Mike White: Director of Events and Branding in Danville, CA

As the Director of Events I’m responsible for end-to-end event production including, vendor, sponsor and technology management, budgets, catering and logistics. As the head of design and branding I manage a team of designers to execute all marketing and brand objectives across different verticals. - Produce 5 annual Equilar events hosting 100-400+ manager, executive, C-level and board attendees. These in-person events drive sales engagement and are a key attribution in multi-year client renewals. - After cancelling all in-person events for the calendar year, as a result of Covid19 restrictions, developed Equilar's first virtual event experience and webcast. These new channels yielded an increase of 15% in year-over-year event driven product demos. - Led company website rebrand with an external creative vendor and an internal design team while defining a clear product and solution web experience. This allowed the introduction of a new growth business while enhancing core legacy offerings and automating the segmentation of lead distribution.

During my professional design and marketing career I’ve had the opportunity to pursue independent projects outside of full-time employment breadth. Collaborations with established brands and start-ups have been some of the most rewarding moments in the growth and development of my career. These experiences have allowed me to produce creative solutions that clearly communicate the brand vision, identity and distinguish overall company objectives. - Worked closely with the founding team of an under-budgeted lifestyle clothing to develop realistic samples for their first product catalog, which introduced the brand to buyers at local skate, surf and snow shops. Developed their brand strategy which resulted in a pre-launch campaign that created tremendous anticipation and secured pre-orders from three popular local skate shops. - Developed the media kit, identity and website for a clean energy magazine start-up. These tools allowed them to secure their first round of independent financing to begin staffing and produce the publication.

I joined the GEARYS team to oversee the redevelopment of their e-commerce website and transition the 85 year old brand into the emerging digital marketplace. Built valuable partnerships with vendors, luxury brands and the City of Beverly Hills to develop co-branded campaigns, annual luxury product catalog and manage print and digital brand strategy in the Los Angeles and Beverly Hills markets. - Designed website wireframes and mockups that better defined customer channels in a complex family of luxury products exceeding 7,000 unique product SKUs. Online sales increased 20-35% during the first quarter after debuting the new e-commerce website. - Defined social media demographic segmentation strategy. Led to increase in first-time buyers who weren’t familiar with the GEARYS brand. - Attended luxury industry trade shows with GEARYS product buyers for annual catalog trend forecasting and planning. Art directed, designed and produced the annual luxury product style book. Created an increase in year-over-year catalog-driven sales by 25% in a “down year” and reserved enough budgeted resources for exploring new digital channels of distribution. - Streamlined internal communications for daily product campaign knowledge and sales briefing.

Worked closely with award-winning Chef Alessandro Pirozzi to develop the brand, voice and the identity for his restaurants Alessa Laguna Beach, Mare Culinary Lounge and Pirozzi Corona Del Mar. Collaborated with the Chef and his management team to develop menus, point of purchase promotional material and advertising campaigns. - Built strategic campaigns to promote new “Antipasti Hour,” including partnerships with local publications, hotels and events centers. The promotion necessitated hiring additional staff to manage newly acquired patrons as sales during off-peak hours increased by more than 60% in the first 60 days. - Developed social media and digital promotion strategy while making existing email, print and digital campaigns more targeted and effective. - Hosted local events and private caterings for strategic brand visibility. Through these efforts the popular restaurateur, Alessandro Pirozzi, was named Chef of the Year by Orange Coast and Riviera Magazines.