SUMMARY:
Chicago Innovation is looking for an enthusiastic, driven, and entrepreneurial self-starter to join our team as Events & Communications Coordinator.

ORGANIZATION DESCRIPTION:
Chicago Innovation, established in 2002 as the Chicago Innovation Awards, has grown from a single awards ceremony to a year-round series of events and activities designed to educate, connect and celebrate innovators across the Chicago region.  The organization’s expansion has included formation of the Women Mentoring Co-op to support female innovators, the Chicago Student Invention Convention to teach the innovation process to students in K-8th grade, Ageless Innovators to bridge the generations through inter-generational co-mentoring, Corporate Start-up Matchmaking to connect large corporations with emerging start-ups, and an Innovation MBA in partnership with IIT that offers graduate students with experiential learning and scholarships.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES

Support Chicago Innovation's year-round series of events:

• Assist in all areas of conceptualization, planning, and execution of events
• Manage the registration process, communications to attendees, and promotion of each event
• Assist with event logistics, including coordination among vendors and exhibitors, load-ins and load-outs, attending site visits, conducting venue research, and reviewing proposals
• Recruit and manage volunteers

Lead Chicago Innovation Membership program:

• Act as lead point of contact for the organization’s year-round individual members
• Manage member on-boarding and renewals
• Develop and implement strategies to grow member base

Support communications and marketing initiatives:

• Lead Chicago Innovation’s social media presence across platforms (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram)
• Assist in a variety of marketing-related activities involving Google analytics, email marketing, SEO, website curation, video archive curation and promotion, and more

DESIRABLE TRAITS:

• Strong communicative skills including writing, presenting, and face-to-face interaction; strong attention to detail, and an ability to manage multiple tasks in a highly organized manner
• Positive attitude, entrepreneurial mindset, and a passion for building Chicago’s innovation community
• Technical proficiency with Microsoft Office, event registration platforms, email marketing platforms, and social media channels.

EXPERIENCE LEVEL:
This is an entry level position. We are seeking a candidate with 1-3 years of work experience in relevant fields, which can include relevant internship experience.