Can I have your job?

This is a question I get asked A LOT! I'm sure the traveling and fun things I get to do often seems extravagant. Most of the time it is but it's not always roses.

So several, probably most, of you know that I'm a planner. That goes for my professional AND personal life (sorry Mark).

This goes waaaaaay back to elementary and high school days. At least I come by it honest, right? I plan my wardrobe for the week, our meal plans, vacations, our budget, parties, date nights, showers, and our weekends (which Mark loves to hate sometimes). I'll have to say he has gotten me to lax a bit and just go with the flow, which is so very hard for me sometimes. I like to put together the details and come up with the ideas to make things work. This is very handy for my career as a Meeting Professional.

The responsibilities of my job include planning and executing our National Sales Meeting, incentive trips, holiday parties, customer meetings, national tradeshows, charitable events, department parties, investor relations events, etc. The tasks associated with planning these events are: contracting/selecting exhibit space, staffing, ordering booth furnishings/electrical, pre- and post-show marketing campaigns, organizing offsite client meeting/outings/dinners, securing hotel rooms, executive speaker travel, meeting room assignments, food and beverage selection, arranging transportation, coordinating agendas, printed materials (agendas, name badges, welcome letters), excursion selection/coordination/appointments, theme/decor selection, award procurement, prize/gift selection.

This one may sound the most elaborate; site visits; this means me traveling to a destination, checking out the surrounding areas, seeing the popular destinations, testing excursions/things to do, touring restaurants and hotels, envisioning that unique experience, etc.

There are some not so glamorous things too like maintaining our budgets, which require more accounting than I thought I would ever do, administrative tasks, long meetings, long hours on your feet and really just some stupid people I have to deal with.

So to answer your question.....sorry folks, my job is NOT available. I love what I do and most of the time it is lots of fun! Who knew when I was in nursing school (BLAH!!!!) 10 years ago I'd be doing this!?!!?  I guess that had to be God and boy am I sure glad he put me exactly where I needed to be, doing exactly what I should be. He's brilliant, ya know!

So now that I've explained a little about what I do, my next few posts will be a follow-up to this one.