Miller Tanner Associates Team, Author at Miller Tanner Associates QC

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5 Factors to Consider When Choosing Your Meeting Location

Have meeting, will travel…but where?

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

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

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

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

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

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

2). Price / Cost Effectiveness

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

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

3). Safety

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

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

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

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

4). Meeting Guidelines

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

5). Attractiveness

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

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

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

Cvent evaluated over 5,000 cities. Here’s their list of the top 50 destinations of 2015. Click here for more info.
Smart Meetings published their top 15 great meeting cities. Click here for more info.

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

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3 Reasons Top Pharma and Biotech Companies Rely on a Corporate Event Planner

The biggest challenge for biopharma companies when it comes to planning events may be the lack of internal staff to handle such an undertaking from start to finish. Not to mention, understanding the nuances associated with many moving parts can complicate the planning process.

That’s where Miller Tanner comes in as a one-stop-shop with proven processes for all things meeting planning related.

While some companies have meeting and event planning services and/or travel services within their own organizations, these resources may be too stretched to take on a “big” meeting. Likewise, smaller companies are often strapped for resources too which requires existing staff to take on additional “special projects” like this.

Hiring a planner can make all the difference in the success of your next meeting. That’s why top companies in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries rely on a corporate event planner to get the job done. Here are 3 reasons why they turn to the experts:

1). We are pros at handling the fine details.

Miller Tanner is a global, full-service meeting planning company utilized for organizing logistics and professional events both big and small in size. We can take the burden off of bio-pharma internal resources by taking care of the smallest details they might not consider when planning the meeting, such as clearly defining the meeting specifications, providing concise attendee lists, securing visas as needed, and handling negotiation of budgets for other vendors required such as travel, hotel, and ground transportation.

We serve as a liaison with hotel staff so you do not have to worry about the details of room assignments/availability, nor worry that the VIP rooms will be ready when you are. Onsite activities we handle include confirming rooming lists, handling adequate food and beverage orders per person, and ensuring all expected attendees are accounted for throughout the event.

While onsite, our staff helps to manage time between agenda sessions, handles helpdesk registration sign-ins, and offers suggestions for the unforeseeable schedule or banquet adjustments.

Compliance and security are another area of expertise that we offer. We are able to provide compliance documentation so that your team does not have to worry about government reporting requirements for healthcare providers if applicable. We have a well-defined compliance policy for healthcare professionals we can deploy as needed. Advanced planning for emergency situations is another key task to consider. The safety of all attendees is our top priority.

These are just a few examples of the finer details that may go unconsidered if planning meetings and events are not your “day job”.

2). We keep you within your budget and leverage additional cost savings.

A major benefit of hiring a corporate event planner is cost savings. As experts in the field for over 19 years, we know the ins and outs of saving our clients money and we have several proven methods of accomplishing just that.

Venues are often a big part of the meeting spend. Because we conduct many meetings a year across the globe, we have long-standing, established relationships with numerous meeting venues and vendor partners to expedite the overall process from the start of the planning phase. We can leverage cost savings for your hotel and ground transportation using our connections and effective rate negotiations on your behalf.

We track every dollar. When it comes to tallying the budget, we reconcile the entire spend and send it to you in an electronic file format. This file provides supporting documentation of funds spent and how the funds were applied.

3). We offer meeting solutions that are efficient and save you time.

MIller Tanner Associates Global Meeting and Event Planners

When a bio-pharma company employs Miller Tanner we like to function as an extension of your existing team doing the “heavy lifting” using our expertise and your guidance. This is our core competency and we know most of our existing clients would prefer to outsource this task if given the choice.

We help select venues and meeting locations that are time efficient for travel to and from. We are able to provide a concise budget, conduct hotel searches and narrow the details so that you are able to have laser focus in attaining your meeting goals. Giving you options when it comes to your meeting location is one step.

An additional benefit that we can provide when it comes to meeting solutions is the capability to create hybrid meetings, using top-notch technology, to virtually bring in any key speakers or attendees that are unavailable to travel in person. When time zones aren’t impacted, we can even bring in a specific country virtually to participate.

