Convention Industry Council - CIC
Director of Communications
Convention Industry Council - CIC - Alexandria, Virginia, us, 22350
Work at Convention Industry Council - CIC
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Overview
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: SVP, Marketing and Communications Position Summary
: A strategic leader in Visit Alexandria’s award-winning Marketing & Communications (MarComm) Department, the Director of Communications develops and leads communications and content strategies and serves as a project manager across numerous organization-wide initiatives. Works closely with members of the MarComm team and the senior leadership team, and supports an integrated approach across paid, earned and owned channels. Manages communications team members and external media relations and visitor guide agency. Serves as day-to-day media relations and communications strategy lead. Creates messaging and targeting strategies to communicate key messages to our key audiences of leisure visitors, meeting and event planners, conference attendees, and travel trade – domestically and internationally. The Director of Communications is required to live in or relocate to the Washington, D.C. region, within a reasonable distance of Alexandria, VA, to adhere to the hybrid schedule and journalist hosting responsibilities.
About Visit Alexandria Located minutes from Washington, D.C., Visit Alexandria is the City of Alexandria's not-for-profit destination marketing organization (DMO), promoting Alexandria, Virginia, as a premier destination for tourism and meetings. Our organizational culture values teamwork, strategy, creativity and innovation centered in a passion for our community. Named a 2024 Top U.S. City by the Travel + Leisure World’s Best Awards and a 2024 Top 3 Best Small City by the Condé Nast Traveler Readers’ Choice Awards, Alexandria hums with a cosmopolitan feel and a walkable lifestyle—a welcoming escape adjacent to our nation’s capital. With a nationally designated historic district founded in 1749, Alexandria is home to more than 200 independent restaurants and boutiques alongside intimate historic museums and new happenings at the waterfront. At the heart of it all is bustling King Street, a walkable mile recognized as one of the “Great Streets” of America. Visitors can explore vibrant neighborhoods beyond Old Town, trace George Washington and the Founding Fathers’ footsteps and follow the stories of Black Americans who shaped the history of Alexandria and the United States.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities Communications
Are you ready to apply Make sure you understand all the responsibilities and tasks associated with this role before proceeding. • Leads a PR-first storytelling approach for media relations, content development and more, investing in a team culture of curiosity and enthusiasm to explore and uncover new and trending experiences throughout the city and connecting to larger travel trends. • Ensures communications strategies are grounded in Visit Alexandria’s brand strategy, making a positive emotional connection with target audiences, uniquely identifying Alexandria from its competitors, and promoting Alexandria as a compelling destination to key target audiences. • Oversees the development and evolution of key messages for the destination and major initiatives, addressing core audiences including visitors, meeting planners, travel trade, journalists and members. • Sets communications and PR goals, objectives and strategies and manages organization-wide communications initiatives. • Serves as day-to-day media relations and communications strategy lead. • Oversees the development and project management of seasonal content timelines and annual PR pitching calendar. • Leads communications and content planning for Visit Alexandria’s member promotions and major events. • Develops strong relationships with Visit Alexandria member businesses and business associations, uncovering trends and story ideas. • Directs website editorial content, working closely with Sr. Digital Content Manager to design and develop new pages, and Visit Alexandria’s PR and Communications Manager on editorial content for the “Best Of” blog. • Oversees production of the Official Alexandria Visitor Guide. Works with agency partner and Visit Alexandria’s membership team to generate Visitor Guide revenue to offset printing expense through advertising opportunities for members. • Advises Director of Marketing on photo and video asset needs for editorial use. • Contributes writing for special projects. Media Relations • Oversees the creation and execution of media relations strategies, working with PR agency of record and PR and Communications Manager. • Manages media requests and maintains strong relationships with journalists across the international, national, regional and local media landscape. • Cultivates strong destination storytelling and spearheads the creation of press materials highlighting what’s new, trends, seasonal events, meetings and sales programs and Visit Alexandria/tourism impact stories. • Secures and oversees the production of domestic and international familiarization (FAM) trips and individual press trips; serves as escort on media visits and accompanying media for meals, as needed, including occasional evenings and weekends. • Serves as a member of the Northern Virginia Tourism Partnership (NVTP) PR committee and is also responsible for attending occasional media missions in target markets. • Works with regional TV producers to plan and arrange broadcast segments. • Oversees the development and maintenance of PR tools for media (i.e. digital press kits, image galleries, briefing sheets). • Maintains and updates organizational media lists on a regular basis. • Manages Visit Alexandria’s crisis communications plan, working closely with Visit Alexandria’s senior leadership team. • Acts as an official spokesperson in media interviews and speaking engagements. Supervisory Responsibilities • Manages the hiring, management and evaluation of communications staff. Direct reports include the Senior Digital Content Manager and PR and Communications Manager. • Manages external agency that is both Visit Alexandria’s PR agency of record and visitor guide publisher, including establishing and evaluating the scope of services, and delivery of accurate, on-time and effective results. • Establishes objectives, coaches and counsels direct report employees in line with organizational professional development priorities. Leadership and Project Management • Serves on Visit Alexandria’s leadership team. • Works closely with the SVP, Marketing & Communications to help set goals, shape strategy, manage