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Meet MTA: Bart Alazio, Senior Global Experience Manager, Production

The Miller Tanner Associates’ (MTA) difference is our people. That’s why we want to introduce you to our team of superstars that brings our corporate meetings and events to life for our clients. Today we introduce you to Senior Global Experience Manager – Production, Bart Alazio. With over 14 years as a production industry entrepreneur, Bart now leads the MTA production team bringing next level innovation to our clients through technology and creative production services.

He is also our ’21 Theme of the Year Award recipient.

Meet Bart Alazio

Tell us about your current role with MTA? What are your primary responsibilities?

As a senior global experience manager for production, I have the privilege of leading our supremely talented team of global production managers. Along with managing and growing the team, I develop and implement MTA’s strategy for all things production including emerging event technology. 

How long have you been with MTA? I just celebrated my 1st year with MTA! 

Is your background in media production? What did you do before MTA?

I’m not exaggerating when I say I’ve been in production my entire life. As a little kid, I would help my father develop and mount 35mm film for carousel slide trays. I built my first PowerPoint deck for an investigator meeting when I was 12. The past 14 years before joining MTA, I ran my own production company that specialized in clinical and commercial events for life science clients. 

You are currently based in New Jersey? What do you enjoy most about where you live?

Born, raised, and still reside in northern NJ. I love the easy accessibility to NYC while maintaining the tranquility suburban life provides. There is always something new to do in NYC, but one of my favorites is Saturday morning brunch on Stone Street in lower Manhattan, outside tables on a cobble stone street quietly tucked in among the chaos. After brunch you can grab a coffee, walk to Battery Park and people watch. 

What do you enjoy most/favorite aspect of your job?

I’m a forward-thinking person; I enjoy being in the forefront of event technology. Contextualizing potential services and equipment then integrating it in a meaningful way for today’s events for MTA clients is one aspect I enjoy.  

What interests do you have outside of your professional pursuits?

I love coaching youth sports. It’s sports at its purist form. Because I have a travel-based career, it’s a way I can prioritize my quality time with my two young kids.  

What’s been your most favorite location for a meeting and why?

Scottsdale, Arizona. The amount of quality event properties is unparalleled, and I’ve never had to use backup space for an outdoor event due to weather. 

What makes Miller Tanner Associates stand out as meeting planning company, in your opinion?

MTA cultivates an internal environment that stimulates innovation. Team members are encouraged to explore ideas and solutions outside the box. This culture is not only instrumental in the constant evolution of proprietary products like EPIC, Attend and VALTs but the smaller everyday solutions and expansion of our services. This allows MTA to produce events and products that elevate client experience beyond a standard meeting planning company. 

What’s your best advice that you would give to a client when it comes to planning their media needs?

No matter the size of the event, your “message”, whether educational or inspirational is the core that all production elements need to be built around. Production provides tools to deliver, enhance and reinforce the message, but can easily overshadow the event when underestimated or more commonly misused. Production is foundational to your storytelling, the visual, audio, and engagement aspects are key to optimizing retention of your message post event.  

Any trends in media production that you are noticing?

For over a decade, the most highly debated topic among production professionals and clients has been – What is the cost vs. value of hybrid events? The pandemic has forced stakeholders to assess that the true cost of not having a virtual component to a face-to-face event is isolating a large portion of potential attendees. When stakeholders shift their perception of a hybrid’s core function to one of accessibility and inclusion, the advantage of a hybrid becomes transparent. Hybrid events need a carefully curated strategy to create an equitable experience that is considerate of the participants’ time and commitment, no matter the attendees’ pathway.  

Since you travel a lot for your position, tell us some of your best travel tips.

Be nice and smile. Nobody enjoys being in an airport, but we’re all in it together – from the gate agents to flight attendants and even fellow passengers. Kindness goes a long way, and it might even get you out of a middle seat on a long-haul flight home. 

Bart receives the 2021 Theme of the Year Award

Why do you think that the MTA Workshops are important? What do you get most from this time together?