Our dynamic global logistics team of event planners can make sure your next meeting is a successful one. We’ll meet all of your timelines and budgets, stay on top of the smallest details, and exceed all of your meeting expectations. We’re here to support you.

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How To Ensure Training Consistency Using On-Demand Training

Consistency in training is paramount for all companies no matter what industry. However, as professional meeting planners, we know all too well the challenges that many companies face with ensuring that their meeting updates, discussion, and protocols are accurately communicated throughout their organization. It can feel like an endless cycle of inconsistencies. The good news is that you can stop the endless cycle with one easy solution using on-demand training with VALTs, Virtual Assessment Learning and Training Source.

What’s On-Demand Training?

On-demand training is simply a virtual, online training that is ready to be taken at the time an individual or team is ready to take it. Within VALTs, a catalog can be designed to include a specific set of training materials that provide consistent training to all of your participants. VALTs has many features that enhance training capabilities. The ways companies can use on-demand training are virtually endless. Our primary uses have included:

Common Uses of On-Demand Training with VALTs

Repurpose face-to-face meetings – As staff attrition occurs, the newly assigned team member can review exactly the same training as the predecessor.
Deploy urgent protocol amendments and study updates – This is especially valuable to bio-pharma, medical device and contract research organizations. Time-sensitive information can be deployed quickly and attendance and viewing can also be rigorously tracked and monitored.
Use as a pre-trainer – On-demand training can be used to facilitate learning before an attendee comes to a face-to-face event, shrinking the onsite agenda, potentially reducing the number of room nights required for a face-to-face event.
Use as refresher courses – This serves as another option for accuracy and consistency in continued learning.

[Tweet “The ways companies can use on-demand training are virtually endless.”]

3 Benefits of Using VALTs

Everyone who is invited to the catalog hears the exact same message.
There is no dilution or 2^nd party interpretation.
Your message is consistently communicated to all participants.

How It Works

There are times when a client has an event and some attendees (or even speakers) cannot attend in person. As a result, they need another method of providing training for those people. Or in other cases, we have clients who use the catalog as training for their entire organization, so all of the standard operating procedures are viewed as needed for newly hired staff.

To accommodate for these types of training needs, the content for the training catalog can be readily captured onsite at a face-to-face event or remotely from anywhere around the world.

Just about any type of content can be included in a training catalog. Video files, audio files, Word, Excel, Powerpoint presentations and more can all be housed in the reference material section of VALTs to supplement the recorded presentations in a catalog.

Once the catalog is created, an attendee can be sent a secure link with unique credentials to access the desired training.

Unique Capabilities and Features

Catalog viewing is trackable per attendee and we have robust reporting capabilities to ascertain who is compliant with taking the training.
Assessment question modules can be built into VALTs to gauge a viewer’s understanding of materials presented.
For urgent protocol amendments and study updates, our system supports 21 CFR Part 11 requirements for e-signatures and electronic records.
Additionally, we have a unique feature that allows the attendee to ask the presenter a question. The question goes to the presenter’s (or designee) email, and can then be responded to directly via email chain.

Our process ensures consistency of training across the board to all team members throughout an organization. VALTs is an ideal solution to mitigate staff attrition, as well as train new staff members.

Lead time for creating a training catalog

It is beneficial for our team to have a few weeks advanced notice that you would like the content capture to take place. This allows us to work with your team to create your branded website and discuss all of the elements that you would like to be included in VALTs. Once the content has been captured and provided to our team, it usually takes between 5-10 business days to produce the catalog and open for review and training.

Does your organization need more training consistency?

Roughly 25% of our clients are currently using our proprietary on-demand trainer, VALTs. It eases the hassle of tracking training across an organization, as well as the associated versioning of required training documents. We would welcome the opportunity to demonstrate it to anyone who has a need for a documented training plan.

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Key Questions to Ask When Hiring a Corporate Event Planner

If you are charged with hiring an event planner for your next corporate meeting, whether it be for a pharmaceutical investigator meeting or a company’s national sales meeting, the task may seem daunting, especially if this is new territory for you. What key factors should you consider when hiring a corporate event planner to execute your next meeting? What are the important questions to ask?