budget and report results. • Works closely with SVP, Marketing & Communications and VP, Marketing & Research to ensure consistent brand positioning and storytelling across communications channels. • Works with SVP, Marketing & Communications and VP, Marketing & Research to ensure a high level of integration between marketing and communications strategies and planning across organizational functions and across key audiences. • Oversees the PR and Communications Manager on project management of inter-departmental timelines across numerous organization-wide initiatives. • Represents Visit Alexandria in various capacities, including serving on tourism committees and boards and as the PR contact for industry partners including Virginia Tourism Corporation (VTC) and others. • Oversees annual travel and tourism industry award applications and promotional timelines. Financial and Administrative • Manages and ensures efficient use of budget for communications programs including media relations, website, visitor guide and more. • Ensures communications and PR efforts are tracked in CRM and also reported to key stakeholders. • Oversees monthly communications department reports and other media reports for various projects. Qualifications • 5 to 10 years of communications experience • At least 3 years of management experience • B.A. degree in communications, PR, journalism or related field • Demonstrated strength in media relations • Excellent project management skills with a strong attention to detail • Strategic approach with experience setting goals and objectives and managing complex communications projects • Strong storytelling ability with outstanding written and oral communication skills • Demonstrated initiative, ownership and time management skills • Experience managing vendors and contractors preferred • Positive energy and excellent interpersonal skills; ability to interact with a wide variety of people, both internally and externally, at all levels • Ability to creatively approach problems and assigned projects • Available to work occasional evening and weekend hours • Crisis communications experience preferred • Familiarity with Alexandria or the tourism/hospitality industry a plus Compensation and Work Environment • Salary commensurate with experience • Full insurance package including health, dental, vision and disability • 401(k) match up to 12% after one year • 12 days paid vacation in Year One, increasing to 17 days in Years Two to Five, and 22 days in Years Six and beyond • 14 ½ paid holidays • Up to 12 days of paid sick leave per year • Paid parental leave • Paid parking or equivalent Metro public transit benefit • Office is Metro accessible (King St-Old Town) • Monthly reimbursement toward mobile phone bill • Modern office facility including private office with access to adjacent co-working space, bike room, shower, game room and roof deck • Hybrid work model, with in-office work expected on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, and remote most Mondays and Fridays Our culture is collaborative, celebratory, innovative and accountable. We work hard, but there is genuine respect for work-life balance, health, family, service and flexibility. To Apply
: Please send a cover letter and resume to DoC@visitalexva.com with “Director of Communications” in the subject line. Please include how you learned about this job posting. No unsolicited phone calls, direct messages to staff or office visits, please.
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: SVP, Marketing and Communications Position Summary
: A strategic leader in Visit Alexandria’s award-winning Marketing & Communications (MarComm) Department, the Director of Communications develops and leads communications and content strategies and serves as a project manager across numerous organization-wide initiatives. Works closely with members of the MarComm team and the senior leadership team, and supports an integrated approach across paid, earned and owned channels. Manages communications team members and external media relations and visitor guide agency. Serves as day-to-day media relations and communications strategy lead. Creates messaging and targeting strategies to communicate key messages to our key audiences of leisure visitors, meeting and event planners, conference attendees, and travel trade – domestically and internationally. The Director of Communications is required to live in or relocate to the Washington, D.C. region, within a reasonable distance of Alexandria, VA, to adhere to the hybrid schedule and journalist hosting responsibilities.
About Visit Alexandria Located minutes from Washington, D.C., Visit Alexandria is the City of Alexandria's not-for-profit destination marketing organization (DMO), promoting Alexandria, Virginia, as a premier destination for tourism and meetings. Our organizational culture values teamwork, strategy, creativity and innovation centered in a passion for our community. Named a 2024 Top U.S. City by the Travel + Leisure World’s Best Awards and a 2024 Top 3 Best Small City by the Condé Nast Traveler Readers’ Choice Awards, Alexandria hums with a cosmopolitan feel and a walkable lifestyle—a welcoming escape adjacent to our nation’s capital. With a nationally designated historic district founded in 1749, Alexandria is home to more than 200 independent restaurants and boutiques alongside intimate historic museums and new happenings at the waterfront. At the heart of it all is bustling King Street, a walkable mile recognized as one of the “Great Streets” of America. Visitors can explore vibrant neighborhoods beyond Old Town, trace George Washington and the Founding Fathers’ footsteps and follow the stories of Black Americans who shaped the history of Alexandria and the United States.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities Communications