As a global and remote company, it’s our time to unplug from devices and connect on a human level. It’s also an amazing opportunity to flip the switch from planner to attendee and gain valuable insight from a different perspective. 

Visit www.millertanner.com to learn more about MTA or follow us on Instagram for behind-the-scenes with our team members.

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MTA ’21 Marnie Award

Miller Tanner Associates (MTA) is talent empowered.  It’s what makes MTA such a special place to work – the collection of talent that believes in the same core values and comes together to create transformative event experiences for clients around the world. Our clients can find a personality they can connect with and the MTA Team crafts events that connect to all people, pronouns, and ranges of accessibility.  

“At MTA we try to celebrate each other every day,” shares Marnie Battistini, CEO, “but over time we realized that each year there are those of us that shine brighter and that bright beam of light should be celebrated in a more robust format.”  

Annually at our MTA Workshop, we hold an awards ceremony.  We experiment with different ways to design a memorable awards show and this year was no different.  To recognize our 2021 award winners, MTA held the awards show on a Glacier in Iceland – an MTA first to build a stage out of snow, insert a locally built custom stage set, and gather the team together on a glacier to praise and celebrate this year’s winners. 

Our five award categories are Story of the Year, Gift of Service, MTA Saver, Theme of the Year, and the Marnie Award.  

And the 2021 Marnie Award goes to… 

Jill Mason, MTA Controller 

Jill receives ’21 Marnie Award

The Marnie Award is given by the MTA CEO to the associate/s that she believes has done the most for MTA during the year. The Marnie Award recipient embodies the best of what MTA values and exemplifies. It’s a personal award seen from the CEO’s vantage point. 

At the awards ceremony on the glacier, Marnie spoke about Jill’s impact at MTA.  Here’s a small list of the topics Marnie shared about Jill: 

  • Completed MTA’s profitability improvement sprint 
  • Improved MTA’s invoicing process 
  • Overhauled MTA’s contracting process 
  • Improved the connection between MTA’s systems  
  • Implemented processes for improved cash management and visibility 
  • Enhanced financial reporting and analysis with greater visibility
  • Onboarded three finance team members  
  • Demonstrated strong department leadership
  • In collaboration with MTA proposal manager, improved efficiency of MTA proposals process

MTA CEO Marnie Battistini added, “The ‘Marnie Award’ may not be the best name for an award, but it does represent my choice of who has shined the brightest at MTA during any given year.  This year the shining star is Jill Mason.  Jill’s number one strength is responsibility.  I’m constantly aware I need to protect Jill from taking on too much work as her ownership for anything she commits to, whether large or small, means she will follow it through to completion. Jill’s work ethic, conscientiousness, and near obsession for doing things right, make Jill utterly dependable.  An amazing talent, with her mad Excel skills and her kind nature, have made working with Jill such a joy. MTA has benefited greatly from Jill’s investment of talent at work and I am very appreciative of all she brings to the MTA global team.” 


MTA’s Chief Financial Officer Marilyn Eisele said this about why Jill deserved the 2021 Marnie Award: “Jill is a unique talent and such a team player. She brings immense value to MTA and leads by example. Her knowledge of the operational aspects of MTA and each of our customers in addition to her technology utilization are exceptional. Jill also supports everyone at MTA and is extraordinarily responsive. So excited that Jill won the Marnie Award.”

Congratulations, Jill!  You are an MTA Bright Light! 

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MTA Theme of the Year Award

Senior Global Experience Manager Bart Alazio pictured with CEO Marnie Battistini

Miller Tanner Associates (MTA) is talent empowered. It’s what makes MTA such a special place to work – the collection of talent that believes in the same core values and comes together to create transformative event experiences for clients around the world. Our clients can find a personality they can connect with and the MTA Team crafts events that connect to all people, pronouns, and ranges of accessibility.

“At MTA we try to celebrate each other every day,” shares Marnie Battistini, CEO, “but over time we realized that each year there are those of us that shine brighter and that bright beam of light should be celebrated in a more robust format.”

