Creative Director for Events

Job description

Meeting Tomorrow is a 23-year-old company with a growing team of 90 talented, friendly people. We’re headquartered in Chicago, with about 80% of our team working remotely in cities across the country. We are a full-service event agency with three core divisions: planning, production, and creative. We plan and produce corporate events of every shape and size, partnering with clients that include Fortune 500 companies and leading organizations across a wide array of industries. We’re known for our exceptional customer experience, our collaborative culture, and our can-do spirit. Our culture has earned us recognition as a Top 20 Inspiring Workplace in North America, as well as the Events Industry Council's Social Impact Award. We offer great benefits, the best coworkers you’ll find anywhere, and the opportunity to work in a dynamic, team-oriented environment. We can’t wait to meet you! ### The Opportunity We're looking for a Creative Director to be the strategic and aesthetic engine behind our most complex client projects. You'll bridge brand strategy and physical experience, acting as the lead architect of the event journey for our clients’ corporate events. You'll blend traditional design principles with emerging AI tools to create immersive environments that tell a real story. This is a high-level individual contributor role who will own concept to final delivery and work with specialized external talent to bring it to life. ### What you'll own - Vision: Leading the vision for ideal solutions and event outcomes inclusive of estimating hours and costs at a high level - AI-enhanced concepting and narrative development: Utilizing AI tools (e.g. Midjourney, DALL-E, Adobe Firefly) and Adobe Creative Suite to create photorealistic concept art and "day-in-the-life" guest journey visualizations during the pitch phase + Using LLMs (e.g. Gemini, Claude) to refine event themes, scripts, and messaging frameworks, ensuring a cohesive "voice" across all event communications - Brand stewardship: ensuring every physical and digital touchpoint from stage design to registration reflects the client's brand - Sustainable design: proposing creative solutions that prioritize circularity and minimize environmental impact - Spatial and multimodal design: conceptualizing how physical spaces interact with digital layers (AR, spatial computing, interactive LED) - Freelancer orchestration: identifying, briefing, and directing specialized external talent (ex: 3D renderers, motion designers, AI artists) to execute specific project components ### Who you are - You're a builder of experiences. You see a blank page as an opportunity, not a problem. You dream outside the box but stay grounded in what actually works on the event floor. - You love the complexity of a full-scale conference and understand how the event website, foyer, breakouts, and main stage all work together, as well as how event tech (LED panels, lighting, sound) can be used creatively - You believe AI is already changing the creative workflow. You're fluent in the tools and have strong opinions about what they're for and what they aren't for - You can stand in front of a CMO and explain why your creative direction will drive their business goals - You have an uncompromising eye for typography, spatial flow, and color theory, even if you're not in the weeds of the design - You treat production, tech, and freelance partners as collaborators, not service providers - You own the work from concept through the final onsite walkthrough, ensuring every single deliverable points back to the event vision ### What you have - 8+ years of experience in experiential marketing, event production, or high-end experience-driven agency environments. - A maker's portfolio: live or hybrid experiences you conceived and delivered, not just supported. We want to see that you’ve designed general session stages and conference themes. - Drive: Proven ability to own a project from first brainstorm to final delivery without relying on a team underneath you - AI fluency: Hands-on use of AI tools for visual ideation, moodboarding, and narrative development, not theoretical interest - Evidence of scale: Fortune 500 brand work, $1M+ productions, or 500+ attendee experiences ### The Impact **Within 1 month, you'll:** - Learn internal Creative Services processes and proprietary tools like Backstage - Deeply understand the Meeting Tomorrow brand and the value we provide to clients - Shadow active projects and meet our key production, sales, and freelance partners - Build your first AI-enhanced mood board for a live or prospective client opportunity **Within 3 months, you'll:** - Lead creative on at least one complex client project from pitch through concept delivery - Curate a freelance bench of 3D renderers, motion designers, and AI artists we can pull from **Within 6 months, you'll:** - Own creative direction on a marquee project with measurable client impact - Set the standard for how our presentations sell a vision rather than a plan - Influence how the creative team prices, pitches, and delivers high-end experiential work across the agency ### Benefits • Medical, dental, and vision plan options • Employer paid STD, LTD, Life Insurance, and EAP access • 401k with employer matching up to 4% • 16 PTO days (increases with tenure) + 9 paid holidays • Annual profit-sharing bonus • 12 weeks 100% paid parental leave (maternity, paternity, adoption) • $50 Monthly fitness reimbursement • Monthly stipends for internet and/or cell • Company donation(s) to your charities of choice (up to $1,000 annually) • Regular social events and learning opportunities