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Virtual Ice Breakers for Virtual Meetings

Virtual Ice Breakers For Meetings and Events

Great virtual ice breaker games can be one of the best ways for team members to get to know each other, build solid coworker bonds, and create a positive culture of collaboration. Even one high-quality icebreaker can set the stage for an authentic connection, something that can be challenging to achieve in a typical work environment. And when it comes to hosting a virtual event, online icebreakers are an especially valuable way to break through the barrier of a screen.

So, how do you know which activities will inspire enthusiasm and team bonding rather than reluctant participation? And are there specific virtual icebreaker ideas that work better in the online format than others? Once again, the Miller Tanner Associates team has you covered.

We’ve rounded up a master list of the best virtual icebreakers for your next event, specifically honing in on the activities that foster collaboration and connection even in an online setting. From the classic to the creative, here are the most effective icebreaker activities for virtual events.

But first, a quick pro tip

Even the greatest team icebreakers can end up being a flop if they’re not the right fit for the group at hand. Think of choosing an icebreaker activity as a match game of sorts: you want something that will suit the interests, skills, and even the size of the group with whom you’re working.

For example, are you planning a meeting for a team of creatives? In that case, look for a game or activity that targets their ability to brainstorm unique solutions, think outside the box, and express their ideas in an interesting way.

With just a little bit of consideration for your participants, you have far better odds of picking an icebreaker that’s an instant hit.

Virtual Ice Breaker Ideas

Draw your… (mood, current location, breakfast, etc.)

Icebreaker questions for virtual meetings can be particularly tricky. In an online environment, many participants will simply type a few quick words into the chat box or give a half-hearted thumbs-up – not because they’re disinterested, but simply because that’s what we’re used to in a world of endless Zoom meetings.

Rather than asking for a verbal answer, try switching it up and inviting them to draw one instead. Many platforms have easily accessible drawing tools, such as Zoom Whiteboard. Give everyone a minute or two to create a quick doodle, then spend a few moments getting a good laugh out of everyone’s attempt at art.

Start a meeting with a team-building coffee date.

Sometimes, the best way to nurture authentic connection is just to let it happen all on its own. An easy way to break the ice is to set up a short block of time (10-15 minutes will usually suffice) for informal chatting before a meeting.

Think of it as a virtual watercooler talk: everyone is free to casually chat about what they did that weekend, the new streaming series they’re loving, the great recipe they tried last night – anything! Scheduling quality time with coworkers without any formal activities can become a regular part of your company culture.

Set up a home scavenger hunt.

Help each other get out of your office chairs and stretch your legs with a hilarious home scavenger hunt, an icebreaker game that’s sure to inspire plenty of laughs. Assign the team a fun, lighthearted task to complete; for example:

  • Find the most unusual thing in the room
  • Take a picture of the view from the window nearest you and share it
  • Go get your favorite travel souvenir and tell us about it
  • Grab your go-to snack from the pantry

Once the clock runs out, everyone is back and ready to share a story behind the item they brought to the virtual table.

Challenge each other to team member trivia.

If your employees already know each other fairly well, a trivia quiz can be an entertaining way to dig a little deeper. Before the event, collect interesting facts about each participant. Then, set up a quiz – the specific format is totally up to you – to see just how much your staff really know about each other.

Another twist on this idea is the classic game, “two truths and a lie.” In this activity, each participant shares three statements about themselves: one is a lie, and two are true. Other people try to guess which is which, and often, hilarity ensues.

Play “Guess the Desk” to see how home workstations do – or don’t! – reflect various personalities.

For this activity, ask participants to submit a photo of their work desks at home. Then, see if colleagues can guess which desk belongs to which person. It can be fun to see how your team’s various personalities are expressed in their home workstations, especially if there are a few surprises along the way.

Depending on your virtual event platform of choice, you can run the activity via a multiple-choice poll or another format.

Pose a random “question of the day” (or week) for recurring events.

Many of us are attending more than our fair share of virtual meetings these days, and work activities restricted to a screen can become a blur after a while. But this quick icebreaker can encourage team bonding while also boosting morale and warming everyone up for a collaborative chat.

Each day, week, or month, ask participants an interesting, random question. Here are a few to get you started:

  • What’s the top item on your bucket list?
  • What’s the one TV show you think everyone should watch in their lifetime?
  • If you had to be an animal, which type would you be?
  • What’s one superpower you wish you could have?
  • Would you rather….?

Elevate Engagement with Next-Level Virtual Ice Breakers

At Miller Tanner Associates, we’ve taken the virtual experience and transformed it with our one-of-a-kind platform. Our goal was to go beyond the standard meeting platforms such as Zoom, and create an innovative solution that will please event hosts and attendees alike.

Using the elevated virtual platform, the Miller Tanner Associates team can completely customize the experience within the platform itself. Using measurable data and analytics, we’ll assess interaction and engagement to better understand your attendees’ interests and behaviors. Then, that information can be directly translated into smart strategies for boosting engagement – and in turn, your ROI increases.

When you hire our team for your virtual event planning, the platform is just one of the benefits of working with us. You’ll also have the advantage of our unique expertise and skill, giving your next event that professional touch.