Annually at our MTA Workshop, we hold an awards ceremony. We experiment with different ways to design a memorable awards show and this year was no different. To recognize our 2021 award winners, MTA held the awards show on a Glacier in Iceland – an MTA first to build a stage out of snow, insert a locally built custom stage set, and gather the team together on a glacier to praise and celebrate this year’s winners.

Our five award categories are Story of the Year, Gift of Service, MTA Saver, Theme of the Year, and the Marnie Award.

And the 2021 Theme of the Year Award goes to…

Bart Alazio, Senior Global Experience Manager, Production

Bart receives MTA’s 2021 Theme of the Year Award

Each year MTA creates a theme for the year. Usually, it’s a word and sometimes it’s a statement that will describe that year’s emphasis. MTA’s 2021 theme was around “Revolution” which we defined in this way – “a dramatic and wide-reaching change in the way something works or is organized or in people’s ideas about it.”

MTA’s Strategic Leadership Team (SLT) focused on the words “dramatic/wide-reaching change” and then connected those words in the way “something works/or is organized/or in people’s ideas” to see how REVOLUTION was realized at MTA in 2021.

The clear winner was Senior Global Experience Manager Bart Alazio who has been working hard to shift the way MTA operates, budgets and approaches vendor partnerships within our expertise.

Bart spent a large portion of the fall of 2021 transforming MTA’s previous approach to production budgeting and pricing by introducing a more efficient and strategic approach to proposal budgeting, operational functions, and financial accounting.

In addition, Bart is continually creating new packages and offerings for MTA’s customers. With Bart’s leadership MTA is deepening the understanding and connectivity of events and production to create a better internal and external experience. Bart has taken big strides to bridge that gap in both education for the MTA global team and for our customers’ global team – first in creating a master class series about production to help teach the ins and outs of our team’s expertise in creating an event and secondly, in adding production education to MTA’s onboarding process.

MTA CEO Marnie Battistini added, “I knew Bart had the gift of service the first day I met him in person.  It just so happened to be his first day on the job having joined MTA just in time to attend one of our annual events. I expected Bart to have exceptional production knowledge as MTA’s production lead, but what struck me so immediately was his awareness level. He naturally absorbed the audiovisual set up and quickly offered some audio tweaks that greatly impacted the audiences’ experiences – both the virtual audience and the face-to-face audience.  His quiet strength of purpose was not only appreciated by me as the presenter, but indirectly by the audience who never knew anything differently.  I really admire Bart’s ability to see what is needed to be done and always does it in the most professional way possible.  He’s the best!”

MTA’s Chief Experience Officer Meredith Shottes said this about why Bart deserved the 2021 Theme of the Year Award: “Bart is a master at translating complex production elements and concepts into ideas and words that our clients can understand.  He continually meets the new needs of the ever-changing landscape for event production, revolutionizing our service offerings and processes as he goes.  Never has production been more important for events and we are grateful everyday to have Bart’s voice leading our team.”

Congratulations, BART!  You are an MTA Bright Light! 

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Meet MTA: Jon Shipman, Senior Software Engineer

The Miller Tanner Associates’ (MTA) difference is our people. That’s why we want to introduce you to our team of superstars that brings our corporate meetings and events to life for our clients. Today we introduce you to Senior Software Engineer Jon Shipman our Kansas-based associate working behind the scenes of MTA’s Technology Services Team to ensure our proprietary event technology tools offer an agile, optimal solution for our customers and our team.

Meet Senior Software Engineer Jon Shipman

Tell us about your current role with MTA? What are your primary responsibilities?  

I’m a software developer. I create new features and fix issues for applications such as EPIC, VALTs and Attend. 

How long have you been with MTA?  I have been with MTA for 1 year and 7 months. 

What did you do before joining  MTA?

