Susan Allen Neal
Alexandria,VA
Summary
Committed professional with a proven ability to develop creative, effective and successful event strategies, Possesses excellent communication skills to establish and maintain positive working relationships and provides excellent customer service. Works to carry out events to highest of standards. Knowledgeable and experienced in budgeting, vendor management and event promotion and marketing. Adept at problem-solving. Adept at managing all aspects of event planning including logistics, venue selection and catering. Utilize event management software to properly plan, track and manage events. Experienced in working with stakeholders at all levels, from clients to vendors and suppliers. Detail-oriented team player with strong organizational skills and the administrative skills to coordinate multiple projects simultaneously.
Overview
31
31
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Director of Meetings
Westover Management
12.2005 - Current
- Performed site research and recommendations for annual meetings, committee and board meetings, special events and 200+ affiliated meetings. Negotiated contracts with venues, vendors and suppliers to obtain best rates and services. Built relationships with customers and community to establish long-term business growth.
- Coached and counseled staff in customer service, setting standards for service, improving responsiveness to customer requests for service, assistance, or complaints, boosting client satisfaction and enabling quick resolution Handled escalated customer relations issues, requiring additional experience for resolution.
- Collaborated with internal teams to assure board members schedules, accomodations, travel and expectations were met. Conducted team meetings to reinforce goals and objectives and set clear expectations about policies and procedures.
- Responsible for registration and housing administration including software decisions and integration, review and approval of 4000+ registrations applications, and VIP planning. Oversaw event registration process by collecting and tracking attendee information.
- Monitored and controlled event expenditures to meet budgets.
- Managed administrative logistics of events planning, event booking, and event promotions.
- Developed creative themes for events and created related activities to engage attendees.
- Created detailed timelines and budgets for events to meet all deadlines.
- Analyzed event costs to identify areas of improvement and cost savings.
- Made recommendations on revisions to event and facility use policies and procedures.
- Analyzed event costs to identify areas of improvement and cost savings
Assistant Manager
Restoration Hardware
09.2003 - 04.2006
- Quickly evolved from part time sales position to assistant manager. Responsible for leadership, new product information decimation, cash intake and deposits, and managing customer service issues.
- Conducted team meetings to reinforce goals and objectives and set clear expectations about policies and procedures. Scheduled staff work hours and human resource issues. Coached and counseled sales personnel, assisting with individual selling efforts and helping sales representatives reach targets.
- Built relationships with customers and community to establish long-term business growth.
Lead Paralegal
Oliff And Berridge
03.1996 - 03.1998
- Lead paralegal for major patent infringement litigations
- Developed computer databases and search parameters to cull massive document discovery material productions ranging up to 500,000+ pages
- Drafted pleading, discovery responses and motions. Assisted counsel in preparing answers, providing documentation, and information for discovery request .Summarized depositions, legal documents and other material to provide attorney with relevant material for cases.
- Maintained and updated organized client contact information to keep in touch with clients, coordinating videoconferencing in multiple countries and time zones.
- Managed scheduling of court calendars and deadlines to maintain smooth flow of cases, including dealing with multiple states and federal
- Prepared and tracked case billing
Paralegal
Wingert, Grebbing Anneling And Brubaker
10.1992 - 03.1995
- Participated and documented multiple site visits to determine cause and effect, fault and long term issues.
- Responsible for on going communication with clients, experts, multiple plaintiff law firms and courts. Maintained court calendar for case load
- Continuing education to obtain paralegal certification and add to employer credentials
Education
Bachelor of Science - Business (Marketing) And Psychology
Mary Washington College
Fredericksburg, VAParalegal Certification -
University of San Diego Law School
San Diego, CASkills
- Team Leadership and Motivation
- Program Planning and Development
- Attendee Relations
- Contract Negotiation
- Agenda Setting
- Conference and Convention Planning
- Administrative Recordkeeping
- Clear Communication
- Marketing: Digital and Direct Mail
Certification
- CMP - Certified Meeting Planner
Timeline
Director of Meetings
Westover Management
12.2005 - Current
Assistant Manager
Restoration Hardware
09.2003 - 04.2006
Lead Paralegal
Oliff And Berridge
03.1996 - 03.1998
Paralegal
Wingert, Grebbing Anneling And Brubaker
10.1992 - 03.1995
Bachelor of Science - Business (Marketing) And Psychology
Mary Washington College
Paralegal Certification -
University of San Diego Law School
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