Here are just a few of the ice breaker ideas for virtual meetings we’ve been using within our elevated platforms:

SHAKE

A next-level networking experience, simply exchange profiles with a click of a button. Our team designed an experience that mirrors that of an in-person event including a “handshake” feature, a networking option for attendees to identify mentors and like-minded individuals digitally.

One of the biggest challenges we’ve heard about virtual events is that many attendees miss the opportunities to get to know each other. But with SHAKE, your attendees can put a modern spin on networking.

Learn more about the details in this blog post.

Social Photo Wall

Post to the Social Photo Wall via mobile within the app! This is an interactive social wall within the platform where attendees can connect, share photos and videos, and interact around the content.

The Social Photo Wall is a great jumping-off point for a variety of icebreaker topics – so you can get as creative as you’d like! Attendees can share their favorite funny video of the week, photos of recent professional accomplishments, or a short blurb describing one of the goals for the year. Because the wall is such a flexible tool, you can utilize it for casual conversation and professional discourse alike.

An example can be found in this blog.

Virtual Photo Booth

Attendees can capture branded downloadable photos just like they would as if they were on site. The Virtual Photo Booth adds an element of fun to your event, and is the perfect activity to use during a break. Not only will attendees enjoy the photo booth itself, but you’ll have the benefit of sending them home with a branded gift.

Virtual Break Time

Using interactive avatars, these break opportunities enabled virtual rooms by topic with pop-up video chats. Because each room features a specific topic, there won’t be any lulls in the conversation – there’s already a starting point ready and waiting for them to jump right in.

Friendly Challenge Competition

Attendees receive points and rewards for their level of engagement and interaction within the platform – photos posted, quizzes, fun facts about speakers, etc.

For the event host, it offers the clear advantage of motivation better engagement. And on the attendees’ side, the result is often an experience that’s much more enjoyable. We’ve learned that even the most hesitant virtual meeting participant is likely to discover that once they join in on the fun, the event is far better than they expected.

Set Up a Virtual Slideshow

Run a slideshow of attendees’ life events, both personal and professional milestones and accomplishments, to connect each attendee to one another’s experiences. Even a short slideshow can significantly contribute to the overall morale of the event, helping attendees feel appreciated and “seen.” As a result, they’ll be much more likely to feel enthusiastic about the event and ready to actively engage.

Virtual Brainstorming

Use a whiteboard application to collaborate in a virtual space, and watch productive conversations and problem-solving really take off. All too often, virtual events fail to provide the same collaboration-friendly environment as an in-person meeting. But now, you don’t have to be sitting in the same room to share a workspace. The virtual whiteboard is a place where good ideas can snowball into great ones, all while attendees are making positive connections with each other.

Master Virtual Events with Support from Miller Tanner Associates

The way we gather, collaborate, and learn has changed dramatically in recent times – has your organization’s approach to event planning evolved as well? With virtual events becoming the new standard for a broad range of occasions, there’s an entirely new assortment of challenges to conquer when it comes to planning and executing an excellent event experience.

Miller Tanner Associates has spent more than 20 years as a leader in corporate event planning and management, working closely with clients in every industry and hosting thousands of exceptional events. We explored the world of virtual events long before they became a staple of modern business and have learned and experienced a lot up to this point. Why start at the beginning when you could have the advantage of our knowledge and expertise right now?

Our team is made up of corporate event planners, production engineers, project managers, designers, programmers, and so many others, with each member contributing a unique skill set to support our clients’ needs. If there’s an obstacle, we’re ready to tackle it with enthusiasm. And when it comes to virtual event planning for businesses, it’s a race we’ve been running (and winning!) for quite some time.

When you’re in need of the best virtual event planners in the business, ones that can bring your event vision to life, Miller Tanner Associates is the team to call. Reach out to us now to learn more about how to host a virtual event that makes your ideal event a reality.

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Success Story: Virtual National Sales Meeting Drives Meaningful Engagement

The Event

A U.S. medical device sales company had to pivot their in-person national sales meeting to a virtual format.

The Challenge

With limited technology capabilities and a tight deadline, a medical device sales company contacted Miller Tanner Associates (MTA) to assist with planning their national sales meeting for their U.S./Canada team members that had to be moved from an in-person to a virtual event.

This being their first virtual national sales meeting, the client wanted to elevate the experience beyond a basic meeting to an elevated, engaging, dynamic experience.  The client wanted a virtual national sales meeting that would reflect its company values of connection and culture for its 70+ attendees.

https://youtu.be/ih44TCrSi_I

The Solution

The major success contributor for this event was the collaboration between the client’s management team and the MTA experience team. Together the team created an environment of value and energy working diligently to engage the audience to raise the level of excitement. By maximizing the selected elevated platform engagement features, along with using social media and in-house communication tools, enthusiasm drove attendee engagement before, during and after the event.   

Ultimate Engagement

MTA designed a virtual experience with unique, engaging opportunities utilized throughout the 3-day virtual event. The team curated an agenda comprised of 4-hour daily sessions including sales and new product training; technology session; diversity and inclusion training; pre-produced daily inspirational talks by the leadership team; and awards. Each day had an overarching theme and content to reflect the theme.

The MTA team chose the best virtual platform and engagement tools that would accommodate for this client’s needs, company culture and accomplish the overall event goals.

