Description

Association TRENDS and CEO Update are sister brands within Columbia Books & Information Services that serve the association and nonprofit community at different levels of seniority. Association TRENDS is a broad-based information and training brand for association and nonprofit professionals across functions, offering news, awards, webinars, training, and marketing solutions that help leaders improve operations, membership, and non-dues revenue. CEO Update is a more specialized premium brand focused on association C-suite leaders, delivering leadership news, executive moves, compensation and benchmarking data, and analysis through a subscription-based platform and related content.

The Association Event Marketing Lead owns strategy and execution for all association events and related initiatives across Association TRENDS and CEO Update, from large, industry-wide TRENDS programs and awards to high-touch CEO Update executive roundtables, dinners, and leadership recognition. This role plans and runs integrated, multi-channel campaigns (digital marketing, event communications, and award promotion) that drive registrations, engagement, and sponsorship value while maintaining clear brand positioning—practical and industry-wide for Association TRENDS, and exclusive, leadership-centric, and relationship-driven for CEO Update in close coordination with the events team and Association Marketing Director.

Requirements

Association events strategy and campaigns 

• Lead association events digital marketing, including campaign planning, target audience definition, and channel mix (email, web, social, paid).
• Partner with the Marketing Director on association events marketing strategy, ensuring alignment with business goals and brand positioning.
• Own association event email build and deployment, including segmentation, testing, and performance reporting.
• Manage association event site creation and ongoing updates in the WordPress or Drupal, including registration, pricing, promo codes, and sponsor recognition.

Event program, speakers, and collateral 

• Oversee association event speaker management from a marketing and logistics perspective (bios, photos, session descriptions, promotional support).  
• Lead association marketing collateral design and production for events, including signage, flyers, program guides, attendee communications, and post-event surveys.  
• Coordinate association marketing materials for exhibition opportunities and sponsorship deliverables in conjunction with the events and sales teams.

Brand programs and recurring series 

• Manage and market the TRENDY Awards, including campaign strategy, call for entries, submission review process, finalist and winner communications, and event promotion.  
• Lead the marketing and event logistics for “First Tuesdays,” including audience development, conversation catalyst identification, event promotion, and post-event documentation.

Platforms, data, and collaboration 

• Own Salesforce/Marketing Cloud campaigns for association event initiatives, including email journeys, lists, and reporting.
• Experience with Feathr or comparable digital advertising tools and a strong understanding of digital retargeting strategies for event and content promotion.
• Coordinate with the CEO Update Marketing Lead to feature association events in CEO Update newsletters and social channels and use postevent follow-up to convert engaged attendees into new membership signups.
• Contribute to social media and advertising deliverables for association events, in collaboration with the broader marketing team.

Qualifications 

• Proven experience in event marketing, integrated campaigns, or B2B marketing.
• Hands-on experience building campaigns in email/CRM platforms, ideally Salesforce/Marketing Cloud.
• Familiarity with WordPress or similar CMS tools for event site and landing page management.
• Demonstrated graphic design experience, preferably with hands-on proficiency in Canva for creating digital and social media assets.
• Strong project management skills and ability to manage multiple events and deadlines simultaneously.
• Creative, analytical, and comfortable working closely with events, sales, and editorial stakeholders.