Ari Hershberg Email and Phone Number

I have been fortunate to be on the Exchange Lab team, for two and a half years working closely with the team to create the community, training and feeling of the Lab. I have done that by working with all of the teams as well as sharing the work in the open by creating the newsletter, podcast, lunch and share (a monthly mentorship), webinars and more. I have also worked on continually improving the lab tour, experts in residence, lab training, speaker coaching, as well as working closely with Apolitical to improve agile training throughout Canada. I see myself as an ambassador for the Exchange Lab and the work of Digital government.I have created and increased multiple products and services by continually connecting with my users through one-on-one and surveys, listening and adapting. The newsletter has increased by 300%, from 1,200 subscribers to 3,900 and growing. Increased pre-reading prior to the Lab training from almost 0 to over 50%, and increased survey responses from 23% to as high as 72%. I created continuity to the Lab and Learn by scheduling monthly events for at least six months out at a time. By offering regular events I was able to learn from the data and continually improve the offering and put together a professional AV team for high quality webinar viewing. This helped us increase our audience numbers substantially. Our highest viewed webinar had over 600 people attend and over 800 have watched the recorded Youtube video.

Appointed as an advisor to the CRD Arts & Culture division to provide funding recommendations and advice on issues related to arts and culture in the region.

Collaborated to create DataBC’s first ever newsletter that was sent to 3,500 people, increased the twitter feed engagement rate by 100%, increased the webinar training attendee rate from an average of 60 attendees to 250 attendees with a wait list of 750, the survey responses from 17% to 25%, closed over 1,000 customer inquiries and have written sixteen blogs.

“Matching the perfect speaker to each audience”With so many speakers from which to choose how does a bureau or an event planner divine the ideal calculus for finding the right fit?With over ten years in the industry, I have connected hundreds of organizations with the right speaker for their event and audience.

On October 1 and 2, 2016, 500 youth will gather together at Victoria’s beautiful Ogden Point Pier for two days of future-building, incubator-style sessions designed to draw out new ideas, encourage peer collaboration, and foster personal growth.

Designed and wrote the syllabus for the fifteen-week, forty-five-hour comprehensive program. Taught business communication principles and market testing practices. Planned and organized visiting experts and class field trips. Able to keep students focused in class by developing and guiding them to compelling learning outcomes.Honoured the Pacific Rim College writing standards, policies and style guidesConsistently received stellar performance reviews from my students

Launched Victoria’s first ever annual Health, Wellness and Sustainability Festival at the Victoria Conference Centre. Keynotes by leading industry mavens, such as Dr. William Davis, author of the New York Times best-selling book “Wheat Belly.” From 2014 through 2016, the attendance grew to 1,700+ and 69 vendorsContent Development: Designed website, continually improving web content through user feedback and by writing compelling blog posts on health issues and editing web copy written by contributing content providersPlanned and implemented the various sub-projects with vendors and sponsors, developing strong relevant metrics to evaluate the business aspects of each eventAssigned and managed work of external contractors and volunteersCreated formal partnerships through written and verbal communications with Camosun College, Pacific School of Innovation and Inquiry, Island Chef Collaborative, BC Transit, Downtown Victoria Business Association and Greater Victoria Public Library

Created and wrote media lists for journalists. Through outreach (media releases, calls and meetings), worked with CBC Radio, The Zone 91.3, CFAX, CTV, CHEK, Shaw TV, Time Colonist, Monday Magazine, Douglas Magazine, Nexus, Martlet, and CFUV to market all event workContributed to the social media marketing campaignCollaborated on the core team reviewing speaker applications, interviewing, and selecting the 2013 to 2015 speaker lineupsTrusted as lead speaker coach to mentor the team in 2014 and 2015

See Agency is a boutique talent management agency. A few of the top names we represented include Wine to Water founder Doc Hendley and Gerry Dee, star of the hit comedy Mr. DProject manager of eight in-demand speakers and the head of the See Agency for all logistics of events, media tours, calendar, book launches, signings, and social mediaConsulted speakers on and off the See Agency roster. Fine-tuned public image of clients through writing and editing of biographies, speech topics and video directingCreated a financial projection system to track See Agency’s and the speakers’ monthly and yearly profits. Monitored financial projections against actual profits across the business cycleTraveled to meetings throughout North America representing See Agency at various conferences and events

CMI Speaker Management is a boutique talent management agency with a global roster. A few of the top names on the roster include New York Times best selling author Vince Poscente and Tim Sanders.Managed and supervised two staff: an events manager and the office managerCreated and wrote the company procedure manual that explained industry knowledge and company procedures in plain language. This manual was used as a training tool as well as company standard for the events manager and office management positions

Won best Spa in Victoria during all four years I was part of the team

Designed and wrote a procedure manual for the onsite and offsite records system as well as a scheduling system for court trial bookings. These manuals contributed to increasing speed and efficiency, becoming the standard at Victoria’s Provincial Courthouse Worked directly with Human Resources creating and writing an incentive program for employees and a system to monitor staff absenteeism and find ways to improve staff engagement. Won two Attorney General awards for each of the proposals