Miller Tanner Associates Team, Author at Miller Tanner Associates

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Event Budget Controls

On this page, we’ll explore the basics of budgeting for events.

It is imperative to pull off a fantastic event that dazzles your attendees, but it is equally important not to let that event break your bank. At Miller Tanner Associates, we work tirelessly to provide you with the best value for your budget. We can help you craft world-class events that work for your business.

What Is an Event Budget?

An event budget is a comprehensive projection of how much money you will spend on an event. It helps you manage your spending and earnings and provides a metric for measuring the success of your event. The value of an event budget cannot be overstated. While creating and managing a well-planned event budget takes work, it can make all the difference.

Controlling Your Event Budget

Take Control of No-Show Food and Beverage Costs

Food and beverage costs are frequently the most mismanaged expenses, and event planners rarely search for savings in the right places. Inefficient registration processes that limit visibility and accountability for the sales team are often the cause of high no-show rates. You can track your event outreach with integrated reporting tools using end-to-end event management software to coordinate all communication efforts around your events. By personalizing and tracking all event communications, you can reduce no-show rates and reduce food and beverage costs.

Employing Vendor Partnerships

Effective event planning firms can employ vendor partnerships and volume usage to negotiate pricing that favors all their customers, big and small. Due to the volume of use that premier event planning firms have, these vendor partnerships provide excellent service to clients and offer special pricing or discounts on some of the event expenses. When vendor partnerships offer us discounted pricing, those savings are passed on to you, allowing you to control your event budget.

Hiring an Expert Event Planner

In addition to vendor partnerships, expert event planning firms can help manage the cost per attendee by leveraging their extensive industry knowledge to recommend the most cost-effective venues and times of the year for your event. Excellent event planners present solutions that will fulfill your needs and fit within the budget limits you have set for your event. In addition to helping clients with venue selection and event schedules, good event planners also help clients with expense management by ensuring that flight and other event-related fees are booked in the most appropriate time frame.

Miller Tanner Associates has planned, hosted, and executed events of all types, styles, and sizes for more than two decades. In its 24+ years of practice (10 years in virtual events), MTA has managed thousands of events worldwide across Boston, New York, San Diego, San Francisco, Hong Kong, Budapest, and other major hubs. We have organized an expansive volume of guests and a broad clientele with unique needs, objectives, and event concepts. The plethora of experiences gathered makes MTA your ultimate event partner.

Running a Multi-Level Review

Running a multi-level review of event expenses can help you manage the cost per attendee. This protects you from false charges or inappropriately charged rates on pass-through expenses by ensuring that all contracted and rendered services are accurately billed at the appropriate rates.

Along with a multi-level review, MTA thoroughly evaluates all your attendance reimbursements to ensure that all funds are reimbursed according to your cost reimbursement requirements.

Mitigating Event Risk

MTA mitigates risk by creating standard organization contract clauses that automatically appear on every vendor agreement. These clauses provide you with the peace of mind that our vendors will deliver on their promises.

Leveraging Technology in Event Automation

Technology can save you a great deal. If you haven’t tried virtual or hybrid events yet, you’re missing out on immense cost savings due to fewer travel-related expenses for event attendees. Both virtual and hybrid meetings can help you save money while still providing opportunities for collaboration and networking.

When you consider the advantages of virtual and hybrid events, it’s easy to see why they have become more mainstream; however, they are not without challenges. It is critical to work with a reputable planning team. If you want to reap the most out of these meetings, you’ll need an experienced team that understands how to maneuver them with ease.

With MTA’s virtual and hybrid event planning experience, you’ll have plenty of sophisticated technology to integrate into the overall event experience, resulting in a shared experience for your face-to-face and virtual attendees. No one will be left out, regardless of location.

With MTA’s VALTs Virtual Assessment Learning and Training Source, you can expand upon your training offerings with on-demand content. It’s the tech-driven training solution you didn’t realize you needed but will undoubtedly become a standard for your team in the future.

Event Budgeting FAQs

1. Can Miller Tanner Associates process and audit the reimbursement of expenses for attendees?

Yes! All reimbursements are audited and reviewed to ensure that each aligns with your event’s expense reimbursement directives.

