Miller Tanner Associates Team, Author at Miller Tanner Associates

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Success Story: Congress Management

The Event

A global healthcare company hosted various meetings throughout the week at the annual European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress in Paris, France.

The Challenge

Within an expedited timeframe, our customer needed assistance with strategic congress management and logistics support, specifically planning multiple meetings/meeting types during the ESMO Congress. That which typically requires 6-8 months planning lead time, our team had 8 weeks to accomplish given the condensed timeline. Adding to the challenge, Paris shut down for 2 weeks for scheduled holidays during our 8-week planning phase.

The Solution

Pre-Event

Prior to the event, the MTA Global Experiences Team was charged with managing all of the pre-event planning including: managing attendee registration; securing hotel room blocks; managing speakers for each symposium; arranging speakers’ transportation; submitting requests for approval of auxiliary meetings; sourcing meeting locations; and coordinating all onsite staffing.

Our Paris-based, French-speaking associate played a key role in venue procurement working directly with restaurant vendors in-person to ensure the venue spaces selected were optimal for each dinner, meeting, etc. Our associate hand-selected local Parisian restaurants that met the desired criteria for special meetings, networking, and dinners. All of this was accomplished with our compliance team ensuring events were within the Congress and country guidelines.

Business meeting management for 10 events hosted in business meeting rooms; our team managed nine room transitions throughout the day.

Event Management

Because of the many moving parts involved in planning multiple running events within the 5-day Congress, on-site staffing was essential to the success and MTA ensured that meetings were fully staffed to manage all events.

MTA was responsible for managing a total of 28 events which included both pre-meetings prior to the Congress in Paris and meetings taking place throughout the week of ESMO. Among those were:

A pre-conference social gathering for 200 attendees in Paris.
16 total ongoing events including networking dinners and business meetings.
Business meeting management for 10 events hosted in business meeting rooms; our team managed nine room transitions throughout the day to ensure the spaces were prepped for all consecutive meetings from 7 a.m. – 8 p.m.

Our on-site team directed the minute-by-minute oversight; contingency planning for AV emergencies; and transportation throughout the day for our team dispersed in multiple locations.
Partnerships were also an important factor working with the client’s internal planning team and external vendors to ensure all goals were achieved.

With foresight, ingenuity, contingency planning, and MTA expertise (AV and local knowledge), our Global Experiences Team worked steadily and purposely to successfully manage a total of 28 programs related to this Congress event within less than 8 weeks of planning.

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5 Benefits of Working with Women Owned Businesses

Updated: 11/29/2022

For 18 years, Miller Tanner has proudly maintained a Women’s Business Enterprise (WBE) Certification through the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), the nation’s largest third-party certifier of the businesses owned and operated by women in the U.S. Nationally recognized by thousands of major U.S. corporations and federal, state and local government entities, this certification is no small feat. The process is a lengthy and intensive one. To achieve WBENC certification, women-owned businesses complete formal documentation and a site visit process which is administered by one of WBENC’s 14 Regional Partner Organizations.

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Meet MTA: Haley Temple, Global Experience Designer – Events

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 our Global Experience Designer – Events Haley Temple, our Paris-based associate. As a global experience designer, Haley keeps our customers’ events on track and running smoothly from start to finish.

Meet Haley Temple, Global Experience Designer – Events

Strengths (based on CliftonStrengths): Learner, Strategic, Intellection, Achiever, Futuristic

Languages spoken: French and English

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

I am a global experiences designer, meaning I work with the customer team, on-site vendors, and other members of MTA staff to ensure their event comes to life – while sticking to compliance regulations and budget parameters.

What did you do before joining MTA?

Before joining MTA, I was in charge of communications at a private high school in the heart of Paris, France. Before that, I taught anglophone literature and history for a bilingual section in the same high school while also managing communications for the department as well as a student exchange between Paris and Sydney, Australia. It was a lot of fun!

What’s the best part of your job?

Every event is different and presents its own unique challenges – what I like the most about my job is the fact that I get to pull the strings, per se, to make everything come together. I also really love working with and getting to know each unique customer team in order to understand their event goals and objectives while pulling together all the necessary resources to make it all happen! Plus, I get to learn a few new and interesting things about the cultures where the event will take place, about the pharmaceutical industry, as well as compliance law/regulations.

What’s been your favorite event destination as an event planning professional?

