Caroline “Carrie” Dietrich, 38, works in Washington, D.C., as program manager, conferences and meetings at National League of Cities. As a 2017 40 Under 40 honoree, Dietrich discusses her passion for the events industry.
*Connect with Dietrich on Twitter and Instagram. What I do: I manage the logistics and meeting planning for the Daniel Rose Center, which is a program in partnership with the Urban Land Institute that consists of roughly 15 meetings a year. I am also part of the planning team for two annual conferences at National League of Cities, focusing on housing and other on-site logistics. Finally, I work on other events during the summer meeting schedule at NLC as needed. How I got here: Sometimes I pinch myself when I think about my career because I started out as an elementary school teacher for six years. When I left the teaching profession, I began building my resume by networking and participating in as many event experiences as I could. Luckily for me the hard work paid off, and I was fortunate to be hired by the ULI and now NLC, despite not having a degree in this industry. My greatest career accomplishment: I’m proud of taking the risk and leaving teaching to pursue my dream of being a meeting professional. I’m also proud of the relationships I’ve formed with colleagues and peers since I started in this profession because it is they who drive me to be better at my job. Impressive stats: I manage concessions for our two main conferences with our housing vendor, which usually includes 10 to 15 hotels or more. This is a giant puzzle for some, but I love it. Also, in my time with the Rose Center, I helped win a grant for an additional program that added an entire fellowship to our scope of work. Specific improvements I’ve made: I helped create a function form for our main conferences and meetings requests, something that helped set up a better system for managing the work our department does on a yearly basis. I also created multiple documents that I use when working with hotels to help make the process of booking through execution of the event much smoother. Finally, I have created a few different calendar trackers to keep everyone on my team on schedule and plan well into the future. What I’m working on: I am helping with planning an entire new fellowship for the Rose Center, which is about halfway through, and we are already making adjustments for next year. We are also looking at doing our study tour for the Rose Center in a new international location, which presents challenges I’m happy to tackle. What I do outside of work: I enjoy spending time with friends and exploring my city. I taught fifth- and sixth-grade history, so there is a lot to keep me occupied here in D.C.! I also play tennis and enjoy running.
