GREATER FORT LAUDERDALE

CONVENTION AND VISITORS BUREAU

Executive Vice President of Convention Group Sales

Broward County, FL

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ABOUT GREATER FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA

Rich with culture and home to nearly 1.8 million people, Broward County is the 18th largest county in the nation. Located between Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties, it is the center of South Florida’s largest metropolitan area in which more than 5 million people reside. Within the County’s 1,320 square miles are 31 municipalities, the largest of which is the county seat, Fort Lauderdale. While the diversity of Broward’s population creates unique challenges in delivering services and providing information, that diversity also contributes to a dynamic cultural environment that makes Broward County one of the most interesting and robust places in the world to live and work. In addition to receiving the eTN Honest Travel Award, Broward County welcomes people from all backgrounds to experience a great place to live, work and play year round, and enjoy a variety of events, meetings, businesses, and conferences. The County has more than 300 miles of inland waterways that run from the Intracoastal Waterway to the Everglades. Broward County’s warm climate, ethnic and racial diversity, expanding economy, myriad of housing options, excellent schools, leading edge healthcare, and advanced transportation system, cultural, sports, gaming, and entertainment amenities afford its residents with an exceptional quality of life. A “Progressive Diverse Citizenry” earned Fort Lauderdale a well-deserved spot among America’s Top 100 Best Places to Live, Work and Play by Livability.com.

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

Plunge into a culture as deep as the ocean which frames us. A culture characterized by Seminoles and Broadway shows. Tasty jazz and art festivals. And like the horizon here, the list goes on and on and on. Be sure to check out the concert schedules at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts in the downtown Riverwalk Arts and Entertainment District, Hard Rock Live in Hollywood and the BB&T Center in Sunrise.

And if you’re looking to add creativity to the mix, a walk through The Downtown Hollywood Mural Project is a must with 20+ curated outdoor contemporary art murals by internationally recognized artists. For film lovers the newly unique Savor Cinema Theater features independent films to various locations, not to mention you will notice filming crews quite often in Hollywood.

ATTRACTIONS

Say hello to your wild side and visit sea turtles on the beach, butterflies in an aviary, or an eight-foot gator in the Everglades. Or lose yourself in a museum and experience cultural treasures. Browse through the attractions and activities and maximize your fun during your visit to Greater Fort Lauderdale.

Watch the play at Hard Rock , see the NHL in action at the BB&T Center, home to Florida Panthers ice hockey, or watch the NASL Fort Lauderdale Strikers play at Lockhart Stadium.

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Greater Fort Lauderdale is flowing with water-based activities such as scuba diving, jet skiing, parasailing and sport fishing. If fishing is indeed your thing, try pier fishing or deep sea. Meanwhile, more than 50 area golf courses offer you the full country club experience as well as public links for any skill level.

HOTELS AND CONVENTION CENTER

Greater Fort Lauderdale is experiencing a tourism development boom exceeding $2-billion in investment, just in infrastructure and the tourism sector, and the tourism sector is no exception. By the end of 2017, more than 2100 new hotel rooms will be added to the total room inventory of Broward County. Additional room product totaling just under 2800 rooms is expected for 2018.

Currently, there are nearly 14,000 meeting hotel rooms in Greater Fort Lauderdale and 3,000 within the Convention Center District. Six premier hotels (Hilton Fort Lauderdale Marina, Renaissance Fort Lauderdale Cruise Port Hotel, Embassy Suites Fort Lauderdale 17th St., Hyatt Regency Pier Sixty-Six, Fort Lauderdale Marriott Harbor Beach Resort & Spa and B Ocean Resort Fort Lauderdale) feature accommodations with beach or intracostal views. Each of the six hotels is located within a 1.5 mile radius of the Convention Center and easily accessible to Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport (FLL) and Port Everglades, as well as just minutes away from the beach, nightlife and downtown Fort Lauderdale’s arts and entertainment district. Throughout Broward County, there are more than 32,000 hotel rooms.

Click here to learn more about the hotels, and click here to learn more about the Greater Fort Lauderdale Broward County Convention Center.

ABOUT THE GREATER FORT LAUDERDALE CONVENTION AND VISITORS BUREAU (GFLCVB)

CVB Budget: $24-million Sales Budget: $6-million Total FTE: 47 Convention Sales FTE: 10

VISION Share the warmth and beauty of Greater Fort Lauderdale.