Every single day we are amazed by the variety and depth of questions that we are asked by our existing and potential new clients. Each of their unique perspectives help us to enhance the conversation about what Miller Tanner Associates can bring to the table throughout our partnership development. Plus, it allows us to find potential new ways to expand our global service offerings to fit each client’s individual needs.

To help you better navigate this process, we’ve compiled a list of key questions to ask when hiring a corporate event planner.

However, before seeking out an event planner, we first suggest doing some initial homework that will help you and your event planner prepare for a successful event. We recommend having a general idea for these 5 areas in advance:

Key Questions to Answer Before Hiring an Event Planner

1). Timeline for planning

We recommend typically a 12-16 week lead time from client award to desired meeting date in order to accommodate all parties involved. Proactively planning can also save the client on airfare with tickets purchased 14-21 days in advance too. While Miller Tanner has hosted events, both face-to-face and virtual in as few as 10 days, lead time is a very important consideration to ensure an event’s success as defined by attendance ratios. If an event is planned on short notice, location options and venues may be limited, often resulting in a premium for the venue space. Additionally, if you schedule an event on short notice, key speakers’ schedules and/or attendees’ schedules may not have flexibility for their attendance. With this in mind, try to plan ahead at least 12 weeks as there is a direct correlation between advanced notice to invited parties and acceptance rates.

2). Number of attendees

We plan meetings for as few as 10 and as many as 1000. The size of your meeting attendance can have several implications.

For instance, many hotels in Europe are well suited to accommodate and host under 200 attendees at once in their meeting space. For events over 300 persons, hotel options are limited for not only meeting room logistics, but actual hotel rooming under one roof. Putting attendees up at multiple venues can be an added challenge for transfers between properties.

3). Locational preferences

It is nice to have a destination in mind; however, our expertise is making recommendations for unique experiences while staying on budget.

There are some great airport properties to consider if your agenda is short and people won’t be leaving the venue. However, many of our clients like to choose city central locations which offer within a short walking distance some cultural activities to get a “feel” of the city’s vibe like Amsterdam, Barcelona or Buenos Aires.

4). Budgetary considerations

If travel budgets are limited, meetings can be conducted virtually. Alternatively, if your attendance ratio is tracking lower than you desire, Miller Tanner can record the meeting and post on our proprietary On-Demand Trainer/Learning Management System for future training use to ensure 100% completion of required training. We have innovative approaches that can have a positive impact on your budget’s bottom line.

5). Program success

Most importantly, understand your program’s goals.

When working with our clients at Miller Tanner, knowing our clients’ goals enables our team to hear their needs to make recommendations based upon our prior experience to help shape their agenda to achieve them. Understanding our clients’ preferences and how they define success upfront is key!

Key Questions to Ask When Hiring an Event Planner

1). General Capabilities and Support Provided

You’ll want to find out their general capabilities and how an event planner will support you during your face-to-face, virtual and/or hybrid meetings. You might consider asking:

What is the company’s area of expertise?
What is the process for deploying a meeting and what specific services will be provided?
What factors should I consider when determining a virtual or hybrid meeting versus a face-to-face meeting?

2). Operations Structure

Different meeting planners offer different operational structures. You’ll want to know upfront how an event planner’s organizational model works and if it’s a good fit for your event needs.

Will I have one contact person or be working with a team of planners throughout the planning process?
How many planners will be available on the day of the event?
What method of communication is preferred?

3). Media and Production Services

Additionally, it’s useful to understand how a meeting planning company leverages their in-house media and production team and the full array of services offered to enhance the attendee experience at each event. Does the media and production team include services such as:

Equipment/technician oversight?
Graphics, design and support?
Technical direction of event?
What will I be responsible for providing?

4). Compliance and Security Measures

Ensure that the company you are considering takes seriously the security of your valuable proprietary information and attendee data, make sure it is “best in class”.

Does the company you are considering offer compliance as a service?
Are standard operating systems in place and available for review?
Where is your meeting data stored and how safe is storage?

