Jack Eichhorn
Global director of meeting services
Oracle Corp.
Redwood Shores, Calif.

PAST As a planning pro in the high-tech industry, Eichhorn understands all too well the importance of data mining. That was one of the reasons he was brought on board at Oracle in 2006 — to get his arms around the international spend for the company's 7,000 annual meetings.

CRED Eichhorn has brought many of the ideas he used at his former company, Cisco Systems, to bear at Oracle, focusing on strategic meetings management initiatives by choosing Carlson Marketing Worldwide to centralize sourcing while also selecting preferred hotel partners. His ace in the hole is negotiating with hotels — he spent a decade in sales at Marriott Corp. before switching to the corporate planning side.

SUCCESS STORY Some of his greatest achievements have centered around crises he has dealt with on-site. At one particularly problem-fraught meeting several years ago, Eichhorn had one attendee airlifted to a hospital, met with the local police chief after another attendee's police cruiser “joy ride,” dealt with property security staff after an attendee altercation, and almost lost a dinner location because of high seas.

“In the end, it was a terrific event,” he says. “The SVP was ecstatic about the outcome, and he went above and beyond with his appreciation because of his knowledge of all the extra ‘activities’ I was forced into managing.”

FORWARD-THINKING Developing a key area of expertise has helped him ride out the tech crash and current downturn. “When the economy became challenging in the 2001-2002 time frame … I was very aware of the limited job security associated with meeting planners — especially those whom I knew within the high-tech industry,” he recalls. “I realized that subject matter expertise is more important than ever during tough times.”

ADVICE “You need to differentiate yourself from the crowd. Unfortunately, in my experience, I have learned that a wide variety of people still just consider themselves to be ‘meeting planners.’”

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