Mandy Watters describes herself as passionate, thoughtful and a leader. Learn more about her.
What I do:.I plan a wide variety of events across the country, including multiday conferences, dinners, receptions and outings. Attendee numbers range from 1,700 to 20.
How I got here: I worked for a marketing company in college and was left with the impression that event planning was a career that I would excel at and enjoy. I went on to be a Project Manager in the HR industry among other roles, but ultimately, I transitioned into planning events in the media industry. I then set my sights on events in the financial services industry and specifically working for FIRST, and the rest is history!
Greatest career accomplishment: Getting hired by FIRST was a game-changer for me and in 2016, I was part of a team planning a complex, high-profile 500-person event, led by my colleague. I was blown away by her performance and I recognized what a great accomplishment it was to get assigned to lead this event. I set myself the goal of being selected to lead next time around and worked hard to build my reputation as a planner of the caliber of my colleague. To my delight, I did get assigned to lead the next one and did so successfully in 2019.
Impressive stats: I managed $10.9M in event budgets in 2019 and negotiated a $100K reduction in venue rental fees for a multi-day meeting in Feb 2020.
Specific improvement I’ve made: I formed the F&B Committee and successfully drove the elevation of the catering menus for the many on-campus events that our team plans in terms of offerings and formatting.
I also contributed to the blueprint for sustainable on-campus events that led to receiving our ISO20121 certification.