Paris, of course! It was a lot of fun to have my colleagues here and to get a chance to show them my favorite places while we worked together as a team to make the magic happen. I have also enjoyed working in Miami, and I have a memorable story about an event in San Antonio, Texas. I have a feeling there will be many more exciting places to come.

Do you have a few great travel tips that you could share?

Always bring your own (empty) water bottle through airport security and fill it up on the other side! Always travel with headphones, a great playlist, and a good book. Never be afraid to make conversation with the person next to you on the plane. You never know who you will meet!

What do you do for fun?

For fun, I like to walk around the city, visit art exhibitions, and meet friends for coffee on the weekends. I also take a ceramics class in my neighborhood where I am learning new things about color glazes—did you know that heavy metals are heated up to high temperatures to create the amazing colors that we see on some pottery pieces? I also adore the aerial arts, so I practice aerial silks and trapeze when I have time.

You currently reside in what city? What do you enjoy most about living there? Any favorite spots that you would recommend to tourists?

I am originally from Georgia in the U.S., but I have lived in Paris, France for the last 11 years. I love the food, the art, and all the amazing cultural exchanges you can encounter in a city like Paris!

What makes Miller Tanner Associates (MTA) stand out as a meeting planning company?

What I love about MTA is how much heart goes into each event and how much heart goes into working with each other – it feels like a big family that I feel like I’ve known forever, but was somehow missing the memo on the family reunions!

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

I love getting to chat with people from different departments and discovering new connections outside of the usual work talk – for instance, learning that one of our colleagues had written a book and that another lives not far from where I grew up.

Anything else you’d like to add?

I am happy to be here and feel very lucky to have an opportunity to work alongside the team!

Visit www.millertanner.com to learn more about MTA and our associates. Get to know our associates by following us on Instagram for behind-the-scenes with our team.

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CEO Marnie Battistini Recognized as Top 20 Dynamic Business Leader

” Following a dream into reality takes grit and purpose. It’s doable, but you need to forgive your mistakes and those of others on your journey.”
Marnie Battistini, CEO

MTA celebrates Chief Executive Officer Marnie Miller Battistini for her recognition as a Top 20 Dynamic Business Leader for 2022. To read the full story, visit The Corporate Magazine feature article here.

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Success Story: Accessible, Inclusive Virtual Event Experience

The Event

Virtual concert event emphasizing diversity and inclusion to promote unity during a challenging time of the pandemic.

“Together We Rise – A Virtual Experience with Mandy Harvey, an inclusive, soulful experience providing the opportunity for people of all ages to come together around story and song.”

Goals of the Event

 The sponsors’ goals for the event included:

Provide an accessible, inclusive event experience for all ages.  
Partner with woman-owned business to produce event.
Support the work of teachers and community organizers around the world with a supplemental curriculum and access to the event beyond event date.
Highlight the importance of supporting the arts and local theaters in respective communities.

Challenge

 Given the multifaceted goals of the event, the MTA team’s challenge was to ensure that we delivered exceptional production for an accessible, inclusive virtual concert experience that engaged and addressed the diverse needs of the audience as well as fulfilled the goals of the sponsors and the music artist.

 Solution

Conceptualizing the goals of the event, the artist, and the event sponsors while utilizing our team’s creative agility, MTA designed and produced a unique, fully-immersive, accessible concert experience for a broad virtual audience.

Relying upon the MTA Production Team’s superior expertise, the event’s production was engineered beyond basic videoing and recording – to include audio mastering and remixing with fully-produced audio as well as filming multiple camera angles intended for highly-enhanced concert sound quality.
In addition to fully-produced audio visuals, our team transformed a basic room in a local studio to an elevated musical experience by using creative lighting, intentional stage set design, and AV expertise to craft an immersive, ambient environment for increased engagement and interest.

Virtual Experience with ASL and closed captioning

Multiple camera angles for more energizing and engaging experience

Using accessiBe, an integrated WCAG and ADA compliant automated web accessibility solution, MTA designed a simple, elegant event website www.risewithmandyharvey.com and virtual platform that was easily accessible, and functional for all ages and abilities allowing the virtual audience to select their preferences based on their personal needs.
The virtual event integrated accessibility with all-inclusive elements including closed captioning, ASL (American Sign Language) interpretation, audio description, and ADA & WCAG compliance features.
An event website app was made available for streaming on mobile devices.
Intuitively designed with an easy registration process and on-demand post-event access.
To support the global work of teachers and community organizers, our production team designed a show flow aimed to further engage the younger audience by weaving in questions from students throughout the evening’s performance for a more captivating storytelling/musical experience.

