Pros
I've been with event network for +5 years in the stores. I started as a cashier and worked my way to a store director. They have a succession plan if you choose to want to move up. I've personally developed several cashiers into assistant store directors and am developing assistant directors into store directors. Being a director of a store, there is a lot of freedom to run your business as an entrepreneur. Being previously employed at a major retailer, event network stores are truly run as if it were your own business. You have the freedom to set the store to the way you want it to look (in line with the visual guidelines) and can develop your own selling strategies for your team. They are a culturally aware company. They care about company culture and want to do the best for the teams. Culture only works if the people working follow the culture. Some may criticize the company culture, but then they are not following it which leads to a bad culture. There is an annual retreat in San Diego for the corporate office in Utah, store directors, and the corporate office in San Diego. Most retail companies have gone away with these types of expenses for an all company meeting but event network keeps doing it. It's a great way for store directors to collaborate with the purchasing team and other directors on business needs. Event network offers very good and affordable medical, dental, and vision plans. They're offered to full time employees and you can also sign up for 401-K, flexible spending account, and life insurance. There's a profit sharing bonus for assistant directors and above. May not be the greatest but it's still something to give back. There's a small business feel but with a big business backbone. The company is restructuring to become better off financially. In this business, quite a bit of the revenue goes back to the venues that event network operates in. So, the stores have to make even more money to generate money for the company. They have initiatives that gives money back to the team members. For selling certain items, the team member will get a monetary incentive for each item sold. Best part of all, you get to work in amazing venues and really support what each venues mission is.
Cons
Communication has been a struggle. They have a weekly email that lists items to communicate to the stores. Most times those items get missed. My previously employer had an "impact planner" communication system where communication was directly delivered to the stores and you can mark it as in progress, complete, and would go incomplete after the due date. A system like that would help event network with making sure things were done. In order to move up beyond store director (outside of purchasing), you must relocate to Park City, UT. Most people don't find Utah as a place they want to relocate their families. There are not that many positions to take after store director. Most directors feel stuck and cannot grow. There's no "district managers" to oversee stores in a set area. There are only VP's of Store Quality to oversee similar stores (aquarium stores, zoo stores, etc). Having someone in the field overseeing stores would help to make sure stores stay inline with policies and procedures. My previously retailer, my DM would visit once a week to see how things are going with my team members and store. I know this contradicts the freedom aspect I mentioned in the pro section but people start to get lazy when they're not being watched. Since all the VP's of Store Quality live in Utah, they don't travel to the field stores to check up on them. Although there may be challenges in the company, I still adore it. No company is perfect and for being a retail company, event network FAR exceeds other retailers.