5). Financial Reporting Procedures

It’s wise to understand the full scope of a meeting planning company’s financial reporting services to ensure that they capture all the details for regulatory required reporting. Questions you might consider asking are:

How often will billing updates be provided?
Are final bills paid, documented, and provided as a single package?
How are Sunshine Act reports handled, if required?

6). Company Philosophy

Lastly, it’s important to consider an event planning company’s philosophy and determine if it is ultimately in sync with your company’s values and your event goals.

Will our company values align?
Do I feel like a VIP when interacting with your event planner?
How are the small details handled?

At Miller Tanner, our company’s philosophy is simple, “do the right thing and good things will come”. We believe that deep partnerships over the long-term yield the best results for both our clients and our team. We are interested in relationships that span decades, not just pieces of business.

We hope this blog post gives you more insight into the right questions to ask before hiring your next event planner. If you are interested in partnering with Miller Tanner Associates to plan your next event, then bring your ideas and let’s talk about solutions to help you achieve your next meeting’s goals.

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#MeetMTA: Carolyn Hendricks

The Miller Tanner difference is our people. That’s why we want to introduce you to our team of superstars that bring our corporate meetings and events to life for our clients.

Today, we want to introduce you to Carolyn Hendricks, Global Conference Planner (GCP) at Miller Tanner. In addition to her role as GCP, Carolyn led our corporate social responsibility (CSR) effort this past year both locally and globally. Not only was it an opportunity for MTA to give back to the community, but to also build comradery among the team while serving together.

Meet Carolyn Hendricks

Tell us about your current role with MTA – what do you do as a global conference planner?

I coordinate the logistics and finest details of a meeting. From organizing attendee reservations to creating meeting-specific visuals and handouts, the role is a blend of data management, design, and customer service. Every day is a little different – I love the variety in my work.

What are your primary responsibilities?

As a GCP, I support our clients’ needs by managing the details in the planning phase of a meeting. I also coordinate the registration and reservation experience for attendees and assist in carrying an excellent customer experience through to the end of a meeting on site.

Another interesting part of my role is producing reports for our compliance department. I work with our Director of Compliance and Finance Department to ensure all post-meeting expense reporting is accurate and complete for our clients.

How long have you been with MTA?

2 years and 2 months

What did you do before joining MTA?

Prior to joining MTA, I worked in Human Resources with Vanderbilt University Medical Center. In my role, I assisted with onboarding new employees on the academic and medical sides of the institution and supported current employees with various HR-related needs. It was rewarding to be a part of a large, “well-oiled” organization, making a major impact in academia and medicine.

What do you feel are the most fulfilling aspects of your job as a global conference planner (GCP)?

I am a “helper” at-heart. I feel most alive when collaborating with a team to complete a project, and contributing my piece of the puzzle with excellence. I thrive in a fast-paced and exciting environment, which I find is the “norm” in my position. I enjoy problem-solving, analyzing, and organizing as well – all of which are parts of my role as a GCP.

You recently organized a volunteer opportunity for MTA Tennessee-based employees at Second Harvest Food Bank. Tell us about that experience. Why did you choose Second Harvest? What did the team gain from participating in the event?

I am drawn to the influence of Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee because of their rich history in the Greater Nashville Area and their current mission to serve the community. Founded in 1978, Second Harvest began with the goal to collect food that would otherwise be wasted, inspect and sort this food, and distribute it to the hungry. Today, that mission forges on with the support of over 450 partner agencies, providing more than 24 million meals of food to hungry children, families, and seniors throughout 46 counties.

Group photo of MTA helping at Second Harvest Food Bank in Nashville

Miller Tanner Associates lending a hand at Second Harvest Food Bank in Nashville.

I love the idea of putting something (anything!) to use that would have otherwise been thrown away. I believe it is our responsibility as people on this amazing earth to be resourceful and purposeful, and Second Harvest aligns with this belief.

Our team of 10 people took an afternoon to volunteer at the downtown Nashville location to sort and label food. We have volunteered twice now and the last time we were there, we prepared over 5,000 meals by jumping into Second Harvest’s normal process of inspecting and organizing food.