MTA designed branding for the event’s promotion.
MTA practiced inclusive Covid-19 protocol and standards including lip-reading masks for our team working on site.
Miller Tanner Associates was one of the proud supporters of this fully inclusive, accessible, virtual event aimed at inspiring unity and supporting the diverse needs of the audience, sponsors, and music artist.

About Mandy Harvey (cited: State Theatre New Jersey): Mandy Harvey is an award-winning singer, songwriter, and inspirational speaker who lost her residual hearing at the age of 18. Despite this invisible disability, her love of music and determination led her to a career in vocal performance. She tours the world performing her original music and presenting her inspirational story of never giving up and continuing to try—helping others to realize their dreams and pursue their hopes.

An official Kala ukulele artist, Harvey released Nice to Meet You, her fourth studio album, in 2019. She is also the author of Sensing the Rhythm: Finding My Voice in a World Without Sound. In addition to her advocacy work with non-profits like No Barriers USA and Not Impossible Lab’s “Music: Not Impossible” project, she travels the country to heighten awareness, break down barriers, challenge stereotypes, and lead the charge toward a brighter future for all.

Statement from accessiBe: “We firmly believe that the internet should be available and accessible to anyone, and are committed to providing a website that is accessible to the widest possible audience, regardless of circumstance and ability.”

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In-Person Events Are Back Podcast

Listen Now

In episode 2 of the Event Horizons podcast, dive into how the in-person event format has evolved and what strategies and tactics event professionals can implement to keep people coming back to their in-person events. MTA’s Chief Experience Officer Meredith Shottes joins the discussion with other event industry leaders to lend their collective insights to the conversation.

Event Horizons is hosted by Nolan Ether and Olivia vanCuren, presented by Webex Events (formerly Socio) and produced by Earfluence.

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How to Organize a Hybrid Event

Camera Recording live presenter for a hybrid event managed by Miller Tanner Associates.

Planning important meetings, conferences, or any other type of event has unlimited opportunities. You can invite guest speakers, hold demonstrations, collaborate, and impart new skills. With today’s technological advancements, hybrid events are on the rise.

A hybrid event brings the best of virtual and in-person worlds together for a shared dynamic experience. If you’re unsure how to host a hybrid event, the experts at Miller Tanner Associates are prepared to assist you.

What Are Hybrid Events?

A hybrid event combines in-person and virtual events, utilizing aspects from both styles of events. These event types are arranged so remote and in-person attendees can fully participate and interact with each other.

Hybrid events are beneficial, especially if you have satellite offices or a global audience, allowing everyone to be involved. Hybrid events offer more flexibility from planning to executing an event designed specifically for your audience.

How to Run a Successful Hybrid Event

Define Your Goals

While a hybrid event may present a unique set of challenges, having clearly defined goals for the event before you begin planning helps streamlines the process. Consider asking your planning committee some of these questions to get started:

What are the purpose/goals of the event?
How do you intend for all participants to experience engagement and connection?
How many attendees do you consider successful?

Setting specific goals can help you better plan a path toward success.

Choose Your Tools

You need access to the right technology and a solid event strategy to host a successful hybrid event. Miller Tanner Associates has over ten years of virtual planning experience, and we are ready to provide the tools and expertise you need to create and manage your ideal event.

Proper audio-visual tools are a major necessity for launching a successful hybrid event. We are a full-service event planning team ready to make your hybrid event a realization.

Get the Details Under Wraps

Aside from setting specific goals, you’ll also have to define your event’s parameters and technical aspects.

Pick a date and time
Set a budget
Understand your presenters’ and attendees’ needs.
Choose your venue
Define your theme (consider your goals)

Optimize Both Sides of the Experience

When you have in-person and virtual attendees, create a welcoming and engaging environment for both. Ensure that you have the right technology to help you create a seamless experience. In addition to having the best technology tool, quality products should be a top priority.

Don’t let your event fall flat; invest in a production team that elevates a seamless hybrid experience for your virtual and in-person audiences. Aim to give equal consideration to both audiences so everyone has an enjoyable experience.

Encourage Participation Throughout the Event

Remember, your attendees don’t necessarily want to stare mindlessly at a screen or sit in a crowded room for hours. Make a point to schedule Q&A sessions, breakout sessions, and other ways for your audiences to stay engaged. Allowing them to have small breaks or to interact with each other will help limit distractions and increase overall engagement.