Are you ready to apply Make sure you understand all the responsibilities and tasks associated with this role before proceeding. • Leads a PR-first storytelling approach for media relations, content development and more, investing in a team culture of curiosity and enthusiasm to explore and uncover new and trending experiences throughout the city and connecting to larger travel trends. • Ensures communications strategies are grounded in Visit Alexandria’s brand strategy, making a positive emotional connection with target audiences, uniquely identifying Alexandria from its competitors, and promoting Alexandria as a compelling destination to key target audiences. • Oversees the development and evolution of key messages for the destination and major initiatives, addressing core audiences including visitors, meeting planners, travel trade, journalists and members. • Sets communications and PR goals, objectives and strategies and manages organization-wide communications initiatives. • Serves as day-to-day media relations and communications strategy lead. • Oversees the development and project management of seasonal content timelines and annual PR pitching calendar. • Leads communications and content planning for Visit Alexandria’s member promotions and major events. • Develops strong relationships with Visit Alexandria member businesses and business associations, uncovering trends and story ideas. • Directs website editorial content, working closely with Sr. Digital Content Manager to design and develop new pages, and Visit Alexandria’s PR and Communications Manager on editorial content for the “Best Of” blog. • Oversees production of the Official Alexandria Visitor Guide. Works with agency partner and Visit Alexandria’s membership team to generate Visitor Guide revenue to offset printing expense through advertising opportunities for members. • Advises Director of Marketing on photo and video asset needs for editorial use. • Contributes writing for special projects. Media Relations • Oversees the creation and execution of media relations strategies, working with PR agency of record and PR and Communications Manager. • Manages media requests and maintains strong relationships with journalists across the international, national, regional and local media landscape. • Cultivates strong destination storytelling and spearheads the creation of press materials highlighting what’s new, trends, seasonal events, meetings and sales programs and Visit Alexandria/tourism impact stories. • Secures and oversees the production of domestic and international familiarization (FAM) trips and individual press trips; serves as escort on media visits and accompanying media for meals, as needed, including occasional evenings and weekends. • Serves as a member of the Northern Virginia Tourism Partnership (NVTP) PR committee and is also responsible for attending occasional media missions in target markets. • Works with regional TV producers to plan and arrange broadcast segments. • Oversees the development and maintenance of PR tools for media (i.e. digital press kits, image galleries, briefing sheets). • Maintains and updates organizational media lists on a regular basis. • Manages Visit Alexandria’s crisis communications plan, working closely with Visit Alexandria’s senior leadership team. • Acts as an official spokesperson in media interviews and speaking engagements. Supervisory Responsibilities • Manages the hiring, management and evaluation of communications staff. Direct reports include the Senior Digital Content Manager and PR and Communications Manager. • Manages external agency that is both Visit Alexandria’s PR agency of record and visitor guide publisher, including establishing and evaluating the scope of services, and delivery of accurate, on-time and effective results. • Establishes objectives, coaches and counsels direct report employees in line with organizational professional development priorities. Leadership and Project Management • Serves on Visit Alexandria’s leadership team. • Works closely with the SVP, Marketing & Communications to help set goals, shape strategy, manage budget and report results. • Works closely with SVP, Marketing & Communications and VP, Marketing & Research to ensure consistent brand positioning and storytelling across communications channels. • Works with SVP, Marketing & Communications and VP, Marketing & Research to ensure a high level of integration between marketing and communications strategies and planning across organizational functions and across key audiences. • Oversees the PR and Communications Manager on project management of inter-departmental timelines across numerous organization-wide initiatives. • Represents Visit Alexandria in various capacities, including serving on tourism committees and boards and as the PR contact for industry partners including Virginia Tourism Corporation (VTC) and others. • Oversees annual travel and tourism industry award applications and promotional timelines. Financial and Administrative • Manages and ensures efficient use of budget for communications programs including media relations, website, visitor guide and more. • Ensures communications and PR efforts are tracked in CRM and also reported to key stakeholders. • Oversees monthly communications department reports and other media reports for various projects. Qualifications • 5 to 10 years of communications experience • At least 3 years of management experience • B.A. degree in communications, PR, journalism or related field • Demonstrated strength in media relations • Excellent project management skills with a strong attention to detail • Strategic approach with experience setting goals and objectives and managing complex communications projects • Strong storytelling ability with outstanding written and oral communication skills • Demonstrated initiative, ownership and time management skills • Experience managing vendors and contractors preferred • Positive energy and excellent interpersonal skills; ability to interact with a wide variety of people, both internally and externally, at all levels • Ability to creatively approach problems and assigned projects • Available to work occasional evening and weekend hours • Crisis communications experience preferred • Familiarity with Alexandria or the tourism/hospitality industry a plus Compensation and Work Environment • Salary commensurate with experience • Full insurance package including health, dental, vision and disability • 401(k) match up to 12% after one year • 12 days paid vacation in Year One, increasing to 17 days in Years Two to Five, and 22 days in Years Six and beyond • 14 ½ paid holidays • Up to 12 days of paid sick leave per year • Paid parental leave • Paid parking or equivalent Metro public transit benefit • Office is Metro accessible (King St-Old Town) • Monthly reimbursement toward mobile phone bill • Modern office facility including private office with access to adjacent co-working space, bike room, shower, game room and roof deck • Hybrid work model, with in-office work expected on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, and remote most Mondays and Fridays Our culture is collaborative, celebratory, innovative and accountable. We work hard, but there is genuine respect for work-life balance, health, family, service and flexibility. To Apply
: Please send a cover letter and resume to DoC@visitalexva.com with “Director of Communications” in the subject line. Please include how you learned about this job posting. No unsolicited phone calls, direct messages to staff or office visits, please.
#J-18808-Ljbffr