It is neat because it is not only a way to assist Second Harvest, but it is a way to connect as a team and meet other people from the Nashville community. Our team worked in partnership with a team from a local bank, and we were able to get to know them while completing our task at hand. The team gained comradery and perspective from serving together.

I love the quote “Many hands make light work”. I believe our united effort, in addition to our time spent together doing different “work” than usual made our time very rewarding.

You also organized a Heifer International donation during the holidays. Tell us about that experience. What did the team accomplish? What did your donation purchase?

In addition to our team’s local philanthropic involvement, MTA is focused on a global level of service. I chose Heifer International as our recipient for company-wide giving around the December holidays.

raised funds to support Heifer International

Our team raised funds to support a program through Heifer International.

From Honduras to Nepal to Eastern Africa, Heifer’s mission is to work with communities to end world hunger and poverty and to care for the earth. One of the most inspiring parts of Heifer’s global impact is their commitment to establish sustainable infrastructure in impoverished areas to empower and educate locals, rather than a donate a one-time “hand-out”.

Our team raised enough money to send two girls to school and provide funding for a woman to start her own business. These are both investments in livelihood and can sustain these women for seasons of life in contrast to a finite donation.

For more than 70 years, Heifer has been working in 125 countries to lift over 25 million families out of cyclical hunger and poverty. What an extraordinary organization with which to join for the greater good in our world!

Are you personally involved with other causes? Yes, I volunteer with Thistle Farms, an organization that supports women who have survived prostitution, trafficking, and addiction and employs more 45 survivors through their social enterprises.

Why is philanthropy important to MTA?

Philanthropy is important to MTA because our company is comprised of generous, global citizens who value the act of giving. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is all about the people involved, and when MTA team members are provided the opportunity to give, they do so with joy and positivity.

On a daily basis, we inspire and equip each other to provide an excellent product for our clients. Our internal culture is one of authenticity and support focused on team goals and team benefit. We find meaning in expanding this practice outside our company to the global community for the sake of sharing kindness, generosity, and investing in the “good” happening in the world.

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25 Top Travel Tips for a Stress-Free Business Trip

Business Traveler on Airplane Working on His Laptop

From Argentina to Ireland to China to Australia, we’ve planned thousands of events for our clients all over the world.

In the process, we’ve traveled extensively and worked tirelessly to create exceptional travel experiences for event attendees.

As a result, we often find ourselves sharing travel tips with clients, family and friends who are looking to make traveling a little less hectic and more stress-free either for themselves or for an event they’re planning.

So we figured, why not compile some of our top travel tips as a handy resource?

Whether you’re planning a conference and you have to manage the travel needs of a thousand attendees or you’re just looking for some helpful hints to make your own travel experience a little smoother, we’ve got you covered with a ton of great travel suggestions, tips and tricks!

Smart Business Travel Tips from Event Planning Professionals

From planning and packing to travel tech and troubleshooting, we asked Miller Tanner’s ace event planning professionals to share some of their top travel tips for a worry-free trip.

PACKING

How to pack for minimum frustration and maximum peace of mind…

1. Organize your carry-on

“Never underestimate the power of an organized carry-on bag! I recommend the Lo&Sons OMG bag. I organize my documents and travel items before I leave for the airport, that way I can easily search for something when the airport gets stressful. Best of all, it fits my laptop, a pair of shoes, and fits over the top of my roller bag so my shoulders don’t hurt.”

-Melissa Eggert, Global Conference Director

2. Dress for convenience

“Keep in mind that if you are not PreCheck [or Global Entry], you will have to remove shoes, sweaters, jackets, jewelry, etc. Plan your travel outfit in advance to avoid the hassle of ‘stripping down’.”

-Julie Hacker, Global Account Director

3. Remember the essentials

“Have some long-haul essentials ready to pack when needed. I take compression socks, eye mask, ear plugs, lip balm and toothbrush/paste set, blow-up neck pillow, socks (my feet always get cold on flights!)”