2. Does MTA practice proper transparency? (for Life Sciences)

Yes! We continually seek knowledge to stay informed of the changing transparency spend regulations for regulated industries such as the Life Sciences industry. We can provide transparent reporting in both MTA’s standard template but also in client-specific templates as well.

3. Does MTA provide expense management and review?

Yes! We work across multiple departments to review all meeting-related expenses and perform numerous levels of review to ensure the services were appropriately billed based on the services contracted and received. Vendor partnerships and discounts provided often pass directly to our customers. For every event, we work diligently to protect client spend amounts.

4. Does MTA offer billing portfolios?

Yes! We provide a complete package at the finalization of a meeting, including the supporting documentation for all charges and reimbursements. This comprehensive billing portfolio provides details and support for all event-related expenses. It is then indexed for your convenience, providing easy access to documentation for any charges related to the particular event.

Connect with MTA

Locking in the maximum cost savings in your event budget will go a long way in building organizational efficiency. Remember to closely track your event costs and reimbursements for the best results. You can also reach out to an expert to help you. MTA is a WBENC-certified full-service corporate event planning firm that has been in operation since 1997. We deliver excellent face-to-face, virtual, and hybrid event experiences that exceed your expectations through personalized knowledge and tailored solutions. Contact us today to maximize your cost savings.

Image credit: moreimages/shutterstock

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Enhancing Global Event Experiences

Here at MTA, we pride ourselves on enhancing global event experiences and ensuring all our events and client experiences are unique and memorable. That requires always having new ideas, new locations to pitch, and strong relationships around the world.

Think about all the things we do personally to further advance our careers. We may take an Excel class, we might expand our social and professional networks, or even take on extra projects in our current role to explore new opportunities.

MTA practices a similar philosophy, where our employees’ own personal development helps enhance our clients’ experiences. That’s one of the main reasons we recently attended IMEX America.

IMEX America happens once a year, and it is America’s worldwide exhibition for incentive travel, meetings, and events. There are 4,000 exhibitors representing 150 countries, and the show encourages all buyers, including MTA, to schedule as many 30-minute meeting slots with these exhibitors that one can fit in over a four-day period.

Exhibitors range from all top hotel brands, tourist bureaus, event specialists, gifting suppliers, airlines, ground transportation companies, technology suppliers and many more. As strong buyers in the industry, MTA was generously hosted by four different brands – Accor Hotels, Marriott, Carlson Redzigar Hotel Group and Melia Hotels International.

At IMEX, we make sure to get the most out of our time there, whether it’s meeting new suppliers and vendors, or nurturing our existing strong relationships. There is also an educational element to the conference that provides inspirational seminars, workshops, and forums run by leading experts and supporting industry trade associations.

It’s a whirlwind of a week, but we always leave rich with new contacts and inspired to get back to work with fresh ideas and perspective. We believe there is always room to grow and improve our business, and we at MTA are committed to constantly evolving to make sure we are the best in the business for our great clients!

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What You Need to Know About General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR)

For any organization that does business with clients in European Union (EU) countries, understanding the General Data Protection (GDPR) requirements is essential. The GDPR aims to protect the privacy and personal data of EU citizens. These safeguards enact strict rules, and any non-compliance can impact your company.

While consumer privacy rights are incredibly important, many companies are discovering that the GDPR goes far beyond the usual standard for data security. This has left more than a few organizations facing a significant overhaul of their systems and protocols, even as many leadership teams struggle to pinpoint exactly how GDPR affects their day-to-day operations.

We’re tapping into our data security and technology expertise to bring you an easy-to-understand guide that describes exactly what you need to know about GDPR compliance.

“GDPR can be considered as the world’s strongest set of data protection rules, which enhance how people can access information about them and places limits on what organizations can do with personal data.” Wired

The European Parliament passed the GDPR in April of 2016, updating the former data protection directive that had been in place since 1995.

Here is a simplified snapshot of what the GDPR is and why it was adopted:

The GDPR contains provisions that require businesses to safeguard all EU citizens’ personal data/privacy.
It applies to any transactions within EU member states and the exportation of personal data outside the EU.
GDPR rules are consistent across all 28 EU member states.
The EU implemented the GDPR to replace the 1995 Data Protection Directive, which largely failed to address the evolution of the Internet, data storage and collection, and other key advancements.
Public concern over privacy and a widespread lack of trust in how many companies handle consumers’ data fueled the GDPR’s inception.

