MPI Toronto Chapter

Nominated for Mentor of the Year at the 2024 MPI Toronto Gala

Leadership Selection Committee

Continue to grow in my leadership role serving the MPI Toronto Chapter.

VP of Communication and Strategic Partnerships

- Honour in March 2022 with the Future Leader of the Year Award by MPI Toronto Chapter
- Active Board Member with a voice and vote on chapter plans and business decisions
- Mentor and co-lead the Strategic Partnerships portfolio with Committee Chair 
- Develop 2021/2022 Strategic Partnership Business Plan and Objectives
- Elevate Sponsorship Prospectus options, contents, and visual marketing elements
- Manage relationships and outreach programs that support the chapter's planned event experiences and activations for all experience committees, including Holiday Gala, Awards Gala, Professional Development Events, Just Networking Events, and Golf Tournament
- Negotiate and Execute contract terms and benefit deliverables with the committee
- Plan and manage the Strategic Partnership Marketplace programs that leverage the social platform to amplify our partners' audience reach and brand awareness

Board of Directors - Strategic Partnerships

- Nominated  for 2021 MPI Awards:  Future Leader of the Year, Outstanding Volunteer of the Year, Mentor of the Year, and Planner of the Year 
- Led, motivated, inspired and keep engagement high for a team of event professionals who volunteered in the Marketing Committee - also known as #teamawesome for 2020/2021
- Assigned ownerships and fostered buddy partnerships that aligned to each member's personal development goals and strengths they could contribute
- Led and project managed the committee to help execute, content manage, collaborate, and post engaging Social contents 
- Encourage an environment of trust and collaborations on all projects and support groups 
- Managed the social reports that measured the engagment activities and impression scores 
- During the fiscal term, social followers on MPI TO's LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter resulted in 8,458 Followers with an increase of 740 new Audience growth from LY and 427 new connections or 35% growth on LinkedIn. 2,323 Social Posts were content managed and scheduled into the social platforms. A total of 22% increase in Activities, 8900+ Likes, and 1,500+ clicks.   
- New Facebook Private Group was formed for MPI TO, enabling a more connected community to share and communicate more social conversations.   This private group currently has over 207 members on this engaging platform.

Marketing Chair 

- Nominated for 2020 New Member of the Year Award
- Managed the intake of social contents submitted by MPI Toronto Committee groups
- Strategically scheduled posts based on optimal and consistent times aligned to the engagment response reports
- Developed and maintained the monthly Social Dashboard Report for the Board of Directors 
- Provided results summary and recommendations for future posts to improve the engagement and impression score

Marketing Committee Volunteer 

Quest Audio Visual Inc

Strategic Leadership: Lead the overall sales and marketing strategy, working closely with the executive team to align with the company's vision and goals. Develop and execute innovative sales and marketing initiatives to drive revenue growth and increase market share.

Sales Team Management: Build and mentor a high-performing sales team, providing guidance, coaching, and support to ensure they meet or exceed targets. Foster a culture of collaboration, accountability, and continuous improvement within the sales team.

Marketing Strategy: Develop and implement comprehensive marketing strategies to effectively promote our products and services. Identify target markets, develop marketing campaigns, and optimize our digital presence to generate leads and enhance brand awareness.

Cross-Functional Collaboration: Collaborate with other departments, such as production, operations, and finance, to ensure alignment and integration of sales and marketing efforts. Foster strong relationships with key stakeholders to support business growth and achieve shared objectives.

Sales Performance Analysis: Utilize data-driven insights to monitor and analyze sales performance, identify areas of improvement, and make informed strategic decisions. Develop and implement sales metrics and reporting mechanisms to track progress and measure success.

Strategic Partnerships and Community Engagement: Develop and implement programs that foster stronger client relationships, all aligning with Quest AV's core values. Evaluate, plan, and engage with Community Association programs, enabling Quest AV to increase awareness and make valuable contributions to our event industry ecosystem.

Senior Director of Growth & Engagement

Evaluate, elevate and create engagement strategies that best showcase Quest Audio Visual as a trusted, innovative brand and partner in the Events Industry.  This includes the PR, Social Marketing and Branding updates to showcase Quest Audio Visual as a Premium Quality Event Production Company. 
Develop new processes to help create greater synergy in collaboration with internal leaders while fostering more strategic partnerships.