Beginning on the first day, our team took the attendee engagement to the next level. A guest mentalist/magician kicked off the event with an interactive 30-minute pre-awards show. Following this show, we produced an awards show like no other with production elements that included music and a live chat. Celebrities, such as pop artist Paula Abdul, Dancing with the Stars Cheryl Burke and NFL player Tyrell Owens along with celebrity impersonators like Dolly Parton and “the Terminator” made surprise cameo appearances to announce the award winners. As an event memento, each winner was sent a link to their award announcement.

To further reinforce the company culture of connection, on the second day of the event a variety of optional “happy hours” were offered, including a guided art/painting session with pre-mailed supplies, a game night and scavenger hunt, a cocktail happy hour with pre-mailed ingredients, and a hangout room for those who just wanted extra time for networking. Gift bags were also sent daily to the attendees.

Features for Success

Within the user-friendly virtual platform itself, attendees could interact and engage using various tools and features:

Social Wall
  • The Event’s Social Wall – Attendees posted photos, articles, quotes, and questions. The management team encouraged participation and initiated interaction throughout the event.  
  • Virtual Photo Booth – Attendees captured branded, downloadable photos just like they would as if they were on site.
  • Virtual Break Time – Using interactive avatars, these break opportunities enabled virtual rooms with video chats by topic.
  • Friendly Challenge Competition – Attendees received points and rewards for their level of engagement and interaction within the platform – photos posted, quizzes, fun facts about speakers, etc. This was also a great way to familiarize attendees with the platform and encourage attendees to engage in the content and garner real-time engagement.
  • Running Slide Show of attendees’ life events both personal and professional milestones and accomplishments during 2020 to connect each attendee to one another’s experiences. 
Virtual Break Time

The Results

  • Working in partnership with our client, the MTA Production Team planned and produced a dynamic virtual national sales meeting that showcased the company’s culture of connection and engagement.   
  • This first virtual event for our client was highly engaging and interactive as a result of the curated virtual platform and customized engagement features and solutions that MTA designed.
  • To ensure a flawless event experience for the presenters and the attendees, our team prepared the presenters by offering coaching and pre-event rehearsals and seamlessly integrated pre-recorded and live sessions, delivering an impeccable virtual experience.
  • Our team designed a show flow for the 3-day event that optimized the attendees’ engagement and interests, enabling multiple points of connection with various content delivery modalities.

Feedback

“Yesterday was so fun and informative. It did not feel like I was just sitting at a computer all day. Thank you, MTA!!” – Virtual event attendee

“MTA has made every part of our first virtual meeting experience planning ‘five stars’!” – Virtual event client management team

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Meet MTA: Caroline Drummey, 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 Global Experience Designer – Events Caroline Drummey. Caroline, our associate based in Ireland, brings a wealth of talent to our team. She works closely with our customers to ensure that their events’ visions and goals are transformed into unique engaging experiences.

Meet Caroline Drummey, Global Experience Designer – Events

Strengths (based on CliftonStrengths): Woo, Positivity, Achiever, Communication, Futuristic

Tell us about your current role with MTA? 

As a global experience designer, I liaise closely with our customers to ensure we produce the event they have envisioned. Whether it is a congress, face-to-face, hybrid, or virtual event, we seamlessly bring all the attendees together, so our customers can focus on the content, trusting us to create the experience. 

How long have you been with MTA?

I am approaching 8 years with MTA, and it’s true what they say about time flying when you are having fun! The hours can be very long, but we are a very positive team and enjoy a laugh, which is very important to me. 

What did you do before joining MTA?

Initially, I was a video editor for a television production and distribution company in London. This was a wonderful, creative, and varied job with great friends in a vibrant city. 

I moved back to Ireland in 2013 when I was offered a great opportunity to work in the facilities department of a new semi-state company. In this position, I developed an understanding of the importance of the “behind-the-scenes” of the general operations of a building, an organization, and subsequently, an event and congress! 

Caroline at Adare Manor Ireland
Caroline at Adare Manor in Adare, Co. Limerick, Ireland

What’s the best part of your job?

I love being on site for face-to-face events, seeing attendees arrive safely, and hearing the chatter as they mingle with their colleagues, all buzzing for the days ahead. 

At a recent event, hearing the gasps of glee from attendees as they walked into an awards gala, and seeing them so happy with the venue – carefully chosen and decorated for their event – was very special. 

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

Rome, Italy is still my favorite event destination. The history, the culture, the architecture, the food, the wine…!

Caroline with MTA in Washington DC
Caroline and the MTA Team in Washington, D.C.

What’s been your most memorable event to date and why?

In January 2022, we had a beautiful event planned to take place in Dublin, Ireland. With one month to go, COVID restrictions forced us to move the entire event, and its 250 international guests, from Ireland to Washington, D.C. The short turnaround time was tough, but with great teamwork and an incredible creative designer, we produced a completely different experience for our guests. We even managed to turnaround the conference room into a fabulous gala dinner space, in one hour! 

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

Travel with everything fully charged, and with something tangible to read at hand. There are only so many plug outlets in stations and airports. Always pack a work outfit and shoes in your carry-on in case of baggage delays. 

What do you do for fun?

I recently started going to Zumba dance classes and I love it! My arms and legs flail around, often in the wrong directions, but I have a smile on my face throughout! I also love hill walking, and with so many options on my doorstep, I’m spoiled for choice. 

