Venue Manager Live Events Producer
Venue Manager Live Events Producer
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Job Description
Taoti is Hiring: Live Events & Venue Manager / Producer
The Big Picture
Taoti started off (back in the 90s) as a web dev shop. Then we evolved into a fullservice creative / marketing agency. During the pandemic we started producing virtual and hybrid events (mostly because our clients simply needed those service so we dug in and figured it out. Since live events very much compliment the work were already doing for many of our clients we further leaned into that realm bought a new building and spun up our very own event venue on Capitol Hill (which you can see/learn more about at . As our live events and productions business area continues to grow were looking to add a new dedicated role to the team to help us manage and produce these eventsboth in our own venue but also for our clients across the DMV area.
The DaytoDay
This is one of those never a dull moment type of roles since live events tend to be very different dynamic and handson. In a nutshell your job is to help market sell and execute/produce live eventsboth in Taotis own events venue (The 507 as well as for our clients at other venues in the DC area (such as community events put on by EventsDC various nonprofit conferences DC Lottery brand activations etc. The how of the role is a bit all over the place given the very different needs of our clients.
Some examples of events that you might help plan and produce:
- A fundraising gala for a school in our upstairs lounge space at The 507
- A conference for a trade association in our downstairs event hall space at The 507
- Bar mitzvahs weddings parties and other social events (also usually in our space)
- Brand activations at The Wharf or in Georgetown
- A DC Lottery giveaway at Audi Field (Soccer stadium)
- Holiday events at the DC Convention Center (or other DC venues in the District)
- Family fun days at the Fields at RFK complex
- Interactive events like Sip and Paint or Culinary Classes or Wine Tastings etc.
Really the sky is the limit. And your role will vary as much as the events do. Sometimes you may just give tours of our space to interested parties and rent the space cold and empty if thats all they want. Other times you may go into fullblown eventplanner/producer mode in helping to figure out the event theme runofshow catering selections dcor etc. Like most live event roles youll need to be both big picture when it comes to concepting and event planning but also in the weeds when it comes to actually managing the event and dealing with the minutia that inevitably pops up once things get going. Youll need to be uberresourceful in figuring out how to problemsolve on the spot despite whatever the challenges may be. Youll need to be mindful of budgets timelines personalities and juggle multiple parties (customers vendors caterers etc. Being super organized is of course a must. But what makes you great at this job is your ability to think 10 steps ahead of everyone else and anticipate realworld issues that may pose a risk or complication. As the say the show must go on. And its your job to make sure it does come or high water. Youll generally be the person in charge (at least from Taotis side) so successful of the event (and customer satisfaction) ultimately lies with you.
Especially for events in our own space youll generally need to be onsite for the duration of those events just to make sure everything goes smoothly. That means helping with setup assisting with any technical or A/V needs handling last minute requests (such as printing a quick sign or figuring out where to get extra ice knowing how to turn off the HVAC to make it quiet when someone gives a toast etc. Sometimes the job gets (a little bit) physical and you may need to help set up tables and chairs put linens out hang some dcor from the ceiling etc.
Of course events dont happen every day (they probably happen to 46 times per month but we expect that number to increase as we do more marketing for our own venue. When youre not actively running an event your focus will be on helping to drive bookings for our space The 507. Keep in mind Taoti is fundamentally a marketing agency. So of course we have lots of marketing resources to help youfrom designers to social media managers to marketing strategists. We dont expect you to be a oneperson marketing team in a vacuum. That said there are a lot of marketing activities that just need in between the live events. Those duties may include things like:
- Respond to booking inquires fields those phone calls and emails and arrange tours of the space
- Negotiate booking pricing and contracts
- Create/post content on social media that promotes our space
- Actively manage digital outlets that promote our space (Facebook marketplace DestinationDC Eventective TheKnot and other sites that we list our space on)
- Suggest and work with caterers and other vendors on behalf of our customers
- Do research and source unique client requests (from arcade games to belly dancers to ice cream trucks. And everything in between.
- Bet the point of contact for our events customers
- Help plan events for our customers*
* We dont expect you to be a fullblown wedding planner. For complex events like that we would refer customers to people who do that sort of thing full time (and we have a growing rolodex of those folks. We also have other people (both on staff as well as thirdparty vendors we go to for specific services (like cleaning bar tending fabrication etc. But we do get a lot of much simpler events that dont really have the need (nor budget) for a dedicated professional planner but nevertheless still need some guidance when it comes to catering services dcor etc. And thats where get to channel your inner event planner. We recognize that everyones comfort level with some of these sorts of tasks will be different and before we make any hires well of course want to have a candid discussion about where you draw the line between what you can/will reasonably do and where we need to plan to hire outside/additional help.