I worked for a home builder in Houston, Texas for about 7 years. Prior to that I worked at NASA for about 13 years where I developed software for use in NASA’s Mission Control Center and on board the Space Shuttle and International Space Station. Also, during shuttle missions, I worked as an OCA (Orbiter Communications Adapter) Officer.  In that position, I interacted with the network of laptops onboard the shuttles.

Jon in space shuttle training cockpit at NASA’s Mission Control Center

What do you enjoy most about your job as a software engineer?  I enjoy fixing things and making folks’ lives easier. 

Where do you live and what do you love most about your state/city?

I live in the middle of nowhere in rural Kansas. I love the peace and quiet, and nature.  In my part of Kansas there are lots of hills and trees.  It’s really beautiful. 

What do you do for fun? I’m always building things and improving the landscape around my property. 

What makes MTA stand out as meeting planning company? 

I work with an outstanding group of folks. Miller Tanner Associates stresses work/life balance and they really back that up.  It’s a great place to work. 

What are some of your favorite tech trends? 

I like that everything is trending “lighter.”  MTA is trending toward mobile-friendly and less data-heavy interfaces for our users.  This will not only make using our applications more flexible, but by making them lighter they’ll be easier to use and perform better as well. 

Why do you think that the MTA Workshops are important? What do you get most from this time together? 

In general, you can imagine that tech folks tend to lean towards being introverts.  It’s good to get us out of our shell every so often!  It’s also great to meet and see our teammates in person.  We communicate and deliver really well working remotely, but if we get to spend a little time with our coworkers in person, it really enhances our communication when working with them online. 

Visit www.millertanner.com to learn more about MTA or follow us on Instagram for behind-the-scenes with our team members.

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How to Choose a Meeting Location – 5 Factors to Consider

5 factors to consider when choosing your meeting location

You have a meeting and participants who are willing to travel, but with so many destinations, where will you choose?

One of the very first steps in planning your meeting is determining the ideal location. With so many choices – from Paris to Dallas to Seoul – how do you narrow down your options to determine the city and country that will be the best fit?

Ultimately, your budget and the general locale of your attendees can tell you a lot about where and how to move forward in finding the best fit for your meeting location.

Consider these 5 factors that we’ve compiled to help you decide where to host your next corporate meeting:

1). Convenience / Proximity to Attendees (distance, time, direct flights, etc.)

Steer clear of long travel times and flight changes that can be a major deterrent for your attendees. Instead, select meeting locations that are time efficient for travel. This will keep costs down for you while keeping your meeting attendees “happy travelers”.

Miller Tanner can offer multiple meeting city options for your meetings. Together we can compare prices and availability of your preferred dates while considering proximity and travel convenience.

2). Price / Cost Effectiveness

Having planned thousands of global meetings, we can offer several options to consider while keeping your meeting cost-effective and within budget.

Within a week of our initial contact, we provide you with an assortment of hotel options and quotes, so that you can compare all expenses involved, including travel, ground transportation, hotel costs, meal prices, and taxes, for various meeting locations, cities, and hotels.

3). Safety

Safety is as much of a top priority for you as it is for us. Though emergencies are rare, the unexpected can happen. It’s good to have a thorough safety plan in place should such a situation arise.

Identifying what safety measures will be taken into account, both at a city and country-level as well as within the actual meeting venue itself is an important factor to consider when choosing your location.

It’s good to know upfront the safety plans of the hotels that you are considering in case of an emergency. You’ll want to make sure that those hotels can provide extra hands on deck and will work with you should a circumstance arise for your event or your attendees.

As meeting planners, we monitor travel warnings, threats, and medical outbreaks that could potentially put your meeting and its attendees in jeopardy. Should your meeting be faced with an emergency, we can help find a solution to keep your meeting on track.

4). Meeting Guidelines

Oftentimes, your meeting has set parameters that you’ll need to workaround. As meeting planners, we take these guidelines into considerations to find a location and venue that meet all of your meeting requirements. MTA has a roster of hotels from which to choose so we can select a location and venue that falls within your meeting’s established guidelines.