During COVID, I “traveled the world” with my family without leaving the house! “International Fridays” saw us “travel” to such countries as Brazil, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Russia, Australia, Madagascar, and Iran. We cooked the food, dressed up in the national clothing (term used lightly), and brought fun facts about each country to the table. It is still something we are very proud of, and we have a collage of our “travels” hanging on our kitchen wall. 

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

I am originally from Tralee, Co. Kerry on the South West Coast of Ireland. Having spent time in London and Dublin, I have made my way back home to Co. Kerry, and I live in Killarney with my family. 

Killarney

Tralee is great to visit all year round, but Dingle, where I went to boarding school, is a stunning little gem with the most spectacular Wild Atlantic Way scenery, and the best pubs in Ireland. 

Killarney is renowned for its stunning scenery, as it is surrounded by lakes and mountains, so I am truly blessed to live in this part of the world.

Killarney

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

We are all very passionate about what we do. Our dedication to our customers and our respect for each other makes MTA stand out. In 2020, the world experienced the most unexpected setback, but Miller Tanner Associates plowed through, using the experience we already had, to turn the event management industry on its head, to promote and produce more virtual events than we had in our previous ten years of virtual expertise. 

My favorite aspect of MTA is the people. Having always been a virtual company, traveling to our face-to-face meetings is such a joy. Seeing each other, getting to hug, having laughs, and producing amazing events is so special.  

What do you value most about the annual MTA Workshops? 

As above, as we are a virtual company, being able to see our colleagues and friends in person is very special. Only getting this chance once a year with most of the team, the time is spent with more intent, and we try not to waste a single moment. 

To meet our MTA team, visit www.millertanner.com or follow us on Instagram for behind-the-scenes with our team members.

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Advantages of Hybrid Events

hybrid events advantages

5 Advantages of Hybrid Events

Hybrid events have always been a great event solution. For years, Miller Tanner Associates (MTA) has been using a combination of face-to-face, virtual, and hybrid events to enhance learning, strengthen the conversation before or after an event, boost return on investment, and improve audience connection. Combining the best of both virtual and in-person events, hybrid events offer powerful advantages that can boost the overall success of your event.

1. Increased Agility in Contingency Planning

On a practical level, the great advantage of a hybrid model is that it offers a built-in contingency plan should situations change. For example, the scenario might arise that weeks prior to your face-to-face event, your event needs to partially or fully pivot to virtual as a result of travel restrictions in the country from where your audience is traveling or where your event is hosted. Similarly, hybrid events allow the flexibility for all attendees to participate at their comfort level. Where it’s safe to return to in-person events, attendees can participate face-to-face; and for those unable to attend in-person, hybrid offers the opportunity to have a similar experience virtually. With hybrid events,  you can quickly convert your entire conference into a fully virtual experience. 

2. Ensure Safety During Uncertainty

As we know, there will be guidelines for all face-to-face events moving forward, but some of those restrictions and safety measures aren’t enough for certain portions of your audience who may be impacted for a variety of reasons such as health risk factors, travel restrictions, or childcare limitations. The hybrid event then enables you to customize your event, to ensure that your participants can engage at their comfort level. For some people that will be virtual and for others that will be face-to-face. 

3. Expand Your Audience

Another important advantage of hybrid events is the ability to expand to virtual audiences unable to travel to your event. Audiences are craving great content and exceptional virtual experiences. They want to learn more, attend more, and experience more. As a result, we’re seeing increases in expansions of audiences allowing for reach that didn’t exist before.  

4. Diversity and Inclusion 

In addition to expanding the audience, hybrid events enable us to break through barriers of exclusion and to expand to new audiences for the benefit of diversity and inclusion. By combining a virtual option with your face-to-face event, your event becomes readily accessible to those who may not otherwise be able to attend due to physical mobility, financial resources, location, health issues, or disabilities. 

Miller Tanner Associates recently planned an event that included a virtual component. By offering the virtual portion to the audience, the event gained a 2100% increase in audience expansion in 40 countries as opposed to its 200-person face-to-face events in two U.S. cities a year prior. This is an example of the far-reaching benefits that a hybrid event can provide to all audiences regardless of ability and accessibility. 

5. Sponsorship Awareness

Hybrid events have the potential to expand your sponsor’s brand by tenfold. Not only do hybrid events allow for expanded brand exposure, but also allow you to build interactive content within the virtual platform to improve the return on investment for your sponsor.  

Whether you are designing a branded platform with clickable links to the sponsor’s website, trackable sponsor discounts, promotional videos, or breakout sessions led by the sponsor representatives, there’s an opportunity for more tangible interaction among your sponsors and your audience. All of this results in measurable data that gives the sponsor further insight into their target audience.    

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Success Story: Executing a Successful Hybrid Certification Training Amid a Pandemic and a Protest

The Event

A biopharmaceutical company with an urgent study timeline sponsored a series of three complex trainings for an important study trial. The studies were to take place in Lagos, Nigeria; Cairo, Egypt; and Accra, Ghana.

The first meeting in the series was a hands-on training in Lagos, Nigeria. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Nigeria, was completely closed to non-Nigerian citizens. The majority of the sponsor’s attendees and all the uniquely qualified trainers had to join the meeting virtually. 