MISSION Promote travel and drive visitation to and within Broward County and Greater Fort Lauderdale. The mission of the GFLCVB, as the hospitality industry leader, is to market the area globally as a premier leisure, convention and business destination for the continual economic benefit of the community, including all of its municipalities.

Created by the Board of Broward County Commissioners in 1987, the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention and Visitors Bureau (GFLCVB) is a governmental agency funded by a portion of the five percent tax on hotel rooms. The 40-member staff of the GFLCVB promotes the Greater Fort Lauderdale area as a premier year-round leisure and meeting destination.

CONVENTION SALES The convention sales section is responsible for booking city-wide meetings at the Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center and at individual hotels throughout Broward County.

MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS The Marketing Communications section oversees all interactive marketing, including the sunny.org website, social media integration; is responsible for the creation, production and placement of the destination's tourism advertising; and creates a range of publications including the Vacation Playbook, Visitors Map, Urban Guide, Superior Small Lodging Directory, Meetings Guide, CVBuzz e-newsletter, plus an extensive audio visual library. This section also handles community outreach emphasizing the importance of Broward County's hospitality industry.

MEDIA RELATIONS The Media Relations section is responsible for elevating Greater Fort Lauderdale’s offerings and brand awareness through publicity. This section oversees individual media visits and media FAMs by qualified journalists and bloggers; increases positive local newspaper, radio, television, and online media coverage about the importance of tourism and the film industry in Greater Fort Lauderdale; organizes new editorial photography and video content for film and television as well social media; and promotes Broward County in all appropriate opportunities.

SearchWide Position Overview 3 LGBTQ SALES AND MARKETING The LGBTQ section is responsible for developing and implementing short and long term strategic plans to increase meeting room nights and global travel and tourism.

OFFICE OF FILM, MUSIC AND ENTERTAINMENT The Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward Office of Film, Music and Entertainment promotes all areas of Broward County as a key destination for filming, music, entertainment and related events.

SPORTS BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT The Greater Fort Lauderdale Sports Business Development section, with the support of the Florida Sports Foundation, is a one-stop shop to plan a professional, amateur or recreational sports event.

MULTICULTURAL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT The Multicultural Business Development section is tasked to ensure that organizations and families of color select Greater Fort Lauderdale as the destination of choice for conferences and family reunions.

STRATEGIC CLIENT SERVICES Strategic Client Services is a multi-purpose section responsible for providing visitor/partner services. Working as the "concierge to the community," they offer an array of services to city-wide conventions from hotel reservations to arranging planning sites. In addition, they assist with the SunSational Service program.

TOURISM SALES The Tourism Sales section sells Greater Fort Lauderdale to tour operators, wholesalers and retail travel agents in the domestic and international arena. They attend trade shows, arrange sales missions in major cities and design vacation package programs for tour operators.

ADMINISTRATION The Administration Department oversees Finance, Budgeting, Purchasing and Support Services.

Click here for the official website of the GFLCVB, Hello Sunny.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION

The purpose of this class within the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention and Visitors Bureau is to oversee and manage all aspects of the convention/group sales efforts, including personnel, initiatives and marketing efforts.

This class works under administrative supervision, developing and implementing programs within organizational policies and reports major activities to executive level administrators through conferences and reports.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The functions listed below are those that represent the majority of the time spent working in this class. Management may assign additional functions related to the type of work for the job as necessary.

• Formulates sales and marketing programs for trade shows, sales missions and sales presentations to promote Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County as an attractive convention and meeting destination. • Plans and coordinates all meetings and conventions promotions. • Maintains effective networking relationships with the national meetings and associations industry and with the local hospitality industry. • Develops annual department travel and promotion budget and monitors implementation. • Directs and supervises group sales departments within the GFLCVB. • Supervises sales managers, satellite offices and regional personnel, in addition to productivity and activity for convention/group sales, service and support personnel. • Develops and coordinates all long and short term convention/group sales and marketing strategies for all territories; designs and prepares annual convention/group sales marketing plan and marketing services department budget. • Establishes and monitors major departmental objectives and individual goals; maintains monthly sales reports.

SearchWide Position Overview 4 • Develops internal operating process for soliciting business. • Supervises management team and directs meetings for information to the full staff; works with convention center leadership staff to enhance future business, and strategize for new business opportunities. • Coordinates meetings with the local industry stakeholders to enhance partnerships with the hotel properties and other service providers. • Reviews and resolves any issue that may arise with the goal to minimize disruption to the convention center operations and events; creates future plans for the convention center to ensure Broward County's convention center maximizes its economic impact to the community; administers convention center operating agreement to ensure contract compliance. • Attends shows and seminars representing the destination at both the national and international level. • Performs related work as assigned.