-Natalie Lowndes, Global Conference Director

4. Consolidate your technology.

“Rather than take 20 travel adapters for all your laptops, phones and chargers, buy yourself a 4- or 5-way socket board (also called trailing sockets). You then only need 1 adapter and instantly get 4 or 5 sockets you’re used to.”

-Richard Chalmers, Production Manager

5. Bring some distractions.

“Consider loading books on your Kindle or movies on your computer to keep you occupied during your trip. Headphones work wonders to relax you and block out unwanted ‘loud airplane talkers’.”

-Julie Hacker, Global Account Director

6. Prepare for unexpected delays.

“Always pack some snacks in small bags in your carry on. Flights can be long, delayed, and you can sit a long time on the tarmac.” – Connie Winter, Production Manager

7. Prepare for the flight.

“A neck travel pillow can be re-purposed as lumbar support if you have an aching back and can also be used to raise your laptop if it’s too big for the table tray.” – Meredeth Brower, Virtual Global Event Director

PREPARATION

Things to do ahead of time or before you leave for the airport…

1. Get Global Entry

“Apply for Global Entry rather than TSA PreCheck. It costs the same and you get the convenience of both Global Entry and TSA PreCheck!”

-Jen Baker, Global Conference Director

2. Give yourself extra time

“Plan to arrive at the airport early. Don’t let the stress of check-in, security, etc., happen because you are rushed.”

-Julie Hacker, Global Account Director

3. Use online check-in

“Check in online! You can also pay for your checked baggage ahead of time, which will speed up the process once you arrive at the airport.”

-Christina Serra, Global Conference Planner

4. Gain preferred status

“Whenever possible, build miles/status on one dedicated airline by flying within the dedicated alliance. Status helps speed through check-in, security, and gives you upgrades if available.”

-Julie Hacker, Global Account Director

5. Keep your contacts close

“Before leaving for the airport, make sure you have contact information for the meeting planners, the travel vendor, and the ground transportation vendor. If you have contact information handy, it will be easy to make contact with travel agents, etc., should an issue arise during travel requiring assistance.”

-Christina Serra, Global Conference Planner

INTERNATIONAL TRIPS

Tips for taking the stress out of long flights…

1. Manage your money

“Plan ahead with your money. Are you planning to get cash out of ATM? Are you looking to convert USD to local currency? What do you plan to do with remaining local currency at end of trip? Will the location you are travelling to accept credit cards with the chip in them yet? All of these things should be considered.”

-Julie Hacker, Global Account Director

2. Get in the right time zone

“As soon as you are on the plane start adapting to the time zone that you are traveling to. Therefore, if it is daytime in your final destination, try to stay awake through the trip so that when you land and it is now evening, you will be ready for a good night sleep. Do allow yourself naps as sleep is always going to be better than depriving yourself of it.”

-Jen Baker, Global Conference Director

3. Take an overnight bag

“Create a small ‘overnight kit’ that you keep with you under the seat. My bag includes: Tylenol PM, lavender oil roller balm, makeup remover wipes, tinted moisturizer and travel-size mascara. I also have a leather passport cover that I insert my tickets into to keep everything in one place.”

-Melissa Eggert, Global Conference Director

4. Dress for comfort

“Bring comfortable clothes in your carry-on (this can double as your back-up set of clothes in the event your luggage is lost). I don’t like to be walking through the airport in sweat pants (and I want one nice outfit with me… just in case), but once I am on board, I quickly run to the restroom and change into some comfy yoga pants and sweatshirt so that I can be comfortable for the remainder of the trip.”

-Jen Baker, Global Conference Director

5. Think (and plan) ahead

“Contact your mobile phone provider to ensure you can ‘roam’ and check costs/best/cheapest way to do this. Always check what visa is required. Know who is meeting you on arrival or know how to get a taxi/public transport in your destination city.”

-Natalie Lowndes, Global Conference Director

TOOLS & APPS

Suggestions for tech that can make your travels a little easier…

1. Google Maps

“I use Google Maps most of the time to navigate where I’m going, where I am, etc. I also take screen shots of routes to take in cities in case the connection to Internet is bad.”