Concurrently, the entire contract research organization’s (CRO) attendees, one sponsor attendee, the trial’s healthcare professionals (HCPs) and the patients, attended the meeting in person or LIVE. Miller Tanner Associates (MTA) mobilized to create a dynamic hybrid event with two audiences to create one experience.  

https://youtu.be/dsX7b6FGQ8Y

The Challenges

Training Complexity

This client had a complex study training agenda, a 4-week timeline, and a hybrid audience located in three different countries on multiple time zones; the sponsor was located in the United States, the CRO plus trainees/participants were located in Nigeria, and the trainers were located in the United Kingdom. 

This hands-on certification training required use of technology and devices which enabled live interactive video to support the on-site training requirements with the remote trainers.

Pandemic Safety Considerations

Additionally, there were specific requirements to accommodate the Covid-19 pandemic safety guidelines including cleaning protocol, hotel space for adequate social distancing, and PPE.

Pediatric Attendees

Due to the nature of the study, the patients involved were pediatric attendees ages 2 to 14-years-old. Specific furniture and equipment were required for this on-site training to accommodate for the needs of the patients.

Multiple Time Zones

The in-person training needed to align with the virtual agenda while also considering the multiple time zones of Nigeria, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Local Political Unrest in Host City

Adding to the complexity of this training, there was also political unrest in the area which required the meeting to be cancelled the day before it was scheduled to start and re-scheduled a month later. Additional safety and security protocols were implemented for the safety of both the on-site trainees and the patients who were traveling with their caregivers from the local hospital.

The Solution

socially distance hybrid event
Meeting room designed to safely accommodate all attendees.
(Pictured: Part of study series – visual of investigator meeting set up in Cairo, Egypt )
Training stations onsite in Accra, Ghana.
Sonographers’ training stations onsite with privacy screens in Cairo, Egypt.

Miller Tanner Associates tackled the many challenges, foreseen and unexpected, to provide a successful hybrid event solution for our client.

We implemented an extensive, customized safety and security plan for this event to ensure the safety of the attendees.  Our planning team worked closely with our Chief Compliance Officer (CCO) and Chief Experience Officer (CXO) to develop a thorough on-site, pre-, and post-meeting protocol to implement comprehensive Covid-19 cleaning and safety guidelines; client coaching and consulting; security procedures to address civil unrest; and measures to meet risk assessment criteria.

Technology Solutions for Remote Training

Remote trainers instructed and observed sonographer trainees in real-time using technology glasses to transmit video images. Image: Zeriscope.com

Our on-site production team produced a seamless hybrid experience by virtually connecting remote sponsor and trainers on screen with the in-person attendees. Using the specialized video set up, the remote trainers were able to instruct and observe the sonographer trainees in real-time using technology glasses to transmit video images, as well as a separate system that transmitted sonography images. 

Proactive Approach to Risk Management

One day prior to meeting, protests erupted in Nigeria, forcing MTA to counsel our client on possible event options. With the aid of our Chief Compliance Officer (COO) MTA discussed the risk factors and strongly urged our client to cancel the hybrid event and reschedule for a month later. This proved to be a wise decision as the next day the government of Lagos, Nigeria established a curfew which would have meant the on-site attendees would have been in lockdown.

With less than 18 hours to pivot, MTA moved quickly to cancel before any site attendees arrived.  Within 72 hours of cancelling, MTA had plans in place for a reschedule meeting 30 days later which MTA was already beginning to operate without any hotel cancellation fees incurred.

The two-day rescheduled hybrid event consisted of 18 remote attendees as well as 40 pediatric patients with their caregivers.

The Results

  • MTA successfully pivoted the Lagos, Nigeria hybrid event in less than 18 hours to ensure the safety of the attendees during the city’s protests. 
  • The meeting was quickly rescheduled within 30 days of the original date.
  • MTA produced a successful investigator meeting as a hybrid event with two audiences that shared one experience.
  • A comprehensive safety and security plan to address Covid-19 and local civil unrest was created and executed successfully.
  • An extensive, customized training plan was developed and executed.
  • 9 sites completed training on sonographer equipment virtually with a strong use of technology and production knowledge.  
  • 20 pediatric patients received exceptional care.
  • The clinical trial progressed to the next stage.
  • No one became ill with Covid-19 from attending this hybrid event.
  • No one was harmed during the civil unrest.
  • MTA applied the successes from the Lagos, Nigeria training to the training program series in Cairo, Egypt and Accra, Ghana. These certification trainings followed the same protocol and similar hybrid format as in Nigeria to accommodate both in-person and virtual attendees. The study training in Ghana consisted of 10 site participants in-person and 15 site attendees virtually. The study training in Cairo, consisted of 8 in-person site participants and 12 virtual participants.

“What a huge success! Thank you to the entire MTA team for all of the hard work that went into this training meeting. This meeting really pushed the limits of thinking outside of the box and meeting planning, and you guys were amazing every step of the way! Please forward this message on to the local teams as well.  Big round of applause for everyone.”

Hybrid Event Client

To learn more about hybrid events, visit our website here.

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Success Story: How to Expand Recruitment Training Capability Using VALTs to Support Virtual Events

expand training for HCPs

The Event

A pharmaceutical company, launching a global-wide Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) study, needed to host an investigator meeting (IM) series as well as a recruitment training series.

