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What Our Global Workshop Teaches Us About Our Clients’ Needs

MTA Group (1)

Miller Tanner Associates recently completed our 19th Annual Workshop. This year it was in Atlanta, Georgia where 64 of us gathered from five continents and 11 countries.  Our theme for the event was “Beyond All Limits” and our Workshop had many goals. I wanted to share a few goals as they do impact the work that we do for our clients on a daily basis. 

Enhance Communication

conference seating
Powered session seating, a workflow set that creates efficiency and enables modern technology for conferences.
Team Building at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta
For our team-building exercise, our group assembled gift baskets filled with games and activities to support families at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.

Our first goal for the Miller Tanner Annual Workshop is always enhancing communication. We select topics that are important, then spend countless hours creating presentations and visuals that will enhance a face-to-face meeting audience experience. A traditional testing ground, our annual Workshop allows us to experiment with new room sets (comfortable, connected seats with power/internet charging at your fingertips), new technology (Prezi vs. PowerPoint – does automation help the messaging?) and, of course, how to create new meeting experiences (the impacts of meeting personalization on a tight budget – kindness doesn’t cost more!).

Test Technologies

room set

Secondly, it gives us an opportunity to use and test our own technologies that were built or developed to enhance our clients’ meeting experience.

roomset

We started the workshop with some “pre-work”.  By using our newly-released On Demand Trainer/LearningManagement System (ODT/LMS), which supports 21 CFR Part 11 electronic signature and electronic records, we pre-trained the team on basics before digging deeper into the topics at our Workshop.

MTA used our Audience Response System (ARS) which allows instant audience feedback on the knowledge level and the ability to answer customized game questions to educate.  Does “gaming” impact an audience’s experience?  We think it does, and we have tested out new ideas to assist our clients in developing their meeting content.

We used our Meeting APP, allowing us to go completely paperless which not only saved us money but also saved us time in planning.  Our APP connected the meeting information with the meeting attendees personalized sessions and offered a number of added features like surveys, notifications, and reminders, chat, emergency/medical information, travel detail, search capability, and dinner reservations.

Invest in our Team

Wall of Gratitude
Our “Wall of Gratitude” was an opportunity to recognize the talents of fellow colleagues.

Our third major goal is to invest in the Miller Tanner Associates team.  It’s my time to say “thank you” and I “appreciate all you do” for our clients on a daily basis. MTA’s number one asset is its people.  The Workshop allows us to rejuvenate and reconnect, building a team culture that lends itself to a stronger unity.  I believe there’s no better time, money and resources spent than bringing a team together in person to achieve this goal.

MTA is a committed, enthusiastic group of world class event and production professionals dedicated to our clients’ meetings.  We use technology, creative ideas, and our “gift of service” to make their meetings successful.

Talk to the MTA team to learn more about this year’s Workshop and what new ideas were developed.  Next year is our 20th year and we are already planning a big celebration in achieving 20 years serving our clients in this arena.

Thank you for continuing to allow Miller Tanner Associates to be of service!

Marnie Miller Battistini
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