ALEXIS VOULGARIS
Newport,RI
Summary
Experienced food & beverage events specialist adept at overseeing and coordinating high-end events for high-touch clientele. Skilled in project management, achieving financial targets, and establishing strong long-lasting client relationships. Thrives in challenging work environments driven by fast-paced operations, volume, and high standards.
Overview
8
8
years of professional experience
Work History
Director of Sales & Events
AMAN NEW YORK
NEW YORK, NY
02.2023 - 06.2024
- Doubled Revenue Budget by Within 10 Months ($2.1m to $4.2m) for a high-volume, 5-star luxury hotel brand.
- Developed and Managed Pacing Strategy for 2024 to Exceed Revenue by 32% ($4.2m to $6.2m), based on data from 2023 revenue, market segments, hotel occupancy, and event life cycle.
- Strategically planned outreach to neighboring businesses based on their event booking cycle for the calendar year, through lunch, coffee, entertaining, and site visits.
- Customized clients' visions and event goals through multiple sales planning calls and on-site visits to ensure trust in our services.
- Worked thoroughly and out of the box with culinary and service teams to cultivate personalized experiences for our guests.
- Funneled through leads with sales coordinator to ensure leads aligned with brand of AMAN.
- Developed and implemented strategic event sales and management procedures to align with event life cycle in the NYC market.
- Introduced, trained, and built out the back end of Tripleseat for 7 event spaces within the hotel.
- Curated event and catering menus, in collaboration with the executive chef, to align with guest expectations.
- Built-out menu, minimum and room rental pricing are based on demand, season, and sales per location.
- Hired, trained, and managed a team of events managers and event sales coordinators.
- Built and implemented job descriptions, areas of responsibilities, and events training manual. Developed 90-day to 6-month training plans through hands-on coaching.
- Project Managed Food & Beverage Department’s Festive Season Sales. Lead Brainstorming and planning sessions with team leaders to provide unique ideas. Implemented To-Go activations for hotel guests and club members during Thanksgiving & Christmas season through TOCK.
- Managed communication for all menu changes, ticketed event sales, and to-go activations. Collaborated with leaders and new vendors daily to ensure the timeline was met.
- Managed AMAN’s Private Membership Club Programming Related to Culinary and Wellness Activations. Networked and connected with multiple Wine & spirit reps to provide unique weekly tastings experiences. Generated $250,000 in ticketed event sales for a private wine dinner.
Corporate Event Sales Manager
JEAN-GEORGES MANAGEMENT
New York, NY
07.2021 - 02.2023
- Generated and managed $2.5M in private event sales for 2022 across 8 Jean-Georges Restaurants.
- Planned and executed all private events and large group reservations for 8 restaurants throughout NYC, Westchester, and Greenwich. Collaborated with the executive leadership team daily to ensure all quality and standards of service are being met.
- Exceeded Revenue Goal by $1M by focusing on strong client relationship-building practices and seizing opportunities for upselling packages.
- Develop systems to streamline the selling process and create individual sales goals to build the department.
- Interview and train new event management hires at sister properties throughout the East Coast on Jean-Georges Management standards.
Event Manager
CNVS EVENTS, BACKAL HOSPITALITY GROUP
New York, NY
01.2019 - 01.2020
- Exceeded revenue goal by $40,000 by implementing unique upselling food and beverage packages for clients.
- Managed banquet and catering events for 100 to 500 guests and ensured successful execution of services, from contracting to event closeout.
- Supported the Director of Events and Director of Operations by identifying and prioritizing event goals (financial, food and beverage, service, design, and logistics). Collaborated with company leadership on the initiation of a new in-house catering team for the organization.
- Prepared and distributed documents outlining event details, including payment structure, food and beverage, and room rental fees.
- Restructured and streamlined staffing schedules to improve labor cost by 5%, without compromising service standards, and optimizing training plans for new staff members.
Catering Operations & Event Manager
Delaware North
New York, NY
05.2016 - 09.2019
- Supervised and executed 150 events for 50 to 700 guests, including weddings, corporate events, fine arts exhibitions, garden fundraising festivals, and philanthropic galas.
- Cut labor costs by 12% through new streamlined labor planning, staff scheduling, and hiring/training standards.
- Recruited and hired 35 new FOH staff members during tenure.
- Assistant Project Manager for the Breakfast with Santa Program, which generated $300,000 in additional sales at Rock Center Café at Rockefeller Center for two months. Supervised floor staff, created accurate floorplans to correlate with reservation needs, planned seating arrangements through guest registration system, and oversaw quality control efforts.
- Collaborated with company leadership to revise the banquet training program to boost productivity and time management, which has been implemented and adapted by other Patina properties.
- Identified flaws in beverage program with extreme fluctuations of wine cost and excessive vendor accounts, resulting in unnecessary spending.
- Strategized and developed a new wine program with a streamlined cost goal based on sales goals, and drastically reduced wine cost by 7%. Received merit for completing the Delaware North and Patina Leadership Program.
Education
BS - Marketing Management, Entrepreneurship & Emerging Enterprises -
SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY, MARTIN J. WHITMAN SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT
01.2016
Skills
- Tripleseat Integrations
- Project Management
- Concierge-Style of Service
- Team Training/Development
- Judgement & Decision Making
- Building Client Relationships
- Contract Negotiation
- Floorplan Development
- Effective Problem Solver
- Budget Management
- Building Systems & Procedures
Websites
Functionalexperience
- Operations/Event Management
- Project Management
- Concierge-Style of Service
Timeline
Director of Sales & Events
AMAN NEW YORK
02.2023 - 06.2024
Corporate Event Sales Manager
JEAN-GEORGES MANAGEMENT
07.2021 - 02.2023
Event Manager
CNVS EVENTS, BACKAL HOSPITALITY GROUP
01.2019 - 01.2020
Catering Operations & Event Manager
Delaware North
05.2016 - 09.2019
BS - Marketing Management, Entrepreneurship & Emerging Enterprises -
SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY, MARTIN J. WHITMAN SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT
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