The Challenge

Given the large scale of the study, combined with the challenges of the pandemic, the client needed to proceed with the investigator meetings and recruitment trainings while also providing flexibility and accessibility to site staff and sites involved in the study.

Due to the complexity of this study involving OCD, the specialized training involved the interaction and management of patients from initial communication throughout the lifecycle of patient care and the many touchpoints in between. In order to maximize the patient recruitment capabilities, it was imperative to make comprehensive training accessible to every staff person at every site who interacts with the patient at each touchpoint, in addition to the HCPs, site coordinators and principal investigators.  

This was the client’s first fully virtual event series; they needed guidance from the Miller Tanner Associates team to plan and execute these meeting series to ensure accommodation of multiple time zones including North America, Canada, and Europe. 

The Solution

The Miller Tanner Associates team worked with the client to determine their goals and created a thorough strategy to execute multiple virtual meeting series for the investigator meetings and the patient recruitment training as well as an on-demand training option through VALTs, (Virtual Assessment Learning and Training Source), MTA’s proprietary learning management system, for those unable to attend the live sessions. By offering multiple meeting options, attendees could choose based on their availability, enabling a higher participation among those invited.

  • Because recruitment was integral to the study, MTA planned four branded 2-1/2 hour recruitment meetings for U.S. and Canada sites with focus on implementation of recruitment strategy, patient interviews, explanation of illness and symptoms, and patient retention.
  • For the investigator meeting series, we planned four branded strategic, 4-hour meetings to disseminate protocol overview and education for U.S. and Canada sites.
  • European investigator meeting will be offered later in the year.
  • To further maximize both meeting series, our team created a branded training portal within VALTs to accommodate all participants who could not participate in the scheduled dates of the study series. The benefits included:
    • Extend the training to additional site staff members who would normally not attend the investigator meeting (i.e. additional sub-investigators / study coordinators, recruitment specialists, chief pharmacist, etc.)
    • Create roles-specific modules within the training content
    • To use as a refresher for those who did attend
    • To train new site staff throughout the life of the study

To maintain the efficiency and efficacy for the study team, both the IM and the recruitment meeting series were live streamed events with pre-recorded content. MTA provided speaker coaching, remote recording, and editing of the remote pre-recorded content.  

Additionally, MTA designed and implemented brand uniformity throughout the VALTs study portal, vendor portal, and the landing page of the virtual platform used for the meeting series. The landing page featured speakers’ bios to be repurposed for use within VALTs.

The pre-recorded captures were live streamed using an elevated virtual platform. To create a more engaging virtual experience, the speakers and moderator provided live Q&A throughout the meetings. These sessions were then repurposed within VALTs.

Results

  • Most notable outcome is the significant increase in recruitment capability as a result of using VALTs for repurposed content; recruitment training can be made, with version control, accessible and available to anyone who interacts directly with the patients, beginning with the point of initial contact, providing a broader baseline training.
  • This strategy expanded recruitment training from 3 site contacts to more than 15 contacts per site, with unique role-based learning plans. Because this training is captured within VALTs, anyone trained can submit questions directly to the trainer/speaker. Using VALTs also allows content to be used as a refresher or for onboarding of new staff joining the sites. Our client was excited to have this capability that expands beyond the limitations of a face-to-face training that is typically limited to principal investigators, site coordinators, and HCPs.
  • Our team selected an elevated experience platform for the virtual event that seamlessly supported both the prerecorded and live segments of the event, enhanced engagement opportunities, and optimized the playback quality.
  • MTA’s thoughtful strategy to leverage the strengths of VALTs significantly improved the recruitment training leading to a more successful, effective recruitment process with expanded reach and ROI.

Need to expand your training? Contact us to learn more about VALTs.

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Success Story: In-Person Event Pivots to Virtual & Expands Reach by 2,100%

The Event:

The Everygirls Rise: A Career Empowerment Conference Powered by La Marca Prosecco

About The Everygirls Rise Virtual Conference: The Everygirl Media Group presents its 2020 online conference experience, powered by La Marca Prosecco—a virtual career empowerment and networking event (featuring the talents, leadership, and expertise of inspiring women across industries).

https://youtu.be/p4k5DqRTFXY

About The Everygirl Media Group: By offering detailed in-depth features, career profiles, relatable first-hand accounts, and how-to guides, The Everygirl inspires women toward leading a well-rounded, financially sound, and stylish life.

The Challenges:

Annually, The Everygirl Media Group (The Everygirl) hosts two career empowerment face-to-face (F2F) regional events in North America; one in Chicago, Illinois and the other in Atlanta, Georgia.  Pre-COVID, the average F2F size was 75-100 attendees per event. Due to the pandemic, The Everygirl considered cancelling their annual event; however, they decided to explore their virtual options to engage their membership and continue to achieve their company goals.

Desiring to keep the ascetic quality of The Everygirl F2F event, as well as continue to provide networking capabilities, both essential to The Everygirl brand, The Everygirl needed virtual technology with an integrative platform that would deliver on multiple fronts.  In addition, The Everygirl needed a team of virtual event experts to manage and produce the event from beginning to end.