The GDPR has created a new standard for “personal/private data,” which has presented some significant challenges for companies. Under the GDPR, protected data includes:

Basic identity details, such as name, ID number(s), and address;
Web data, including IP address, location, cookie data, and RFID tags;
Health/genetic data;
Biometric data;
Racial/ethnic data;
Political beliefs/opinions; and
Sexual orientation.

Any company that processes or stores the personal information of EU citizens is required to comply with the GDPR, meaning that your organization does not necessarily need to have a physical presence in the EU to fall under its regulations.

And because equal liability is placed on data controllers and data processors, your company must make sure that any third-party processors you partner with are fully compliant. You’ll want to check your payroll service providers, SaaS vendors, cloud providers, and many other contractors you might work with regularly.

Depending on your organization’s current approach to data security, the shift might be minimal, or it might be extreme. Regardless, updating protocol to maintain compliance is necessary because the alternative involves steep fines.

You might also notice changes in your company’s contracts with third-party vendors and service providers. Those organizations are working to fulfill their GDPR-outlined obligations to notify all customers of their privacy rights under the measure. For example, the Miller Tanner team has updated our contracts, protocol, and other practices to reflect the GDPR, upholding our commitment to the highest standard of client security and privacy.

Do you still have questions about GDPR? Maybe you’re wondering how it affects you as a current or prospective client of Miller Tanner Associates, or perhaps you want to understand its impact on your operations better. To read our full privacy policy, please visit www.millertanner.com.

You’re welcome to connect with our team anytime — let’s chat!

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Virtual Training Musts for Medical Events

Thanks to the evolution of event technology and a significant increase in the demand for virtual events, it is now more possible than ever for your medical meetings to go digital.

Medical conferences, training, and networking events are an integral component of the healthcare field. These events provide essential opportunities for professionals to learn, connect, and expand their expertise. Whether your events are in-person or virtual, Miller Tanner Associates can help improve your events.

Tapping into our extensive years of experience in event planning and management for the life sciences industry, the Miller Tanner Associates team shares what you need to know about virtual medical events. In this handy guide, we will cover the perks of taking your medical event to the virtual world and some valuable tips for launching a successful event.

Benefits of Virtual Medical Events

There are certain advantages to virtual events over in-person events, both for life sciences and other industries.

Convenience

The most obvious perk of attending a virtual event is how easy it can be. Instead of arranging travel and accommodations, enduring travel time, and navigating the event venue, attendees can be ready with just a few clicks. This places significantly less demand on attendance, often increasing the overall participation rate.

Going virtual can open a new realm of possibilities for event planners. Imagine there is a specific expert you would like to have speak at your event, but their limited availability makes an in-person presentation impossible. With virtual events, it’s much easier for them to appear as a virtual guest speaker.

Innovative Methods to Encourage Engagement

Audience engagement is undoubtedly one of the most critical aspects of planning any event. A virtual event offers interesting new ways to connect with the audience, setting up interactive activities and other attention-grabbing strategies for success.

Options for Archiving Content for Future Use

We have all left a professional conference with pages of notes mixed in with handouts and presentation documents. Although the actual content contained within these documents may be extremely valuable, the hassle of organizing it often renders them useless.

But with virtual medical meetings, people can digitally catalog all of the notes and resources associated with a presentation for anytime access. Sessions can be recorded and uploaded to a digital platform, and participants can use advanced search mechanisms to locate the information that interests them. This is a significant advantage for attendees and hosts alike.

How to Host a Virtual Life Sciences Event

There are also challenges to virtual event planning and management. But with a few smart tips and a team of professionals by your side, you can be ready for anything.

