Josh San Julian, 38, works in San Diego, California, as trade show and events manager at Lytx. As a 2019 40 Under 40 honoree, San Julian discusses his passion for the events industry.
*Connect with San Julian on Instagram and on LinkedIn.
What I do: I lead the planning and management of all domestic and international trade shows, customer-facing marketing events and the annual Lytx User Group Conference. I’m responsible for vendor management, mentoring junior team members, our department’s annual budget that is shared across multiple team’s strategic marketing goals, as well as ensuring all marketing events are on-brand.
How I got here: I got my start in events while in college volunteering to plan on-campus events. I took this experience and upon graduation directed my career path towards the corporate meeting and events industry. I now have a well-rounded background in the meeting and events industry having worked as a third-party meeting planner; in hotel sales; as freelance travel staff; and as internal planning with medical device, commercial brands and technology companies. My current role at Lytx has me focusing on marketing events. Over the years, I have planned meetings and events of all sizes, incentive programs and trade shows across the U.S., Europe, Latin America and Asia.
Greatest career accomplishment: In fall 2018, I planned and managed numerous trade shows and events that took place in a condensed timeframe. It concluded with three taking place over the same dates, two domestic and one international. Of the three, one was our largest annual presence at a trade show, where we were unveiling a new exhibit structure that I took lead on concept and design. I established a plan that gave each event the attention it required, and also assigned me to be on-site at two of the three events… in two different countries. In the end, all three events were a success, our new exhibit received rave reviews, and I mastered the art of being in multiple places at once.
Impressive stats: I manage the operations of a team of two. Together we are responsible for more than 75 domestic and international trade shows, customer-facing trainings and events, as well as our annual User Group Conference. In 2018 we streamlined our spending and event expenses to save more than $150,000 that was put back into the department to fund additional projects.
Specific improvement I’ve made: When I joined Lytx I immediately noticed that the company could benefit from a centralized calendar of events, as well as standardized communication for each event. I streamlined and created templates for all event communication, as well as internal documents. I also simplified the trade show and events calendar, and created a virtual home for it on the Lytx employee intranet.
What I am working on now: I’m currently working on our 2019 User Group Conference. Under my direction we changed our format of the event this year.
What I do outside of work: I enjoy traveling, exploring restaurants, cooking, great wine, live music and running.