5). Attractiveness

Last and certainly not least, another factor to consider when targeting your location is choosing a city that is attractive to the attendees. If culture or off-site touring is an important aspect of your meeting, you’ll want to decide on a location that provides a memorable experience for your attendees while also staying within your guidelines. It’s always an added bonus to consider a city that will draw interest from your invitees.

Need the inside scoop on our top international event recommendations? Check out our location guide based on culture, location, budget and more.

Also, check out these additional resources to help you find the right fit for your next meeting location.

Ultimately, the goal is to find a meeting location that is not only memorable but also safe, convenient, and cost-effective while staying within the parameters of your company’s guidelines. If Miller Tanner can assist you in determining the perfect location for your next event, we’d love to help you make that happen.  

Frequently Asked Questions

In effort to help readers to summarize the information found within this post, we’ve recapitulated the article in question and answer form.

How Does Proximity to Attendees Affect an Event’s Success?

Avoid lengthy travel times and airplane changes, if possible, which may be a big turnoff for your guests. Instead, choose a meeting place that will save you time on the road (or the air). This will save you and guests money while also boosting your conference participant attendance numbers.

How Do Professional Event Planners Help With Costs?

Expert event coordinators can offer a variety of hotel and vendor choices with cost estimates within days of contacting them. This means you can evaluate all expenditures, including travel, ground transportation, hotel rates, food pricing, and taxes, for different meeting sites, towns, and hotels sooner, rather than later.

What Sort of Safety Precautions Should Be Considered When Event Planning?

Even though crises are uncommon, they may occur. It’s a good idea to have a comprehensive safety plan in place in case anything like this happens. Identifying what safety precautions will be taken into consideration, both at a city- and national-level as well as inside the meeting site itself, is an essential aspect to consider when deciding where to have your conference.

What Sort of Meeting Guidelines Should My Corporate Event Have?

Often, your meeting will have a predetermined schedule that you’ll have to work around. When planning your event, consider these criteria while looking for a location and venue that will suit all of your needs. Event planning specialists offer a list of hotels from which to pick, allowing you to choose a location and venue that meets your meeting’s requirements.

Does the City My Corporate Event is Held in Matter?

When organizing a business event, one of the most important factors to consider in selecting a place that is appealing to the guests. If culture or off-site tours are key aspects of your conference, you’ll want to choose a venue that provides your guests a memorable experience while remaining within your budget. It’s always a plus to think about a city that will pique your guest’s attention as this can help with attendance.

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Choosing a Theme for Your Meetings

5 tips for choosing a meeting or event theme

Updated: 9/23/2022

Meetings come in all shapes and sizes. As for meeting and event planners, we’ve coordinated a full gamut of meetings ranging from clinical to commercial and every meeting in between.

Whether it be a sales meeting for a team of regional staff, an annual conference, or a President’s Club for employee recognition, we know what works. We’ve found that with just a few additional creative measures, you can create a more memorable meeting experience for your attendees, exceed your meeting goals, and foster connectivity among your group that will garner an impressive return.

In our previous post, we explored how themes can enhance the overall meeting experience for your attendees. Today we deep dive into how to best select a winning theme. Gracie Fisher, CMP, Global Conference Director for Miller Tanner, lends her expertise with these 5 suggestions:

1). Align your meeting theme with the greater objective and vision.

Your meeting theme should be directly aligned with the greater objective and vision. If your themes are intentional, purposeful and meaningful, your attendees will embrace the themes and see the program sponsors as also authentic in their objective and purpose.

meeting-theme-ideas

 2). Choose a theme that can grow.

Branding, theme, and objective are fluid and symbiotic. Each translates into multiple products and each depends on the other to drive home a unified program. With this in mind, choose a theme that is elastic and can expand to accommodate for growth.

3). Choose a theme based on more than aesthetics.

When developing a brand or theme, choose a theme based on more than the aesthetic. Themes should have vertical possibility allowing them to tie into presentations, products, programming, etc. This will create an environment that stimulates the attendees to align themselves with the messaging. They’ll be more likely to see the value of the investment of their time and participation.

