could work with a temp agency, she liked that I had worked with a chamber-like organization, which would be better than no experience with a similar organization. (I also learned later that a Board member was impressed that I had used “melded” in my cover letter/resume). I said, yes - let’s see where this goes.
I learned in the interview that my hiring manager filled the following roles:
•Executive Director, Grundy County Development Alliance
•Executive Director, Grundy Center Chamber of Commerce
•Coordinator, Barn Quilts of Grundy County
•Executive Secretary, Grundy Center Development Corporation
•Executive Secretary, Grundy County Community Foundation
GCDA is the parent organization; the others have Memorandums of Understanding for services. My role with GCDA also means I represent the county with regional marketing and economic development organizations, so my influence goes beyond the county line.
There are board meetings to coordinate, events to plan, and I’m branching out into economic, community, and tourism development. Grundy Center is also conducting a community-wide strategic planning process, so it’s a perfect time to have new leadership (i.e. - me) be involved with where the organizations, community, and county are going. (Grundy County is a rural Iowa county in northeastern Iowa. There are nine communities and a county population of roughly 12,500. We are part of the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area, which has a population of around 160,000). It is the perfect situation for someone green to the economic/community development realm. I also appreciate the ability to remain close to family and work to represent my home community and county. I get the opportunity to work with the other communities in the county on their events and projects. I’ve already lent event planning consulting services to one community.
Everything’s not final/official yet - I’m hoping to be officially hired in a full-time capacity by the end of February. The GCDA Board is pursuing contracting with a neighboring county’s economic development director who would mentor me on a part-time basis. In a year, that arrangement would be evaluated before I take on all responsibilities myself (no contract for services with another county). I’m really excited about the opportunity and hope they make the appointment official sooner rather than later (so I can stop working two jobs and 12-hour days, like I have since December 7).
I did have the opportunity to propose my compensation and benefits package, as I was asked what it would take to keep me there. Of course everything is negotiable, but how often do you get the chance to “name your price” when you’re offered a job?
Working three-hours a day goes by extremely fast when keeping projects for five organizations moving forward. But, my previous project management experience (and having worked for a Main Street organization and in that structure) has helped tremendously. I’ve been busy reviewing Board meeting minutes, agendas, planning documents, financial reports, bylaws, etc. to make sure I know as much about the organizations as I can. The strategic planning that has been occurring has also been helpful to understand where the organizations have been and where they want to go. I’m now an office of one, but with active Boards, working for different communities, and the ability to manage my own projects, it’s been a great experience.
UPDATE: 03/15/12 Mitch was offered and accepted the position of Program Manager for Grundy County Development Alliance. Congrats! Mitch.
RSS Feed