-Julie Hacker, Global Account Director

2. Flight Tracker

“The App “Flight Tracker” is also very helpful as you can access flight information from any carrier. You can also set alerts for specific flights so if there are any delays/changes, you will get a notification right away on your smart phone.”

-Christina Serra, Global Conference Planner

3. SeatGuru

“I find SeatGuru (both a website and app) is great if you want to find the best seat available on the plane for what you like. It has a very good map of the exact aircraft so you can visualize where your seat is (on the wing, next to the galley, etc.) and how much leg room you’ll have.”

-Richard Chalmers, Production Manager

4. Airline Apps

“I use my preferred airline app to make updates/changes to flights, select seats, and check in without ever having to look up my confirmation

numbers. It’s all saved right there!”

-Jen Baker, Global Conference Director

TROUBLESHOOTING

How to prepare for and manage common travel snafus…

1. Pay attention

“Keep an eye on your flight and trip alerts for cancelled flights, delayed flights, etc.”

-Julie Hacker, Global Account Director

2. Use your phone

“If you find out a flight has been delayed more than twice or cancelled, call the airline directly from where you are sitting. If you have a preferred airline and status with them, call that number directly. You can also utilize your credit card company—most include a concierge that can help you look at options.”

-Melissa Eggert, Global Conference Director

3. Stay positive

“Have a good attitude… it’s stressful for everyone including those that are assisting you. Call the travel agency to help with rebooking if there are long lines at the ticket counters.”

-Jen Baker, Global Conference Director

4. Don’t panic

“Keep calm. You’re probably not the only person caught in the snafu, so ask the help desk, Google it, concentrate on the solution instead of the problem and plan your solution with a level head.”

-Richard Chalmers, Production Manager

Whether you’re headed to South Dakota, South Africa or the South of France for your next event, we hope you find these business travel tips valuable!

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7 Powerful Ways On-Demand Training Maximizes Your Meetings

The content of your training meetings is incredibly valuable.

You spend a lot of time putting it together to give your team members all the information they need in the most memorable and accessible way possible.

Why not capture that content for continued future use both internally and externally?

Miller Tanner’s On-Demand Training is a convenient and affordable online solution that gives you and your team anywhere, anytime access to valuable training content.

With 24/7 access to your training, individuals can get the same great learning experience as meeting attendees but on their own timeline.

How On-Demand Training Benefits Your Organization

Here are some of the key benefits of On-Demand Training:

1. Deliver Your Message Intact

The top benefit of On-Demand Training is the ability to capture the exact content, message, and training from any meeting whether it’s face-to-face, virtual, or hybrid.

You have an exact replica of the training YOU provided, not a diluted reasonable facsimile.

Your Subject Matter Experts are the ones talking to your audience.

Who better to convey your enthusiastic study message and in-depth knowledge of your product and protocol?

2. Provide Greater Flexibility & Accessibility

Time is money. Your teams are located all around the world. They have “day jobs” to perform.

On-Demand Training allows your teams to review your content and messages online through a secure link at the times that are advantageous to them.

While training meetings and visits are being scheduled, the team member can receive and review the materials you presented via a secure website to better prepare themselves for additional training needs.

3. Enhance Knowledge Retention

With On-Demand Training, you can include assessment questions to determine if the user has been able to understand the content or principle key elements presented.

You can predetermine a passing threshold. If the user does not meet the passing score threshold, you have the option to require the user to reset/retake the training in order to ensure content understanding.

Reference materials can also be provided for the user giving them the ability to re-review presentations for key messages in the future.

4. Increase the Value of Your Meeting Content

The cost of On-Demand Training is nominal compared to the value of being able to provide the same exact content to all parties, involved around the world, in their native language.

A good On-Demand Training system will also provide you with the ability to update, adjust, or add to your content as needed throughout the life of your hosting.

For example, at Miller Tanner, we can host your training materials in a secure manner, adding updated information in real-time for your teams to review, for multiple years.

Our system can also assign presentations and assessments to individual team members based on their role in the company or for the study specifically.