 4). Consider the attendees’ perspectives.

Think about your theme from the perspective of an attendee who has no insider information. Is the theme clear? Is it inviting? Does it inspire confidence, participation, and unity? Would you walk away understanding the objectives of the meeting after the program’s end?

By being mindful of your attendees’ perspective, you can design a more cohesive theme to support your overall goals for the meeting.

5). Have fun and dream big.

Brainstorm! Great collaboration always comes forward from imperfect ideas being shared and refined. You may find a gem.

From an event planner’s perspective, it’s helpful to dream out loud with our clients first without being consumed with logistics and to speak to what’s possible, shape a dream collaboratively and ultimately bring those ideas toward the vision.

We can make your next event memorable in every way. Miller Tanner & Associates will transform your ideas into a winning theme and design a meeting that exceeds all expectations.

[Tweet “With just a few creative measures, you can create a more memorable meeting experience.”]

Frequently Asked Questions

In effort to help readers to summarize the information found within this post, we’ve recapitulated the article in question and answer form.

How Does a Theme Impact the Success of a Corporate Event?

We’ve discovered that by taking a few extra creative steps, such as planning around a general theme, you may provide your guests a more memorable meeting experience, surpass your meeting objectives, and build group connection that will pay off handsomely.

How Can I Align a Sales Meeting Theme with My Overall Objective?

The topic of your meeting should be closely related to the overall goal and vision. Your guests will embrace the theme if it is deliberate, purposeful, and significant. Not to mention program sponsors will be seen as more genuine in their goal and purpose.

Does the Theme I Choose Make a Difference?

Themes, branding, and goals are all changeable and interconnected. One converts into a variety of goods, and each is reliant on the other to carry out a coordinated campaign. Keeping this in mind and choose a theme that is adaptable and can develop with you.

Should I Think About More Than Aesthetics When Choosing an Event Theme?

When creating a brand or theme, consider more than just the visual aspect of it. Themes should have vertical integration capabilities, enabling them to be used in presentations, goods, programming, and other areas. This creates an atmosphere in which participants are encouraged to identify themselves with the message. They’ll be more likely to see the worth of their involvement and time commitment.

When Choosing an Event Them, Should I Consider the Attendees’ Perspectives?

Consider your theme’s subject matter from the viewpoint of a first-time visitor with no insider knowledge. Is the theme obvious? Is it appealing? Is it a source of trust, involvement, and unity? Would a first-time attendee leave the meeting with a clear knowledge of the meeting’s goals?

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Success Story: Transforming an Inspirational Global Sales Meeting

The Event:

A biotechnology research company located in Colorado needed help planning a global sales meeting in Denver and Boulder near their headquarters offices.  

The Challenges:  

The company had recently expanded their team and wanted to invest in a high-caliber event that would motivate the new team members. Their previous events had typically been planned in-house but due to the larger scale of this event and their desire to elevate the overall experience, they reached out to MTA to plan and manage the logistical details of the 3-day event for their global sales meeting.  

Given the pandemic challenges, this company decided to move their event to late spring which allowed for 4 months of planning. Because of the growth of the company and the number of new hires that would be attending the event, they wanted to cover not only the standard agenda topics of focusing on the upcoming year and motivating their team, but also include face-to-face creative team-building opportunities.  

The Solution:  

MTA worked with the client to elevate a themed event experience.  From ideation to implementation, the MTA team designed a unique experience for the global sales meeting that would meet their event goals, and bring value and ROI for both the stakeholders and the attendees. MTA also helped to launch the company’s first President’s Club in combination with this event.  