Director of Engagement Strategies

CAY VII INC

As a creative entrepreneur, CAY VII INC was launched in 2019 as an outlet that expanded my experience portfolio through contracted special projects with clients.  Services are flexible and can be adapted at any point in the client's project plan. Services may include Market Research, Event Strategy, Management, Execution from start to end for in-person, virtual and hybrid experiences, Strategic Partnerships and Sponsorship Prospectus, Project Management, Account Management.

Founder and Chief Experience Strategist

Engamio

Strategic Partner -  client referrals and support.

Strategic Partner

Build and lead the Strategic Partnership program at Engamio
- Develop portfolio profile solutions for partners
- Build, nurture, and manage partnership relationships 
- Support onboarding of partners, co-innovations, and integration roadmaps
- Contribute to the creative direction and development of new engagement activations
- Manage business intelligence against defined measured success metrics (KPIs)

Head of Strategic Partnership 

NexTech AR Solutions

• Coach mentored and led 15 direct reports that included Operation Enablement managers, talented UX and UI designers, and Product Managers.
• Project Managed team to drive profitable efficiency in the sales and delivery processes while leading other key initiatives to help position Nextech AR products in the market. 
• Managed Company Systems Audit to streamline application used to improve cross-functional efficiencies
• Implemented new processes to evaluate and onboard new software applications
• Co-led the Design & Development of a new Virtual Experience Platform - LiveX
• Project Managed and produced the virtual signature event - LiveNOW as a new Virtual Experience -Platform showcase. 
• Part of the executive team that defined the Go to Marketing Positioning and Messaging of core products
• Project Manage the new design of the company marketing landing page
• Client Engagment and account management of escalated client opportunities

Vice President of Special Projects

• Collaborate with all key stakeholders to help build the foundation of the Channel and Event Strategies at Nextech.  
• Developed and led channel marketing and strategic programs to enable channel partners to leverage Nextech AR's innovative virtual platform, which offers the event industry a more immersive and experiential way to connect. 
• Create Channel Marketing Tools for Partners to leverage as their sales kits to drive awareness and leads to Nextech 
• Build strategic presentation decks for investors and clients on the features and benefits of the Nextech Technology
• Build training materials that enable our Sales and Partners to highlight and showcase company product solutions
• Lead and Execute Sponsorship Event opportunities that help build Nextech as a DXP option for virtual events 
• Recruitment of Event Industry leaders to join Nextech 
• Outline the Sales to Delivery Experience Roadmap and establish new processes that help improve client experiences
• Co-create marketing content with partners inclusive of sizzle videos, and sales presentation documents

Director of Channel Marketing & Event Strategies

Hudson's Bay Company

• Engaged in corporate executive strategy meetings to allocate resources that support priority initiatives. 
• Managed  and prioritized the calendar of events for multiple banners
• Oversee and execute all strategic and operational functions of 8 annual off-site events aligned to HBC internal initiatives while managing budget savings of 20%. 
• Developed, managed, and communicated strategic training & development programs that support store teams in delivering elevated service experiences for full-service businesses. 
• Liasioned with strategic brand partners in the allocation of their regional support and resources for key marketing campaigns and activations
• Managed internal and external stakeholders and event suppliers for successful off-site events executions

Strategy & Operations Manager

• Strategic partnership with Merchant group,  Brand Partners, Store Operations and Marketing team in executing priority events that enhanced customer engagement in stores. 
• Managed $300K in payroll resources for training and development programs that enable stores to implement critical initiatives.
• Lead National Sales Manager conference calls that set event focuses, reviewed critical path action plans that would enable stores to exceed sales targets.
• Enabled over 15,000 in-store animation experiences through excellent collaboration with 3rd party demo support and brand representatives
• Achieved over 11 Million accumulative social impressions from a series of Inspired to Taste Canada events, and a 20% sales increase on each event date.
• Home sales increased 12% due to the success of the National Home Roadshow event in 4 cities with over 1200 participants.

National Sales Manager

• Project managed and executed all event plans and logistics for the first national Home Roadshow Event with a profit of $80K in event savings, and an 8% increase in sales for the following Fall season. 
• The success of this project involved skilled experience in the management of internal and external stakeholders, careful project management of critical path milestones, active collaborations between different enablement departments, excellent internal and external communications on event plans, and cautious budget planning and expense reconciliation.

