Kerri Dunne - The brains behind SWW

I had the distinct pleasure of sitting down with Kerri Dunne during SWW '09 and spend some time interviewing her. Kerri is, by many accounts, the brains behind SolidWorks World. As the manager of the events team, she oversees all that goes into making each year's SolidWorks World a success. However, believe it or not, SolidWorks World is only one of over 50 events that Kerri and her team, Liz Hamlin and Audrey McDowel, put together each year. Those events include nation-wide trade shows, incentive trips (I want in on one of those!), annual sales meeting and leadership events for resellers.
Kerri is a 13+ year veteran of SolidWorks. She started out in event planning, but moved into internet marketing for a while. When the Events Manager position opened up, she was compelled to go back to event planning. In her words, "When you're an event planner, you can never get out of it, it's in your blood. You just have to do it." I'd say it was a good move on SolidWorks' part to put her in that position. I have yet to hear of a bad SolidWorks event.
While Kerri and her team are the main people involved in the event planning, larger events mean they need additional help, so they'll hire in contractors. For SolidWorks World, where the scale is so much bigger, even more support staff are needed. They bring in additional help for A/V, networking and additional event planning.
How do they plan an event as large as SolidWorks World? They're able to estimate attendance based off of previous years' data, as well as customer base growth. The thing is, they've already planned SWW '10 & '11. Kerri and her team are working on SWW '12. No, she wouldn't tell me where '11 or '12 are going to be. Believe me, I tried. I actually interviewed Kerri before we'd found out that SWW '10 was going to be in Anaheim, and she wouldn't even cough up that info.
When it comes to the planning of SolidWorks World, Kerri's first concern is the facility. Are there rooms large enough to accomodate breakfast, lunch and the general session? Are there enough rooms, of adequate size, to accomodate all the breakout sessions? Is the layout conducive to good flow for the attendees? Are there enough hotel rooms? All questions that have to be answered before anything gets booked.
At this year's SolidWorks World, over 50 countries were represented. Attendees came from as far away as South Africa and Australia. The event team has a small role in foreign traveler's attendance as well. Many foreign attendees need letters from the company to obtain travel visas, which are indirectly supplied by SolidWorks.
When it comes to the special events, Kerri and her team turn to destination management groups with the city or venue. A "profile" is presented to the group outlining the general SolidWorks World attendee. From that profile, the management group provides a list of possible sites. The team will then fly out to view the various sites before any contracts are signed. Once everything has been chosen, the events team again flies out, a few months prior to SWW and makes sure all the preparations are taken care of and that there aren't any glitches.
While there are those who label Kerri as the busiest SolidWorks employee at SWW, she was quick to point out that all the SolidWorks employees eat, breath and sleep SolidWorks World while there. She mentioned, too, the amount of employees that are working "behind the scenes", making sure everything runs smoothly. That's a sure sign of a good manager; one who gives just dues to those that deserve it.
I asked her, too, about SolidWorks World being held in a foreign location. She said that it was something that had been talked about but it was cost prohibitive. By keeping SolidWorks World in the states, SolidWorks is able to keep the conference fees down. To move it overseas would only increase the fees for the attendees.
I truly enjoyed talking with Kerri. As with most SolidWorks employees, her passion was out there in the open. As she spoke of SolidWorks World, you could almost feel just how much she truly enjoys what she does. If you ever have a chance to meet Kerri, be sure to thank her for a job well done.

Comments

[Lou Gallo]

Nice post Jef! Kerri is extremely talented and SWW would never be the event it is without her involvment. It is imporant to understand all that goes into pulling off an event like SWW.

[Kerri Dunne]

Jeff, Thank you for the kind words. I enjoyed talking with you.
I hope everyone enjoyed themselves and learned a lot at this year's conference. Now, off to start planning for 2010! Can't wait!
Best regards,
Kerri Dunne, Manager, Events
DS SolidWorks Corp.