Michele Eicher Whiteside Email & Phone Number

Richmond, Va, Us

Lead the strategic planning and execution of high-impact conferences and events, aligning initiatives with the organization’s mission and partnership priorities. Oversee the management of two to three core annual meetings to include Week in RARE and the RARE Drug Development Symposium, ensuring seamless logistics, program development, event production, and participant engagement. Provide leadership and mentorship to the events team, fostering a collaborative environment and ensuring alignment with organizational goals. Collaborate with internal and external stakeholders to define event objectives and gather feedback for continuous improvement. Manage event budgets, ensuring financial accountability and optimizing resource allocation. Evaluate event success through participant feedback and metrics, providing insights and recommendations for future initiatives.Strong commitment to advancing health equity and patient advocacy in the rare disease community.

United States

Oversee coordination and execution for all member events, including for the Virginia Craft BrewersGuild and Women in Manufacturing, Virginia Chapter. Contributes to member engagement and recruitment, marketing and sales, business services, workforce development and communication services. Manages websites for all verticals in the Virginia Manufacturers Association – Virginia Craft Brewers Guild and Women in Manufacturing, Virginia Chapter and MSI: Manufacturing Skills Institute. Responsible for CRM system (GrowthZone). Produce year-long webinar series for members. Coordinate communication with membership through electronic newsletters, websites, and social media.

Richmond, Virginia

Produced over $500,000 annually in revenue. Seamlessly coordinated all assigned scheduled events while simultaneously addressing client needs and supervising and training entire event coordinator staff. Handled forecasting and analytics of monthly revenue reports and evaluated facility rental fees toensure market competitiveness. Implemented departmental growth strategies in the department such as the micro-wedding and elopement packages that resulted in revenue during a pandemic.

Provided event planning and management to organizations and individuals in need of services. Collaborated with 35+ nationwide higher education institutions to enhance capabilities and implement utilization of respective scheduling software. Coached universities on the effectiveness of creating a scheduling clearinghouse to better utilize campus services. Created the annual Richmond Fertility Workshop to provide education and awareness for the local community of fertility issues.

Fredericksburg, Va

Organized logistics for numerous special events for alumni, donors, and President, including travelarrangements. Negotiated contracts with event vendors to include hotels, rental companies, caterers, printers and transportation providers. Created marketing materials and registration web pages for events. Analyzed cost effectiveness for regional network events in attracting new alumni. Collaborated with community partners to increase program visibility. Developed scheduling procedures for creation and execution of events. Assisted in facilitating increased interaction and engagement with alumni, parents, and donors.

Contracted employee servicing the East Coast for Series25 products. Provide training and consulting to higher education on the Series25 products.

Implemented campus-wide scheduling software to help facilitate the creation of a scheduling clearinghouse. Provided functional administrative support to the university campus for Series25 products, the campus scheduling system. Responded to user inquiries by providing support and assistance in the definition and solution of problems. Collaborated with IT department to insure continued stability and operation of software. Provided quality control through extensive scenario-based testing after each software upgrade. Developed user manuals, training documentation and data standards. Acted as primary liaison between the university and external software providers

Expanded the scope of event planning services to initiate better communication across campus and increased facility utilization. Oversaw the scheduling practices, procedures and policies for all campus schedulers and location. Supervised 9 full-time staff of 4 professional and 5 hourly employees. Oversaw 30,000 meetings, conferences and events annually. Collaborated with academic and administrative departments, more than 150 student organizations, as well as several community groups. Developed excellent working relationships with key entities on campus including facilities, police, catering, media services and communications. Created and taught the annual event planning workshops for faculty, staff and student groups. Developed new policies for spaces on campus. Managed billing and produced yearly statistical reports.

Managed operations, budgets and script writing for 3 ceremonies for 1,200 graduates. As Co-Chair of the commencement committee, managed and directed all activities associated with Commencement Weekend. Managed 4 student assistants and supervised over 30 staff. Collaborated closely with the the President's and Provost's Offices. Represented the University to families, media and the general public. Designed and edited commencement publications and website. Coordinated security details with University, local police and Secret Service. Provided knowledge of academic ceremony protocols and procedures.

Planned and executed catered events, including menu creation. Trained and supervised student managers and staff. Handled student payroll and hiring. Managed billing, website and office staff.

Mla, Film Studies

Ba, Speech And Theater

Activities and Societies: Alpha Chi Omega Phi Eta Sigma