ROLE COMPETENCIES

• Decision Making/Judgment: Recognizes problems and responds, systematically gathers information, sorts through complex issues, seeks input from others, addresses root cause of issues, makes timely decisions, use consensus when possible, communicates decisions to others. • Organizational Savvy: Operates within the organization’s formal and informal structures, builds allies and relationships across sections, uses allies to build consensus and create results, is appropriately diplomatic, understands others’ roles and perspectives, can sell projects and ideas across the organization. • Leadership: Leads through change and adversity, makes tough calls when needed, stays abreast of industry trends, best practices and conveys this information to teams. • Strategic Thinking: Creates and communicates a long-term vision, balances short and long term goals, keeps own and team’s work aligned with overall goals, understands the market and can predict change, understands the industry and the competition, creates and adjusts strategic plans. • People Management: Defines roles and responsibilities, motivate and challenges employees, delegates effectively, rewards contributions, manages collaboratively, keeps team accountable for actions, provides leadership, resources and support, uses checkpoints and data to track progress, sets up systems and processes to measure results.

IDEAL BACKGROUND AND MINIMUM EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS

• Previous large convention hotel, Destination Organization, and/or Hotel National Sales Office leadership experience is preferred. • Experience must include demonstrated success in a senior level leadership position in the travel/tourism and hospitality industry, specifically in the areas of sales and marketing. • Experience with Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software, such as Simpleview. • Requires a Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university with major coursework in public or business administration or closely related field. • Requires ten (10) years progressively responsible experience in leading a convention/groups sales department, including four (4) years high level supervisory and administrative experience or closely related experience.

CORE COMPETENCIES AND CHARACTERISTICS NEEDED

• Innovative, creative, and strategic • A diplomatic consensus builder. • Exceptional communication and presentation skills. • Politically savvy. • A natural relationship builder with a high likeability factor. • Excellent team building skills; proven success with employee training, development and managing a diverse team. • Strong leader with entrepreneurial skills. • A leader with exceptional problem solving skills. • A passionate and inspirational leader that can support and act within a team environment. • A motivated self-starter. • A team leader who works well in a collegial management environment but is equally comfortable in a more competitive environment. • Demonstrates high integrity at all times. • Data driven.

SearchWide Position Overview 5 TOP PRIORITIES

1. Analyze and evaluate the sales organization: structure, deployment, measurement and accountability. a. Review and implement a new business development plan, including current market segment opportunities with a focus on county wide, convention center business. b. Immediately engage in the sales process at all levels to understand and evaluate strengths. 2. Learn, understand and integrate into the Fort Lauderdale market, build relationships with stakeholders and become involved and visible in the community.

COUNTY-WIDE EMPLOYEE RESPONSIBILITIES

All Broward County employees must serve the public and fellow employees with honesty and integrity in full accord with the letter and spirit of Broward County’s Ethics and Conflict of Interest policies.

All Broward County employees must establish and maintain effective working relationships with the general public, co- workers, elected and appointed officials and members of diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds, regardless of race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, marital status, political affiliation, familial status, disability, sexual orientation, pregnancy, or gender identity and expression.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS

Performs light work that involves walking or standing most of the time and involves exerting up to 20 pounds of force on a regular and recurring basis, or skill, adeptness and speed in the use of fingers, hands or limbs on repetitive operation of electronic office equipment within moderate tolerances or limits of accuracy. (Physical demands refer to the requirements for physical exertion and coordination of limb and body movement.)

UNAVOIDABLE HAZARDS (WORK ENVIRONMENT)

None. (Unavoidable hazards refer to the job conditions that may lead to injury or health hazards even though precautions have been taken.)

AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT (ADA) COMPLIANCE

Broward County is an Equal Opportunity Employer. ADA requires Broward County to provide reasonable accommodations to qualified persons with disabilities. Prospective and current employees are encouraged to discuss ADA accommodations with management.

EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT RESPONSIBILITIES

Note: During emergency conditions, all County employees are automatically considered emergency service workers. County employees are subject to being called to work in the event of a disaster, such as a hurricane, or other emergency situation and are expected to perform emergency service duties, as assigned.

If this could be a great opportunity to extend your professional reach, please respond through the SearchWide website or email your resume to the following SearchWide Executive:

Mike Gamble, President & CEO | SearchWide www.searchwide.com | [email protected] 651-275-1370 (direct) | 651-308-1115 (mobile)

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