Here are some things to consider when planning your next event:

Pinpoint your audience’s specific needs and wants. Like any in-person event, a virtual conference requires the host to understand their audience’s wants and needs. However, the virtual setting introduces a new assortment of potential needs – so be sure to assess accordingly.
Provide ample pre-event information. Although virtual events are becoming increasingly common, they are still a relatively new experience for many. Your attendees don’t want to feel left in the dark regarding various event details, so focus on clearly communicating what they can expect. Make it as easy as possible for attendees to figure out how to access the virtual event and what program or platform they need (if any).
Expect the unexpected. Just about every type and size of event comes with at least one surprise hiccup, even if you’ve worked to plan every last detail. For virtual events, these issues can show up in technical problems. Be prepared with an expert team that can quickly resolve any problems so you aren’t left scrambling for IT solutions mid-event.
Collect feedback after the event. The best event improvement tips come from the participants themselves in many cases. Devise a thoughtful post-event survey to get audience feedback, and make sure that you take their suggestions to heart.

Host Virtual Medical Meetings with Help from Miller Tanner

Whether you decide on an in-person, virtual, or hybrid setting for your next medical event, Miller Tanner Associates is the experienced and creative team you need. We will craft an exceptional event experience that achieves your goals and makes a lasting impression on your audience, specifically tailored to your needs.

Check out more of our tips for virtual medical conferences below, then connect with our team to find out how we can help you.

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18 Smart Reasons to Use Our On-Demand Training/Learning Management System

If you haven’t tried virtual training solutions, then there is no better time than now! Train on-demand, anytime, anywhere. What’s not to like about that? We’ve got 18 smart reasons why you should stop wasting your time on redundant, ineffective training methods and start training effortlessly with our VALTs on-demand training. Work smarter not harder. Continue reading “18 Smart Reasons to Use Our On-Demand Training/Learning Management System”

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How to Increase Attendance at Medical Meetings

Face-to-face events still rank as the best method for training and engaging intellectual discussions among attendees; however, with that, comes many challenges when planning a medical meeting. Patients are healthcare professionals’ first priority, so it’s important that these 5 aspects of event planning and coordinating should be taken into consideration when creating your event.

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Miller Tanner Associates’ Superlatives Awards

Superlatives Awards 2016-2017

We are pleased to announce our “Superlatives Awards” for the 2016-2017 year! At our recent Miller Tanner Global Workshop, we recognized and awarded distinguished team members for their outstanding contribution to Miller Tanner throughout the year. Their special talents and skills contribute to the “Miller Tanner Difference”. We thank them for their dedication and hard work this year.

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5 Reasons CSR Events Matter

For the past 20 years, Miller Tanner Associates (MTA) has brought our global team together for training and team building at our annual MTA Workshop. One of the highlights of this time together is our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) project. Every year, our team dedicates part of the day to work together on a project that benefits the local community. Take a look at our recap highlighting this year’s project:

Why CSR Matters

With our team dispersed across the globe, it’s an important opportunity to connect with each other and also with the community at large and the needs of those around us. It’s become a foundational and favorite component of our own Global Workshop and our company culture as a whole.

We asked our team of event experts why CSR is important to them and why it’s an asset for ANY company event. Here’s what they said:

1). Creates a Memorable Experience Together

Our task was to clean and paint the dining room and furniture, and it was neat to see how everyone quickly offered their expertise to create a plan. Some had experience in refinishing furniture; some liked cleaning; others were great at taping; some helped with the heavy lifting; others took to the paint brushes. Throughout the project, we all contributed methods and ideas from our own life experience and got to know each other better while doing it! The opportunity to get to know another team member while serving alongside them is unique. It creates a memorable bond – one that began with the focus on someone else’s betterment rather than your own. – Carolyn Hendricks, Global Event Specialist/Special Projects

2). Strengthens Comradery and Team Building

I think it’s awesome that Marnie, our founder, has CSR activities at the workshops. I enjoy working alongside co-workers because it gives me a chance to see them in a different light that I typically don’t see when working together. – Lori Flicek, Accounting Manager

I believe other companies could learn more about their staff and their company as a whole if they participated in these programs. It is a great team-building exercise with the bonus of helping others. – Wynema Ware, Lead BT Specialist

It definitely brings a company together because most of the time we all work in different departments, and don’t interact regularly based on the different roles we play. However, in a CSR project, you come alongside individuals that you probably have never had a real conversation with, and that’s where the bonding can happen. I think that the bond that is created allows you to become more productive in your day-to-day position. – Carla Mahlberg, Technical Projects Lead

The MTA team assembling gift baskets to benefit a local children's hospital at our 2016 Workshop.

