Description

The Registration & Housing Manager works as part of the Meetings team to support and manage the registration and housing/hotel management processes of the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis (ISTH) scientific meetings and events, including the Annual Congress, Educational Workshops and other meetings and events as directed by the Director of Meetings.

The ISTH’s annual congress can attract up to 10,000 attendees and is held globally whether virtual, in-person or hybrid.   The ideal candidate has several years of successful experience managing meeting registrations and hotel accommodations - preferably international meetings - with a strong track record of responsive customer service, and a love of logistics and operations. This talented professional has a proven ability to manage the implementation and design of the online meeting registration using industry-specific platforms. 

The Registration & Housing Manager works on the development, implementation and execution of the ISTH registration & housing systems.  The successful candidate is a self-starter and excited about the opportunity to strengthen and build efficient procedures of a large-scale international medical society meeting registration & housing systems.  The Registration & Housing Manager will be responsible to forge meaningful and productive working relationships across multiple teams and with external stakeholders.

Annual Salary: 

Key Responsibilities:

Registration Management

• Coordinate and manage all aspects of the registration process for multiple congresses and meetings.
• Develop, manage and maintain production timeline for registration system launches and tasks.
• Update registration application configuration based on ISTH business requirements and system standards.
• Set up registrations for ISTH Congresses and Events registration software.
• Coordinates with internal ISTH key contacts to gather specifications for online registration forms.
• Leads internal testing of online registration, including collecting feedback and implementing changes.
• Maintain/Update report specifications for internal departments.
• Update and execute testing plans for registration application.
• Monitor registration data, reports, website, and application to ensure data accuracy and integrity.
• Develop and maintain process documentation with the Meetings Team.
• Serves as primary contact for the ISTH customer service team, finance, or other internal clients for registration related questions and issues.
• Sends registration confirmations and attendee communications to registrants in a timely manner.
• Issues certificate of attendance to event participants.
• Contacts registrants to collect appropriate registration data and resolves any registration related issues.
• Reports weekly or as needed registration statistics starting 12-16 weeks out from the events.
• Responds to and resolves registration issues and questions.
• Drafts on-site registration signage and coordinates on-site support services.
• Sets up registration area on-site and assists with on-site registration training of temp staff.
• Supervises the on-site registration process.
• Develop with the Meetings Team the onsite registration requirements and processes including, layouts, equipment needs and temporary staff scheduling and management.

 Housing/Hotel Management

• Strong venue sourcing and contract management.
• Management of contracted hotel inventory for conference or event.
• Create basic sub-block plans to ensure adequate inventory is protected for various attendee groups; Leadership, Speakers, Exhibitors, Press/Analyst, Staff, etc.
• Monitor hotel pick-up on a weekly basis and propose inventory adjustments, as required.
• Provide weekly hotel reporting to assess attrition risk.
• Support the hotel cut-off process and facilitate the distribution of confirmation numbers.
• Assist Meeting Manager with items as requested including, but not limited to housing coordination, reservations, hotel audits, etc.

 Customer Service 

• Strong customer service mindset with an ability to work directly with registrants and attendees
• Capacity to quickly build strong working relationships with vendors and meeting partners, while holding them accountable to commitments and deadlines
• Collaborative approach to all work; ability to create productive and efficient working relationships with internal ISTH teams including the finance and marketing teams

 Database Management

• Reviews daily issue reports and reconciles any errors/omissions in the registration data with the organization’s Finance and IT department as appropriate.
• Understands integration process between organization’s registration and membership database.
• Continuously evaluates, measures, and improves registration processes, procedures and documentation.

 Reporting & Integration

• Works with other ISTH departments and stakeholders on registration integrations necessary when onboarding a new product/service/vendor, upgrades to products that impact registration systems, etc.
• Sets up regular automated, registration reports.
• Reconciles income with finance department during and after each event.
• Provides adhoc reporting on registration data as needed for event planning purposes (e.g. Special Needs, ticket sales).

 On-Site Registration Management 

• Generates badges and registration materials.
• Manages stuffing process for registration materials.
• Prepares checklists and oversees the preparation and shipping of on-site supplies, badges, badge holders, extra badge stock, registration materials, etc.
• Trains volunteers assisting with on-site registration duties.
• Staffs on-site registration counter at selected conferences.

 Other Duties

• Attends project meetings.
• Populates event websites with registration information.
• Manages and maintains ISTH’s official Terms and Conditions (T&C) of Registration and keeps them current with industry and consistent with ISTH policies and practices.
• Thoroughly vets T&C’s with all stakeholders.
• Assists in training other ISTH staff on the use of registration system as needed.
• Stays current with industry registration trends and makes recommendations for changes and enhancements to registration processes, physical setup and registration documents.

Requirements

Required Experience and Skills

• Associate’s degree; Bachelor’s degree prefered
• Minimum 3 to 5 years’ experience in direct management of event registration and housing for those events, preferably on a global scale organizing and managing multiple priorities simultaneously in a fast-paced society/association or agency environment.
• Previous experience in registration operation and program support (attendee/housing management, call center support, reporting and complex onsite plans).
• Ability to work both independently and as a team player (using discretion in decision making and sound judgment in problem solving)
• Professional-level meetings commitment, including some evenings and weekends consistent with timing of meetings and related preparation and execution; ability to travel domestically and internationally one to three times per year
• Bi- or multi-lingual is a significant plus
• Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) designation is a plus

 Technical Skills 

• Expert user of online meeting registration platforms including the back-end management of registration design and implementation, with a keen focus on user-experience
• High level of understanding of the functionality of online meeting registration technology
• Experience user of advanced Excel formulas, and can create, edit, and present upon reports to client team.
• Ability to manage the entirety of the online meeting registration platform and ISTH meeting registration process

Management Skills

• Capacity to plan for, manage, and guide on-site temporary staff during meetings
• Self-starter, eager to take initiative to lead and guide registration processes with minimal guidance
• Highly organized with great attention to details
• Strong multi-tasker that can quickly work with different teams regarding a variety of meeting registration topics, while still prioritizing the delivery of set responsibilities  

Physical Demands/Work Environment

The physical demands and work environment characteristics described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Physical demands

• This position is primarily sedentary, but may require the ability to lift and carry up to 30 lbs. of materials
• Weekend and after-hour work may be required as dictated by the event schedule
• Travel may be required up to 10-15% of work schedule

Location

Remote:  40-hour work week with core hours from 9:30am-4:30pm Eastern Time. Candidate selected for this role will also need to be accessible for weekend and after-hours work given the international event requirements and global attendees, sponsors, vendors, and others.  Employees must have a reliable high-speed internet connection to ensure they can conduct their work with maximum reliability. Employees in the Raleigh-Durham area will have access to the office, if desired.

BENEFITS

• Comprehensive health plan through Blue Cross Blue Shield of NC with a fully funded HRA up to $3,000 for individual coverage and $6,000 for dependent coverage
• Dental and vision coverage through Principal
• Employer paid Life and Disability insurance
• Voluntary Life Insurance
• Flexible Spending Account
• 43 days of annual paid time off in first year including holidays, vacation, and sick leave
• 20 days of paid family leave for new parents
• 403(b) retirement plans with employer contributions up to 10%
• Technology stipend
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Travel Assistance
• Remote work environment