Interview by Janet Scarborough of Laurie Dawson, M.A., Event Manager, The Boeing Company

What does an Event Manager for Boeing do?
I am responsible for monitoring and reporting on the myriad of software releases/upgrades, roll overs and cutovers (the implementation of new and/or upgraded software into an application), application outages, reporting on decisions made regarding the taking down of applications and plans for their subsequent reactivation, and operating as a liaison between my team leads and the rest of the groups with whom we interface. I do Project Management as well on various efforts. Part of the job also involves networking with other managers to problem solve and effect positive change to existing issues. I am also responsible for documenting the many evolving access processes that are occurring within our group.

What does a typical day look like in your job?
I come in very early, to prepare for a series of telecons. I can log into the meetings via net meeting, or listen through headphones to meetings that are addressing the conditions, issues, challenges and status of various software releases/upgrades and the applications that they are being rolled into. I collect status reports from my team leads and report this information to the facilitators of these telecons. Conversely information is gathered from these telecons and reported back to the team leads in my group. After this, I do a lot of reading and responding to large amounts of email, as Event Managers are responsible for filtering through enormous amounts of technical reports, charts, updates, etc. to determine what is germane to our group. I also answer and/or forward on questions regarding our group's interface with the ever emerging software events.

Then there are many meetings to physically attend, for gathering and distributing information. I am responsible for creating weekly status reports, user reports, problem management statements and other measures of the build exchange metrics that occur. When major Events are on the horizon and when they are being implemented, this activity intensifies.

What do you like best about your job?
Networking with other groups - the most relevant information is collected this way, and it is fun to interface with real people!

What are the most challenging things about your job?
Trying to keep on top of the voluminous amount of information that comes in via email, meetings, telecons, phone calls and other methods. It is overwhelming!

How did you land this job?
It is curious, I did not apply directly to The Boeing Company or do so through any recruiting agency. I was on many electronic job search engines and one of them carried my resume to Boeing. Then out of the blue, I received a phone call from a hiring manager, requesting an interview.

What was your professional background before accepting your current job?
I worked at Microsoft for about three years doing management and project management, then worked at a software testing company, in the Microsoft Product Testing Lab before coming to Boeing. This experience is directly applicable to my current position.

Before this I worked in Psychology for nine years, two of which were Graduate School and internships, then seven subsequent years in private practice and work with the University of Washington and various mental health agencies. My background in high tech began even earlier, when I worked as a Graphic Designer / Illustrator for a series of high tech companies, after graduating from college.

What is your educational background?
I attained a Bachelor of Arts in Visual Communications / Graphic Design from Western Washington University and a Master of Arts in Psychology from Antioch University.

I also just completed a Certification Program through the University of Washington in Intellectual Property Management.

What skills are most important to succeed in your work?
Project management skills are very applicable here, as well as the ability to interface with a large number of groups and individuals. I use my software testing project management experience to understand a lot of the regression issues and my managerial experience to work in the many meetings that we attend. Planning and organizational skills are essential to this job function. I also draw upon my Microsoft publishing background to create documentation on evolving procedures.

What advice do you have for someone who wants a job similar to your job?
Be prepared for high visibility and high stress, and also for a high degree of interface with large numbers of very technical people.

Are there any commonly held misperceptions about your career that you would like to clarify?
Perhaps that this position is high stress and only that - it can be stressful, of course, but it can also be very fun. There are so many diverse groups and personalities to work with, and the people at Boeing know how to laugh and have fun, which is something that was dramatically missing in the Microsoft environment.

What is the income range for persons in your career?
I am not truly aware of the actual range for this position, but my best guess would be from $55K to $80K, depending upon seniority.

What are your long-term career goals?
To create new procedures and processes that can streamline the knowledge transfer involved with this position. To bring automation to many of the repetitive and time consuming processes within our group, some of which are still done by hand.

Any other comments?
This wonderful plum of a position came to me after working for three companies in a row that went down the dot.com tube! The software testing firm, bursting with business when I first joined them, suddenly began to lose accounts and income in an dramatic way. Layoffs began and we started to jump ship. I landed in a small Seattle start-up that specialized in developing digitized signature technology. It all looked great until the venture capitalists that were being wooed by our company decided to put their money elsewhere. Again, it was mass layoffs, right down to the skeletal bone! The next company that hired me was a biomedical firm, a subsidiary for a larger company that maintained a Web site dealing with emergent medical interventions and solutions. It sounded great, working from home as a content acquisitions specialist - a perfect job! Until payday came around and we didn't get our checks. This company had also failed to disclose it's cash flow issues, and to this day many of it's former employees have not been paid for services rendered.

After working for three companies in a row that could not make payroll, it was very disheartening. When the phone call came in from Boeing, which is a strong, established, large and powerful company, it was wonderful! Now I never have to worry if the paychecks will bounce! And the company is so large, the opportunities are endless.

It is a great relief! This company also pays for any and all education so I am signing up for another UW certification course. Life is great again!

Back to Career Profiles main listing