Our team assembling gift baskets to benefit a local children’s hospital at our 2016 Workshop.

The laughter, the purpose behind the project, and the spontaneous jumping in to offer aid to the others whether if it is bringing water to thirsty colleagues or carrying heavy stuff. I also enjoyed finding out secret skills from some of the folks – such as nice handwriting or technique at repairing wood. – Gemma Plans, Global Service Director

It is great to be able to work with colleagues in a different way and on a different project than our regular work. I think you see a different side to people which can help your working relationship. – Natalie Lowndes, Global Event Director

These projects have provided an opportunity to get to know others on a personal level and not just through business. – Bonnie Sheets, Global Event Director

3). Gain a Sense of Accomplishment (Both Individually and as a Team)

It was amazing to see how much work we were able to accomplish as a group. It gives one a sense of pride, job well done, and feeling that every little effort goes a long way. I think it is important for companies that have been as blessed as MTA to do something for others. It really creates a feeling of community – both locally and abroad. – Julie Hacker, Global Service Director

The MTA team helping with painting and repairs at a children's facility at our 2017 Workshop.

Our team helping with painting and repairs at a children’s facility at our 2017 Workshop.

CSR reminds me that many hands make light work, and a big impact. I am always amazed by the scope of influence we have as a group, and how much we can accomplish. I’m also encouraged by the generosity of our MTA team – it speaks to the depth of character and genuine kindness of our employees. – Carolyn Hendricks, Global Event Specialist/Special Projects

CSR projects show the true team spirit of MTA and demonstrate what hard workers we have at MTA. Give us the task and we just do it. Whether it was decorating, painting, scraping, or repairing, we went to work. – Wynema Ware, Lead BT Specialist

4). Inspires Gratitude

I love being able to contribute to a project locally in the city where we have our MTA Workshop, this makes me feel more connected to the community and the needs they have. Whether it is building bikes for children or painting an office it is so fulfilling to see how much many hands can do together when they have time and resources. I have enjoyed every minute we have dedicated to the CSR projects with MTA – memorable moments with the local communities and MTA colleagues, being grateful for what we have and seeing graciousness in the others. They say “we are what we do” and doing good for others makes us and everyone else feel better and little bit happier.– Gemma Plans, Global Service Director

The MTA team participating in the Build-A-Bike project at the MTA 2015 Workshop.

Our team participating in the Build-A-Bike project at the MTA 2015 Workshop.

5). Makes a Difference

Participating as a company in CSR projects makes a strong bond for all employees by providing a common goal. It makes one realize that making the bottom line is very important to a company but giving to others, gives one satisfaction on a different level. In the end, I feel that it brings all employees together for the common good of the company. – Bonnie Sheets, Global Event Director

MTA donated 7,050 school meals through the Feed Projects at this year’s MTA Workshop.

I love how at every workshop, Marnie plays a video about living a life in such a way that impacts the entire world. This is what the CSR projects are all about – leaving behind a legacy. MTA will always be remembered for its generosity and that is because of Marnie’s heart. I wish I could do a CSR project all the time. When one says “Thank you”, you can’t help but feel like you have made a difference. This is what life is about, in my opinion. We were put here to make a difference whether big or small. – Carla Mahlberg, Technical Projects Lead

Transform your event with CSR! Miller Tanner Associates can help you find a rewarding CSR project that best suits your teams and your event!

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Meet Tomas De Dominicis, Global Experience Manager – Production

The Miller Tanner 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 Manager – Production, Tomas De Dominicis. Tomas is an audiovisual whiz and brings his exceptional creativity and vast media skill set to our Global Experiences Team.

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Global MTA Team Training July 10 -14

The global MTA team will be meeting off-site from July 10-14 for our annual workshop to complete mandatory internal training.

Our main office will remain available if you should need assistance at +1 615-466-5602; however, please note that emails may be slightly delayed.

This time together is invaluable to us and we thank you for your continued support and understanding.

Event Budget Controls

What Is an Event Budget?

Controlling Your Event Budget