Posted on August 25, 2012

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Entertainment Specialist

The USO of Metropolitan Washington is a private, nonprofit organization whose proud mission is to serve military service members and their families. Every program and service has been developed to give back to the men, women, and children who sacrifice so much for our Country. USO of Metropolitan Washington (USO-Metro) is the largest of the chartered centers for USO around the world. With some 160 locations worldwide, USO-Metro operates four Airport Assistance Centers, five Family Support Centers, a Mobile USO Program (reaching 26 local military installations), and a myriad of programs, events, and services.

The Entertainment Specialist reports to the Manager of Hospital Services and Entertainment. Overall responsibilities include:

Secures and organizes the participation of celebrities and other VIPs in all activities of USO-Metro.

• Works with area venues and special donors to secure ticket donations. Coordinates excursions of service members and their guests to venues for participation.
• Solicits and secures auction items and celebrity autographed memorabilia for use by USO-Metro.
• Recruits, trains, schedules, and supervises volunteers as it relates to entertainment efforts.

Specific Responsibilities:

• Researches, recruits and secures talent for Celebrity Handshake Tours, autograph sessions and special events and programs using all means possible.
• Manages the entire celebrity visit including working with the guest’s publicist, handling vendors and outlining logistics and itineraries for each of the visits. Ensures that each experience is positive and rewarding for the celebrity guest.
• Develops and maintains the organizational database of celebrity participation which accurately details what took place during visits including such things as who was visited, what their impressions were, and any follow up required.
• Provides weekly reports to management on outreach, ongoing discussions and outcomes of visits.
• Coordinates any follow up required following each visit, including preparing acknowledgements, providing additional information or solicitation and securing of autographed items.
• Maintains and fosters positive relationships with celebrity management keeping in mind potential future support requests.
• Works closely with the appropriate USO-Metro managers and with Communications Manager to plan and coordinate local media needs and outreach as appropriate prior to, during and/or after the celeb/VIP visit.
• Arranges and provides briefing details to staff/ volunteer escorts and coordinates visits with the military commands.
• Prepares all correspondence both prior to and following each celebrity interaction to accurately solidify details and acknowledge celebrities participation in USO-Metro activities.
• Regularly meets/interacts with the Hospital Services, Special Events, Communications, Programs and Centers teams to understand organizational celebrity needs and works to fulfill requests.
• Responsible for developing and supervising a core group of volunteers trained specifically to escort celebrities at the hospitals and conduct excursions. This includes proper training of military cadre assigned to escort.
• Prepares and distributes materials to VIPs in advance of appearance to familiarize them with USO-Metro programs and services, and ensures they are properly oriented upon arrival.
• Coordinates visits requiring participation of the President/ CEO with the Executive Assistant, ensuring proper preparation.
• Works with communications team to tastefully report outcomes of celebrity activity.
• Works with USO-Metro staff hosting a celebrity to properly market events and activities and create marketing materials.
• May occasionally serve as an escort on celebrity visits and other departmental excursions.
• Monitors budget.
• Creates and maintains records of correspondence, in-kind contributions of auction items, tickets and volunteer hours of service for the entertainment volunteers.

Areas of Competency:

• Excellent written and oral communications skills with emphasis on creating and writing collateral material.
• Ability to interact/present to the public, military, staff and volunteers.
• Highly organized, accountable, flexible, detail oriented and self-motivated with the ability to manage multiple tasks and remain calm in hectic situations. Must be able to use discretion and tact when dealing with sensitive issues.
• Experience coordinating and supervising volunteers.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to work in a team environment.
• Excellent computer skills in Microsoft Office applications such as Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint and Publisher. Will become fluent in Volgistics (volunteer management) and Celebrity Access software.
• Possess good judgment and be able to work independently, while keeping supervisor informed.
• High energy with a can-do spirit and be customer service oriented.

Education/Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree.
• 3-4 years of experience with sports and/or entertainment celebrities, other VIPs preferred.
• Experience in event management, special events, PR and/or media relations a plus.