 Results/Highlights: 

  • This global sales meeting had an attendee engagement component that allowed attendees to receive push alerts, notifications, announcements, access to the agenda, and more, all via their mobile phones.  
  • Upon arrival, the attendees were greeted with local refreshments and a logo-branded cookie from a local bakery.  
  • Supporting the theme, “Transformational Journey,” the event kicked off the welcome reception at the historic Union Station.  
  •  Gifting experience included a customized, designer backpack filled with local treats and accoutrements, a signed copy of the motivational athlete/speaker’s book and leather-bound journal.  
  • MTA completely transformed the boutique hotel’s meeting room into an elegant awards evening with rustic elements reflecting Colorado’s pristine landscapes for room décor. A live jazz band set the tone for the evening.  
  • MTA helped elevate this awards event to the next level. This was also the launch of the President’s Club awards – an incentive trip to Banff with Canada-inspired gifting for all award recipients. 
  • The team took a half-day trip to the company’s headquarters for a tour of the home office and labs. Onsite festivities included local Boulder ice cream and coffee trucks, and a mobile VW van photobooth.   
  •  The day resumed with team building events designed to bring the sales team together to explore the outdoors in a fun and creative way with a choice of a guided hike through Chautauqua Park, a 12-mile tour via electric bikes of the city’s murals, and an axe-throwing event.  
  • The day of team-building activities ended with dinner and cider tasting at a local cider brewery with mountain vistas and casual outdoor seating around fire pits.  Guests received farewell gift drop upon arrival back to the hotel.   

In April 2024, MTA received a Silver Stevie® Award for this event. To read more, visit here.

Learn how Miller Tanner Associates can create the perfect corporate event for your team!

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MTA Saver Award

Miller Tanner Associates (MTA) is talent empowered.  It’s what makes MTA such a special place to work – the collection of talent that believes in the same core values and comes together to create transformative event experiences for clients around the world. Our clients can find a personality they can connect with and the MTA Team crafts events that connect to all people, pronouns, and ranges of accessibility.  

“At MTA we try to celebrate each other every day,” shares Marnie Battistini, CEO, “but over time we realized that each year there are those of us that shine brighter and that bright beam of light should be celebrated in a more robust format.”  

Annually at our MTA Workshop, we hold an awards ceremony.  We experiment with different ways to design a memorable awards show and this year was no different.  To recognize our 2021 award winners, MTA held the awards show on a Glacier in Iceland – an MTA first to build a stage out of snow, insert a locally built custom stage set, and gather the team together on a glacier to praise and celebrate this year’s winners. 

Our five award categories are Story of the Year, Gift of Service, MTA Saver, Theme of the Year, and the Marnie Award.  

And the 2021 Saver Award goes to… 

Christina Serra, Director, Global Experiences

Since Christina couldn’t join in person in Iceland, we found a way to make sure she was recognized and celebrated for her Saver Award.

The Saver Award is given to the person/group who was recognized most by our team, vendors, customers and/or others about “saving” something whether saving time, effort, or resources. 

Known on the team for saving the most in 2021 is this year’s Saver Award recipient, Christina Serra, Director, Global Experiences. 

Christina has “Saved the Day” in more ways than one.  

Christina has saved our customers money by being an exacting steward of their funds managing their events to consistently come in under budget.   

Christina has saved our team training headaches while stepping into a new management role where she was able to design the training program for the rest of the global team to follow on virtual technology MTA was adopting.  

Christina saved the global team’s mental health by being an incredible listening ear, wise advisor, and strong team advocate.  

If that wasn’t enough, Christina created a “lunch and learn” series for MTA’s global partners that helped educate all participants on how to maximize a digital event. 

Christina pictured with colleagues at 2021 Workshop in Boston.

MTA CEO Marnie Battistini added, “I was so disappointed that Christina couldn’t join us at the award ceremony in Iceland as I was so looking forward to celebrating her in person. Christina’s kindness is legendary as she has the reputation for always being there for anyone that needs an answer on how to do something.  She’s so modest with her gifts!  I’ve watched her blossom into her current leadership role and couldn’t be more proud of how she uses her voice and takes care of the team.  She “saves” us with her joyful spirit and clear problem solving skills all the time!”  
 

