Corwin Hiebert - Expert Profile on News Bureau
As seen on http://www.newsbureau.ca/.
Corwin Hiebert specializes in managing and marketing events for corporations and non-profit organizations. With over 12 years of experience in the event industry, Corwin has managed near every kind of event, from international road shows to local fundraisers.
As a member of the Project Management Institute and the Association of Fundraising Professionals, Corwin is a proven expert who knows how to inspire and manage stakeholders, making each event a huge success.
During the past four years, Corwin has been a consultant to the largest software company in the world, Microsoft, for which he has managed over 300 international training events. “Our entire program has benefited greatly from Corwin’s involvement,” says Tracy Leonardo, Microsoft Worldwide ISV Early Adoption Manager, “he has become a well-known resource around Microsoft.”
As a true project manager, Corwin believes event management should be treated like any other mission-critical venture and should be approached in a highly structured manner. “Most often events go wrong or cause stakeholders undue stress because the tasks were not clearly outlined and assigned but were simply planned by feel,” says Corwin. He believes event minutia should be planned out ahead of time and that tasks should be assigned and tracked, rather than by trying to manage things via e-mail or checklists. Above all, he insists that, “Stakeholders should have access to information 24/7. Use SharePoint or Google Documents; use something online where key individuals can be fully involved with the event planning process. The days of the lone ranger are long gone.” John Atwater, Director of Marketing, Habañero Consulting, calls Corwin an “A player” and feels he balances the difficult tasks of managing a project with ease and never stops “building rapport and developing trust.”
After 7 years working in the non-profit community of Kelowna, BC, Corwin and his wife Eileen moved to Vancouver in 2003. While attending night classes, he worked full time for a technology marketing consulting firm, Asentus Consulting Group. Corwin confesses that last winter, while managing an event in Amsterdam, he would sneak back to his hotel room once things started to die down so that he could write a term paper that was due, e-mailing it to his professor just minutes before the deadline. “That was crazy! Good thing the vending machines were stocked!” he remarks. Since starting Red Wagon Management in January 2007, Corwin has taken on the event industry with a passion for helping his clients experience stress free, sustainable practices for their events.
With a team of specialized contractors (writers, editors, photographers, videographers, business strategists, designers, accountants, travel agents, technology specialists, and event coordinators), Red Wagon Management can cover all the bases, whether an event is small or large, or if it is around the corner or halfway around the world. In July 2007, Corwin managed Western Canada’s largest yoga event, the Camp Moomba Yogathon, in support of Canadian children impacted by HIV/AIDS. This fundraiser brought 1,000 people together to practice yoga and raised nearly $100,000 in order to make summer camp a reality for kids in need. “His planning skills, rapport with stakeholders, and commitment to reaching our goals has been exceptional,” states Don Wong, former Executive Director for the Western Canadian Pediatric AIDS Society, “I highly recommend him as a project manager.”
Corwin is available for interviews regarding the planning or marketing of local and international events.