After doing a quick internet search, The Everygirl discovered Miller Tanner Associates (MTA) and their Global Experience Team. The Everygirl hired MTA to curate a virtual event series that would engage and activate networking opportunities for The Everygirl members and generate brand awareness for The Everygirl event sponsor, La Marca Prosecco.  

The Results:

Using the best-in-class virtual technology options, MTA’s expert Global Experience Team worked closely with The Everygirl to design and deliver a flawlessly executed virtual experience for 2300+ remote attendees from the United States and expanding across the world to include: United Arab Emirates; Argentina; Australia; Buenos Aires; Barbados; Switzerland; Canada; Cameroon; Germany; Spain; France; Great Britain; British Virgin Islands; Ghana; Greece; Guatemala; Croatia; Hungary; Indonesia; Ireland; Israel; Iceland; Italy; Japan; Kenya; Columbia; Kuwait; Latvia; Mexico; Malaysia; Nigeria; Nepal; New Zealand; Republic of Panama; The Philippines; India; Puerto Rico; Russia; Sweden; Singapore; The Caribbean; Ukraine; Zimbabwe; and South Africa.

By switching “The Everygirls Rise” event from a F2F event to a virtual event, the first virtual event realized 900 attendees in the remote audience and the second virtual event realized 1400 attendees in the remote audience for an increased audience ratio of 2100 percent total combined.

The virtual nature of this event resulted in the increased attendance due to the convenience of joining the event from any location and at the reduced cost.  The Everygirl gained global brand exposure and maximized their brand awareness, as well as their sponsor’s brand, with final remote audience participation from five additional continents outside North America including Asia, Europe, Australia, South America, and Africa.  

Planning the Overall Experience

Based on the desired goals of the event, the MTA team created an elevated virtual platform using features that offered engagement, networking, and sponsorship opportunities that closely aligned with The Everygirls legacy F2F experience.

Sponsor’s Experience:

The event sponsor gained extensive brand exposure with the assistance of the MTA team. The MTA team designed an interactive experience to include sponsorship commercials; engaging content; opportunity to direct sponsor product purchases; sponsor-led panel moderation; and widgets to interact with the integrated sponsor website. As a result of the virtual event, the sponsor’s brand had exponential reach.

Attendees’ Experience:

The goals for the attendees included participation in career empowerment and personal fulfillment panels, professional guidance, and networking opportunities amongst peers.  Attendees included entrepreneurs, creative content creators, and corporate leaders.

Our team designed an experience that mirrored that of an in-person event including a “handshake” feature, a networking option for attendees to identify mentors/like-minded individuals digitally; a social wall for attendees to connect; and interaction with the sponsor’s content within the platform.

Client’s Experience:

The MTA team created an entirely fresh new branding suite for the virtual event including customized graphics, enhanced visuals, and branded video templates; built a branded platform that would elevate the overall experience and create continuity with previous in-person events.

Presenters’ Experience:

The MTA team provided speaker training, technology consulting and technical rehearsals to ensure that all speakers’ background/lighting was optimal, that they were well prepared and understood the technology.

Further, MTA designed customized virtual speaker backgrounds.  The background was designed for consistency and to emphasize event branding. MTA also created a show flow, provided guidance for the script, and an optimized 3-hour agenda that would be most impactful for the virtual attendees.

Users’ Experience:

The MTA team built out a platform that was mobile and desktop-friendly with features designed to enhance the experience for speakers, attendees, as well as for sponsor.  

Within the platform, users had access to the following:

Downloadable content including:

  • Spotify playlist
  • Career empowerment planning guide
  • Course discount codes

Audience engagement features:

  • The Everygirl Media Group and La Marca Prosecco website links
  • La Marca Cocktails: Recipes for 2 Featured La Marca Cocktails
  • Sponsor discount
  • Panelists’ bios
  • Digital Swag Bag: including a Career Guide, Everygirls Rise productivity playlist, screen downloads, and a discount code for The Everygirl Courses
  • Networking and chat functionality

“The Everygirls Rise” Event Conference app provided additional features:

  • SHAKE: a next-level networking experience. Simply exchange profiles with a click of a button.
  • Social Photo Wall: Post to the Social Photo Wall via mobile within the app!

Day of Event

The day of the event, MTA managed the attendee experience, the platform technology and the live stream of panel discussions and live moderation.  The MTA production experts executed a flawless event that consisted of multiple panelists, a moderator, as well as engagement features for the audience. The MTA production team seamlessly streamed all live presentations into two 3-hour shows designed to keep the 2300 attendees captivated throughout both events.    

Client Feedback

“Never been a part of anything so smooth and organized to this level.” – panelist (speaker)

From Joyce Chen, Marketing Director, E & J Gallo Winery (Lamarca Prosecco), Instagram:

“WHEW! This is the release of adrenaline  after La Marca Prosecco x The Everygirl virtual RISE women’s empowerment conference season is done…We are so amazed that over 2,300 women from over 10 countries decided to tune in & celebrate a community of women virtually this year. We feel so humbled that all of you wonderful humans welcomed @lamarcaprosecco  @theeverygirl and our amazing women of panelists into your home. We are so inspired that through the app & social wall, you all chose to lift each other up and create community in these trying times. These are the days I pinch myself when work has a greater purpose beyond the bottle. For that, I am so moved and never want to take this moment for granted. Thank you to the team at Everygirl, @miller_tanner_associates and the amazing women on my team who I am proud to serve. They are the tireless MVPs who make this all happen…“

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The Benefits of Hybrid Events

what is a hybrid event

What is a Hybrid Event?