Why Hiring a Professional Team is Key

When organizing conferences, trade shows, or other significant events, there’s a lot to consider. When you add in the hybrid component and cater to two different audiences, you create the potential for more challenges. From the technical details to registration and technology to ensuring audience engagement, you must cover many aspects in minute detail. An experienced, professional team focusing solely on event planning will have the experience and knowledge to handle those details.

You can continue focusing on your organization’s day-to-day operations by hiring a professional planner to do the heavy lifting.

For more detailed information and insights about how to organize a successful hybrid event, view our Two Audiences, Shared Experience eBook here.

Click here to learn more about how the Miller Tanner Team planned a complex life sciences event.

Organizing a Hybrid Conference: Taking the Next Steps – Contact Miller Tanner Associates

Knowing the time and details to make a hybrid event successful, you can move forward with planning a knockout event.

If you need additional expertise, Miller Tanner Associates is here for you.

We can help you achieve your goals and create an event to remember!

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Success Story: Global Commercial Sales Meeting with a Plot Twist

event room with jazz band and table decor

The Event

Global commercial sales meeting for a clinical research organization company – an emerging biotech leader.

The Challenges

Due to a company merger and expansion of the commercial team, the goal was to bring together team members for leadership announcements, company overview, celebration, and team motivation for 237 attendees.

This event was originally planned to take place in Dublin. Many of the logistics had been confirmed but due to Ireland’s pandemic restrictions for indoor events weeks prior to the February event, the event was cancelled. Plot twist.

Within a 2-week time frame, Miller Tanner Associates began sourcing the event to take place in the United States where domestic and international travel would be easier to access.

Our team had one month to plan a global commercial sales meeting that would mirror the experience that had originally been planned in Dublin. We accepted the challenge.

The Solution

Since a majority of the attendees were located in the U.S., our team shifted the event’s vision from Ireland to a destination of equal intrigue – a luxury hotel and unique museum located in the heart of the nation’s capital city – an experience that was sure to excite the attendees in a surprisingly novel way.

Highlights

Welcome reception hosted at Washington, D.C.’s Spy Museum where attendees engaged with one another through the museum’s interactive stations. Other activations designed to surprise and delight the audience included a jazz band, James Bond lookalike, and a caricature artist.
General sessions were held at the Mandarin Oriental. MTA’s Production Team livestreamed the general session to expand the messaging to the company’s broader group.
After a full-day of meeting sessions, within 2 hours our team completely transformed this general session space into a celebratory space to host the awards gala highlighting the sales achievements of 23 award winners. The transformation included a 360 photo booth activation; an elevated ballroom with AV lighting for the awards’ presentations; elegant furniture to intentionally reflect the specialized lighting; and a seven-piece jazz band for the evening entertainment.
MTA’s Production Team flawlessly designed and directed the awards show flow including managing audio, camera, content, lighting, and emceeing the presenters while also filming speakers and award winners live.

MTA’s Global Experience Team quickly enacted our COVID –19 protocol when an attendee tested positive by initiating a communication plan to inform other attendees; providing a livestream of the gala for those unable to attend; and assisting the attendee, who tested positive, with all changes to hotel and travel arrangements as required.
Covid testing available on site for 25 international attendees returning to their respective countries.
This event highlights the adeptness of the MTA Team to quickly pivot and initiate contingency planning when unexpected shifts happen. Whether a short lead time, location changes, room transformations, or Covid-19 scenarios, rest assured that the MTA team is at the helm to ensure a successful event.

For a sneak peek of the event, be sure you check out our Instagram Reels here, here, and here.

Need help planning a global commercial sales meeting, contact our team to learn more!

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20 Reasons You Should Use VALTs to Train Your Team

Employee Sitting in front of computer using Virtual Assessment, Learning and Training Source - VALTs

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How to Protect Your Digital Privacy

security tips data safe millertanner.com

Computer viruses, cyber attacks, hackers…Are the unknowns, lurking around in cyberspace, keeping you up at night? By implementing these top 10 security tips from Daniel Conroy, Miller Tanner’s Director of Technology Services, you can rest assured that you are taking proactive measures to safeguard your data against security susceptibilities. Perhaps you’ll sleep better at night too.