Project Manager 

• As SME Business partner, collaborated with IT team and managed escalation process and priority of system updates to mitigate service interruptions, while enhancing on-line service experience.

Systems Business Manager 

• Elevated new brands‘ trust that HBC was an ideal hosting retailer through concise execution of Brands’  DNA and integrity in stores.
• Developed and trained new team on the process & procedures for the launch of the first Kleinfeld Hudson's Bay. 
• Project managed the cross country Intimates training event with 20  brand partners,  and trained 400+ associates.
• Coordinated over 200+ in store enhanced brand and product training experiences for internal associates.
• Created full service model and recruitment strategy for an incremental 200+ positions for top 18+ new brands.
• Standardized the Designated Seller Associate (DSA) Program Contracts, and established ownership of responsibilities that enabled a clearer and stronger partnership between brands, merchants, and stores.
• Managed the clothing allowance and incentive programs for Selling Specialists which resulted in a better in store management of inventory and an enhance appearance for selling specialists.

Brand Stewardship Manager

• Strategic partnerships with merchants, brand partners, marketing,  operations, and store team in planing sales-driving initiatives for all apparel groups, and drove a 12% increase over the plan.  
•  Negotiated an incremental 10% increase in annual payroll contribution for Designated Seller Program. 
• Lead Regional MMG Business Development Managers and delivered 5%+ plan on a $50M annual sales plan.

National Sales & Service Manager 

•In partnership with merchants, MMG Executives, and Store Executives, drove 8% sales increase for  MMG exclusive brands in 32 Ontario  Hudson’s Bay Stores through strategic training and development plans, consumer fashion events, execution of in-store merchandising presentation,  and strategic marketing plans.

MMG Business Development Manager

• Fast track training program experienced as Sales Manager, Merchandise Manager, and Assistant Store Manager in all HBC banners. 
• Strong performance in the diverse leadership roles lead to an early promotion as the  first  MMG Business Development Manager in Canada.

Future Executive Trainee - OPERATIONS

• Assisted Senior PDMs in the development of new collections for Private Brands through detailed execution in the product development process. 
• Role also involved team work collaboration with global sourcing team, technical design team and merchant team to ensure product quality assurance, and high sell through results.

Product Development Assocaite

Senior Director of Growth & Engagement at Quest AV | Thought Leader in Building Trust | Creative Audio Visual Solutions | #CommunityConnector | #Mentor | #SocialButterfly | #WomentoWatch | CMP | DES | SPEC | CSM | CSPO

Are you as curious as I am about building trust while being human-centric?

I'm Connie Cay-Santos, currently serving as the Senior Director of Growth & Engagement at Quest Audio Visual, where I lead the Sales, Marketing, and Business Development team. Quest Audio Visual stands as a top-tier provider of creative audiovisual solutions for events. With over two decades of professional management experience in corporate, association, and tech start-up environments, I proudly hold the Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) and the Sustainable Event Professional Certificate (SEPC) credentials, along with VEMM/DES, CSM, and CSPO certifications.

My duties encompass curating strategic partnerships focusing on a human-centric approach, operational excellence, and innovative experience solutions to foster trust. As a thought leader in building trust and leading by example, I spearhead the overall sales and marketing strategy, collaborating closely with the executive team to align with the company's vision and goals. Furthermore, I am committed to cultivating and mentoring a high-performing sales team, offering guidance, coaching, and support.

As a recognized leader in the event industry, I have secured a place on the 2023 #WomentoWatch list and Bizzabo's Top 55 2022 Event Experience Leaders. In 2022, the MPI Toronto Chapter honoured me with the Future Leader of the Year award. My mission is deeply ingrained in prioritizing humanity, aiming to empower and inspire others through my strategic and creative mindset.

Taplio

Connie Cay-Santos's Linkedin Analytics

Connie Cay-Santos

Want to drive more opportunities from LinkedIn?

Taplio

.css-1jgreyo{background-image:linear-gradient(284deg, rgba(39,43,72,1) 0%, rgba(33,47,183,1) 100%);color:transparent;-webkit-background-clip:text;background-clip:text;}Connie Cay-Santos's Linkedin Analytics

Connie Cay-Santos

Want to drive more opportunities from LinkedIn?

Connie Cay-Santos's Linkedin Analytics