MTA’s Chief Experience Officer Meredith Shottes said this about why Christina deserved the 2021 Saver Award: “Christina has a mind and heart like no other. Always centering the team in her day to ensure they are successful before accomplishing her own goals. She is a shining example of transparent leadership, leading with clarity and kindness at the same time. We are lucky to have her on our team and I am grateful to be able to work with her every day.” 

Congratulations, Christina!  You are an MTA Bright Light! 

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MTA ’21 Gift of Service Award

Key Account Director Diana Reed, recipient of the ’21 Gift of Service Award

Miller Tanner Associates (MTA) is talent empowered. It’s what makes MTA such a special place to work – the collection of talent that believes in the same core values and comes together to create transformative event experiences for clients around the world. Our clients can find a personality they can connect with and the MTA Team crafts events that connect to all people, pronouns, and ranges of accessibility.

“At MTA we try to celebrate each other every day,” shares Marnie Battistini, CEO, “but over time, we realized that each year there are those of us that shine brighter and that bright beam of light should be celebrated in a more robust format.”

Annually at our MTA Workshop, we hold an awards ceremony. We experiment with different ways to design a memorable awards show and this year was no different. To recognize our 2021 award winners, MTA held the awards show on a Glacier in Iceland – an MTA first to build a stage out of snow, insert a locally built custom stage set, and gather the team together on a glacier to praise and celebrate this year’s winners.

Our five award categories are Story of the Year, Gift of Service, MTA Saver, Theme of the Year, and the Marnie Award.

Diana Reed and Taylor Tomlinson receive this year’s Gift of Service Awards

And the 2021 Gift of Service Award goes to…

Diana Reed, Key Account Director

The Miller Tanner Associates (MTA) team has the gift of service.  Our core product is serviced based – we plan and execute exceptional events.  So when we look at who provided remarkable service and who at MTA embodies our overall core values this year, it’s really tough to choose.  That’s why 2021 had two Gift of Service winners. This week we celebrate Diana Reed’s Gift of Service win. 

Core Values: Service with Soul, Clarity of Character, Talent Empowered, Teaming with Trust, and Creatively Agile

At our 2022 Workshop, this is what was shared about the 2021 Gift of Service Award winner, Diana Reed, Key Account Director: 

MTA Talent Empowered and Creatively Agile Values: Diana stepped into a leadership role, mentoring, and coaching others while managing a significant workload. Diana invests time to learn about MTA’s customers’ needs and then creatively matches MTA’s products and services to provide options.  Diana doesn’t give up until she has successfully visualized the “art of possible” to every event opportunity she manages. 

Service with Soul:  Diana is a fierce advocate for her customers while highly protective of the wider MTA team. She holds herself accountable to a significantly high standard and works tirelessly and relentlessly to achieve that level of service. A great example of this was outperforming a wide group of competitors to win the sole, global provider initiative for a major biotech company. 

Teaming with Trust and Clarity of Character: Diana has been relentless over the past few years, showing an incredible level of determination and work ethic. She has also been the consummate teammate, going out of her way to help others before even being asked.  Diana leans into one of her core strengths, “empathy”, seeing both sides to every challenge. 

MTA CEO Marnie Battistini added, “I’ve worked with Diana for four years and have always been struck by her deep devotion to taking care of her customers.  She is such a customer advocate, always making sure MTA is reasonable when pricing and making sure our customers’ event goals are clearly communicated internally for the MTA Global Experiences Team to execute successfully.  Diana’s laugh is infectious and we take time to celebrate every time we connect.  She’s a joy to work with and so fun to be around!” 

Scott Nodolf, MTA’s Chief Revenue Officer and Diana’s direct manager, said this about why Diana deserved the 2021 Gift of Service Award: “Diana’s relentless work ethic is only matched by her willingness to support others in a time of need – she cares deeply and is the consummate teammate which consistently translated into an extremely high level of customer service in 2021.”

Congratulations, Diana!  You are an MTA Bright Light! 

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