Job Logistics
Being that this job involves live events in physical spaces (all within the DMV) we need someone willing to be onsite dailywhether thats at our own venue or at a client venue. Even on days when we dont have events scheduled (which are most daysat least for now) we do get dropins to our venue so you need to be generally here and able to give those tours or take those meetings when youre available. Of course the nature of live events is that many of them happen outside of normal business hours. So you need to be the type of person with the personal flexibility and willingness to deal with a sporadic schedule that will vary from week to week. As with all Taotians we ask for a 40 hour work week and that goes for you too. But we want to be fair about it so if you have to be on duty after hours or on a weekend we would effectively trade that time during the week so that you could be off and recharge your batteries (obviously plenty of flexibility on both sides of the equation is required here. Youll have a lot of freedom and autonomy to come and go as needed. Its just important that youre willing and able to commit to being available for the events no matter what (extreme circumstances notwithstanding. But you cant really call in sick or take a personal day if youre running an event. Again the show must go on.
Career Growth
Five years ago Taoti didnt even think about the event space. Fast forward a few years and now we have our own 15K square foot venue multiple event contracts with the likes of EventsDC dozens of successful events under our belts (with lots more on the calendar) etc. Suffice it to say expanding our events and productions business is a strategic focus for the agency. This role used to be handled ad hoc by others in the agency but its time for it to be its own position. It wont take long before one position becomes a small team. Which will grow into a larger team and eventually its own division. One nice thing about working to build up a division within an established fullservice agency is that you have lots of support and resources that most events companies wouldnt have at this stage of their evolution. Aside from all the subject matter experts we have to support you (digital creative marketing technical project management etc. we also have all the business basics figured out (licenses accounting facilities etc. So its like getting in on the ground floor of something but without the risk of doing so. And having a huge running start to boot! This is a great opportunity for someone with an entrepreneurial spirit who wants to really grow something (but not all by his/her/themselves.
Whats the corporate culture like
Fun but focused as one Taotian put it is a great way to sum up our culture. Were a fun and casual shop. The kind of place where you can wear whatever come and go as you please and have autonomy over your own day for the most part. But we take the work seriously and believe deeply in the mission to makemeaningful and measurableimpacts for our clients. All the perks and shenanigans and borderline irreverent tone are fun but to really fit in here you need to becommitted to the work and the results it generates.
We believe in something we call our QIST Culture. Quality. Innovation. Service. And Teamwork. We are always striving to improve these four areas (to the extent that we have a fund of a quarter million dollars per yearthat anyone can spend from in the interest of goingabove and beyondtowards any of these four values. We also believe in total transparency and open communication across teams and across ranks. Instead of chainofcommand we want everyone to have and share their own voice. Every other Thursday the CEO holds CafeClutchjust so he can hear ideas and feedback directly from the team instead of through the filter of management.
Want to see what life at Taoti looks like Check out ourInstagramor about usvideo.
What about benefits
- 5 weeks of PTO (including 11 holidays). This number goes up automatically with each year of tenure.
- 100 companypaid medical dental and vision insurance. 50 for qualifying dependents.
- Paid family leave for men and women (including PTO plus short and longterm disability options.
- 3 retirement plan matching (plus access to a financial advisor).
- Home buyer help (including a $1200 closing credit)
- Mobile phone reimbursement
- You can opt for a companysupplied PC or Mac laptop. Or if you want to use your own well reimburse you for it.
- Charitable contribution matching
- Taxfree metro benefits
- A sincere respect for work/life balance (in this role there is a lot of nights/weekends. So we have a traded day policy such that if you have to work a Saturday or staying late for an afterhours event you can take off a normal business day (or part thereof) so that you dont just end up working more days. Of course some flexibility is required but we try to make it all balance out in the end.
- Money and time off allocated for professional development (also increases with tenure)
- A diverse team hailing from over 12 countries last time we checked
- A very hip/cool/funky/quirky office space on Barracks Row in the heart of Capitol Hill. Just 2 blocks from the metro!
Of course the above is a quick list. Our handbook covers all the gory details.
A bit more about Taoti
Established in 1996 Taoti Creative is a boutique fullservice creative agency located on Capitol Hill in Washington DC. We are privately owned and have no corporate overloads (nothing personal WPP. We do stuff like web development social media management branding experiential marketing video AR/VR etc. We even have our own event venue and are growing an event management/production division. Our mission is to move the needle for our clients. We leverage technology creativity and innovation to generate meaningful and measurable results for our clientsthats what drives us. Speaking of clients theyre about 50 nonprofits 20 commercial and 30 government. Some of our customers include World Bank USAID DC Water Discovery Education American Chemical Society Jane Goodall Foundation and dozens of National Association of etc. Our fulltime team of about 60 employees is about 65 inhouse and 35 remote. We hail from over 8 countries. Theres of course plenty of additional information on our website. If youve not done so already be sure to check out our culture video:
Next steps
If youre qualified and interested please apply on our website Please note that these job ads often get placed onto other websites with their own application systems (were looking at you Jooble! and some sites (looking at you Indeed! have made up random salary ranges so if you see one of those know that its not from us. We arent able to respond to applications that dont come through our own website (Because we use software to manage our hiring process and without it it would be the wild west here. So please be sure youre applying on our website.
Pretty please no recruiters.
Required Experience:
Manager
Employment Type
Full-Time
