Reporting to CEO? Run. Not reporting to CEO? Decent gig. - Anonymous employee IEDC Employee Review

1.0
Jun 13, 2016
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great location and cool work if you're interested in the field of economic development or in conference planning. Colleagues are some of the nicest people you'll meet. Some of my former colleagues are friends I'll keep for the rest of my life!

Cons

The CEO is god awful. I mean just god. Awful. Here are the extent of his staff management activities: 1. Demand a specific (and usually unachievable) outcome and then express your dramatic disappointment that employees didn't achieve this desired outcome OR (this one is his favorite) 2. Demand specific outcomes and then swoop in at the last minute and 'save the day', when all along, the organizational chaos he does nothing about is what meant you couldn't achieve that outcome. Good times. If you would have to report to the CEO, avoid IEDC. If you wouldn't have to interact with the CEO, go for it because most staff is super nice, smart, funny and supportive.

Explore other reviews about IEDC

5.0
Jan 30, 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Very nice folks, great place to work.

Cons

Nothing negative to say about working there.

1.0
Apr 25, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

You’ll work alongside people who are undeniably accomplished—and you’ll hear all about it. If you enjoy leadership “war stories” and name-drop adjacent anecdotes, you’ll never be bored. The environment is excellent for building emotional regulation skills. You’ll get real-time practice staying calm, professional and composed during “high-energy” meetings while ignoring cardiac alerts.

Cons

The culture can feel like performance art over leadership: lots of positioning, not enough clarity, follow-through, or respectful collaboration. Psychological safety is inconsistent. Feedback can happen in group settings in ways that feel more like public execution than coaching. Staff are stretched across too many roles, so quality suffers and nothing feels fully owned. Bait-and-switch vibes: job descriptions and recruiting messaging don’t always match day-to-day realities, expectations, or workload once you’re in the seat. Job stability can feel uncertain, and turnover/churn is common—making it hard to build continuity or long-term momentum. There’s a persistent gap between external polish and internal operations (“lipstick on a pig” energy). Meeting culture can feel like unnecessary set-ups—calendar games, sudden pivots, and “surprise” agendas that create stress and make people feel like their livelihoods are being treated as chess pieces. Workload distribution is lopsided: a small group carries execution (and inboxes), while others are effectively “idea-only” roles—less expected to respond, more expected to deliver directives and bring maximum “high-energy” to meetings.

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