Essentially, a hybrid event is any combination of a face-to-face and virtual or digital experience.

You might have a 5,000-person virtual event with 20 people joining in person in one location. Or you might have 100 people face-to-face in meeting rooms and 100 people attending virtually online. Or you could have 5000 attendees with a live speaker being recorded and filmed at a remote location. These are just a few examples of the countless options that hybrid events can offer. Bottom line: With hybrid meetings, the event possibilities are endless.

Why Hybrid Events Are a Good Solution Especially Now

Hybrid events have always been a great solution. For years at MTA, we’ve been using a combination of face-to-face, virtual, and hybrid events to enhance learning, strengthen the conversation before or after an event, boost return on investment and improve audience connection.

Now that companies are forced to go virtual due to the current pandemic, organizations have lost their “fear factor”, have stepped outside their comfort zone, and have started to think outside the box; now there’s curiosity around what it looks like to extend and further engage their audience in the future.

Easily Pivot Your Meeting During an Unpredictable Time with Hybrid Events

As many companies have pivoted their face-to-face events to virtual as a result of the pandemic, this trend will continue in 2021 with a hybrid model. Hybrid events will be necessary to allow all attendees to participate at their comfort level. For those individuals where it’s safe to return to in-person events, they can participate face-to-face; and for those who have reasons why they can’t attend face-to-face, hybrid enables them the opportunity to attend the events without being in person.

Advantages of Hybrid Events

Expand Your Audience

One important advantage of hybrid events is the ability to expand your audience to include those who cannot travel to the event but can still attend the event virtually. The idea of attrition begins to shift – It’s not a traditional attrition model anymore of who can’t attend the event, but rather those who can’t attend in-person now have a second opportunity to say yes to your event.

Additionally, audiences are hungry for great content and for exceptional virtual experiences. They want to learn more, attend more, and experience more. This particular time period in our history allows so many people to expand their horizons and their knowledge base.

As a result, we’re not seeing a decline in hybrid or virtual audiences; we’re seeing increases in expansions of audiences allowing for reach that didn’t exist before.

It’s an opportunity to embrace and recognize that there is an audience, that they want to be engaged, and that if we provide great content, and engaging experiences, then they’ll continue to come and, and feast off of what we’re sharing.

Ensure Safety during Uncertainty

Safety certainly is a very important issue. There will be COVID-related restrictions for all face-to-face events moving forward, but some of those restrictions, guidelines and safety measures aren’t enough for certain portions of your audience who may be impacted for a variety of other reasons such as health risk factors for themselves or someone with whom they live or childcare limitations.

The hybrid event then enables you to customize your event, to ensure everyone feels comfortable at the level at which they’re able to engage. And for some people that will be virtual and for some people that will be face-to-face.

Flexible, Built-In Contingency Planning

The great advantage of a hybrid model is that it offers a built-in contingency plan should situations change.  

For example, 12 weeks from now, the country or the region in which you are conducting your event, or from where your audience is traveling, needs to move fully virtual due to imposed travel restrictions. By planning a hybrid event to be fully executed alongside your primary face-to-face event, you can quickly convert your entire conference into a full virtual experience.

Why MTA is the Right Partner for your Hybrid Event

Experience and Expertise

One of the benefits of working with Miller Tanner Associate is that we have been planning virtual events for the past 10 years for our clients. Our company, itself has been a virtual company for 23 years.

Over the past five years, a high percentage of our in-person events have been converting to virtual. There’s always been a virtual component to our face-to-face events, whether it’s a small virtual audience or a small group of virtual speakers. As a result, we have a high level of experience helping our clients determine how to engage people virtually.

Return on Your Investment

Helping clients create a return on investment is another benefit of working with an event planner like Miller Tanner Associates. Working with our team shows you how to create this ROI, as it doesn’t necessarily happen naturally in a virtual or a hybrid scenario. It requires core planning, structuring your agenda to maximize your content delivery, and employing technologies to ensure engagement.

We’ve done the testing within our own team, and with years of experience in using the virtual model, we take that trial and error out of the way for you.

Beyond Plan B

We want our partners to have peace of mind with every corporate event planning. Moving forward in 2021, every face-to-face event will have a shadow hybrid event plan integrated meaning a virtual event is being planned alongside the in-person event in case the event requires a sudden pivot to virtual or hybrid.

Hybrid events are truly the best of both worlds. The hybrid model offers an effective way to maximize and personalize an event experience that can accommodate any audience both in-person or remote. To learn more about hybrid events, contact our Global Experiences Team.

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What HCPs Really Want from Your Investigator Meeting

With over 23 years of experience planning investigator meetings, Miller Tanner Associates has learned a lot about what makes a successful medical meeting for both the host and the attendees. We survey every participant so that we can give our clients specific direction as to what attendees really desire from an investigator meeting. Here are a few ways you can deliver an exceptional meeting to your healthcare professional (HCP) attendees.

Continue reading “What HCPs Really Want from Your Investigator Meeting”
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