10 Security Tips For Data Protection

1. Check For Software Updates

Software updates aren’t always new features. Many times, these updates are to correct a flaw in the software that could put you, and your data, at risk. It is also important to remember that once the software company releases a fix, they are also releasing the vulnerability. This doesn’t mean you have to be first to install every patch released, but it does pay to be timely.

Software companies haven’t quite made software updates mandatory yet, but they are a whole lot more automatic than they used to be. Google’s Chrome browser, for example, will automatically update the software and tell you when it is time to reboot. Microsoft’s Windows 10 has moved in the same direction. Even though more companies are moving to this model it never hurts to be sure. Checking for software updates for all your devices on a monthly basis is a good starting point.

2. Enable the Firewall

A firewall, as the name implies, creates a boundary between your computer and the Internet. This software doesn’t make your computer impervious to attack, but it’s certainly better than nothing at all. Both Windows and Mac OS X come with built-in firewall software. Make sure it’s enabled.

3. Use a Password Manager

Passwords are hard to remember and good passwords even more so. The fact is, unless you have an eidetic memory, remembering more than a few passwords is probably a challenge. This is why there are so many weak and reused passwords for accounts. Weak passwords are bad, but password reuse might be worse. How many of you use the same “good” password (you know the one with the letters, numbers, AND symbols) for multiple services say Gmail, Facebook, and Instagram. Imagine for a moment that Instagram suffers a breach and your account information is now compromised. They likely have your email address (which is probably the aforementioned Gmail account) and since you use the same password to access Gmail and Facebook, those accounts are now compromised too. Things just went from bad to worse.

But there is a better way.

Imagine having a different, complex password for each service you use. Not only is each password more complicated, in the scenario where Instagram was to suffer a breach, you only have to change one password. Interested? By using a password manager such as 1Password or LastPass you are only required to remember one good password and the software does the rest for you.

Speaking of ‘good’ passwords the key is entropy. XKCD.com is a fun and really great explanation of how all that works.

4. Encryption

Nowadays you can encrypt almost anything from your hard drive, your mobile phone and even your communications like email and text. To use encryption, follow this simple rule – when given the option to encrypt, do so.

5. Two-Factor Authentication

Two-factor authentication can be summed up by a simple tenet of something you have and something you know – like getting money at an ATM. You must HAVE your bank card and must KNOW your password. The point is you need more than just one factor (like a password) in order to access the service. Facebook, Gmail, and others offer this feature and you should enable whenever possible. It may make the login process a wee bit slower but the control it provides over your account is well worth it.

6. Bolster Browser Privacy

There is SO much information passed via your browser nowadays, it’s scary. Ever notice how you search for something on Google or Amazon and ads for that VERY same thing show up on other websites later? That level of tracking is just the tip of the iceberg. Do what you can to control your privacy and block those trackers with tools like PrivacyBadger or Ghostery. Looking to take things to the next level? Check out an internet search tool that doesn’t track you, DuckDuckGo.com

7. Malwarebytes

Today you need more than just standard antivirus software. The folks over at Malwarebytes make a solid protection that will help you clean all the little nasties that may be lurking on your PC or Mac.

8. Check App Permissions

If you’re like most people you’ve downloaded more apps on your phone than you actually use and very few of us actually remove apps we aren’t using. Not only are those dormant apps taking up space on your phone but they could be draining your battery too. Not to mention, some of them could be keeping tabs on your location. Do a routine sweep of what’s there and remove the junk!

9. Be Vigilant

Many times we can be our own worst enemies when it comes to data security and privacy. If a request for information doesn’t seem right, trust your gut! You can always call your bank and follow up on an email rather than provide the information requested in some emails.

And when it comes to social media think about what you’re posting and when. For example, is it better to tell everyone on Facebook that your house will be empty for the next two weeks or better to share what a great time you had once you’re safely back from your trip?

10. Use A Webcam Cover

These have become somewhat trendy over the past year with reports that hackers are gaining access to laptops and secretly turning them on to spy on the user. While these covers do little to protect your machine from outside attackers, they do, at least, give you control over when you’re on camera and when you aren’t. The bottom line is they can’t hurt and are easier to work with than tape.

Nothing is one hundred percent secure and even if it could be proven secure today that might change tomorrow; however, by following these 10 easy steps, you can certainly decrease your chances of security vulnerability.

We know that the security of your meeting data is of utmost importance to you. That’s why cybersecurity is a top priority for Miller Tanner at every event. Call us today to learn more about how we keep your information secure at every event.

Updated 10/27/2022