5. Support Training Requirements & Regulations

With On-Demand Training, you can meet any necessary training regulations.

At Miller Tanner, our On-Demand Training system was developed to support 21 CFR Part 11 requirements such as trustworthy e-signature and reliable electronic records with associated audit trails. This is an important differentiator for our pharmaceutical clients.

6. Deploy Content in Different Formats

Meeting content can be deployed through On-Demand Training in either an audio or audio-video format.

You need to have the proper technical setup and professionals to effectively capture the audio and/or video from your meetings for use in your On-Demand Training.

Once the meeting content has been captured, you can optimize the files so that there is synchronization between the slides and verbiage.

At Miller Tanner, we can provide our clients with both audio and video capture capabilities.

7. Extend Your Reach

As human beings, we continue to enjoy face-to-face and virtual interactions with colleagues and peers. Those remain the most personal and effective ways to interact.

But On-Demand Training provides a great way to support those training efforts and reach people who were not able to attend a meeting or have been newly assigned to a project or investigational site team.

It’s always challenging for clients or sites to add new team members midway through a study and ensure consistency in training.

On-Demand Training gives your new team members the benefit of hearing your voice and message, verbatim, as part of their onboarding training.

Discover a Better System for Providing On-Demand Training

At Miller Tanner, we provide our clients access to our On-Demand Trainer/ Learning Management System so they can get more out of their training meetings.

The value of our On-Demand Trainer/Learning Management System goes beyond generic on-demand trainers (ODTs).

We have developed our system to support training efforts with e-signatures and electronic records compliant with 21 CRF part 11 regulations to help reduce the burden of documenting training in real-time with a global reach.

Through our robust Client Dashboard, you can monitor training completions, produce electronic training records for your files, as well as review and grant access requests with confidence of system security and full audit trails.

Contact Miller Tanner today to find our how our On-Demand Trainer/Learning Management System will work for you!

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#MeetMTA: Dan Conroy, Director of Technology Services

The Miller Tanner difference is our people. That’s why we want to introduce you to our team of superstars that bring our corporate meetings and events to life for our clients.

Today, we want to introduce you to Dan Conroy, Director of Technology Services, residing in the New York Area. Dan is one of the newest members of our team, so we thought this would be the perfect opportunity to introduce him to you!

Meet Dan Conroy

You recently joined the Miller Tanner team. When did you start and what did you do prior to coming to Miller Tanner?

I joined the Miller Tanner team in January 2016. For the last eight years, I was a management consultant focused on business technology for small to midsize companies — primarily in tri-state (NY metro) area.

Tell us about your current role – What do you do as ‘Director of Technology Services’?

It’s a dynamic role. I am responsible for the both the developmental and operational technology sides of the business. I love that MTA has real products under development and has real scale. We may not be a Global Fortune 500 Company (yet) but we face many of the same challenges. Those challenges and opportunities are what keeps the work fun and interesting.

Why is technology so important to Miller Tanner and our clients? In other words, how does technology play an integral role in the meetings and events we provide?

Technology is important to Miller Tanner and our clients for several reasons.

First and foremost, the technology is what enables Miller Tanner to have employees seamlessly linked around the globe servicing the needs of our clients; we have 65 full time staff on six continents. Next, the technology we currently have, and are continuing to enhance, enables our clients to see who has been invited to their meetings, their invitation status, as well as provide ad hoc reporting so our clients are empowered to keep their management informed. Additionally, our technology allows us to host Virtual Meetings on our proprietary system with very insightful reporting overlays.

Our Virtual Meetings can be combined with our Face-to-Face Meetings by linking them through our Hybrid Meeting option providing flexible solutions if a client has a scheduling conflict and needs to be two places at the same time.

Finally, our On-Demand Trainer, Learning Management System, allows our clients to capture their meeting content and re-purpose that content and provide it securely as needed to anyone around the globe.

What is the biggest technological challenge of conducting meetings across the globe every day?

In short, one of the biggest challenges, or variables, to conducting virtual meetings is the Internet connection. As ubiquitous as the Internet might be, it’s far from consistent. Virginia will present a different set of challenges than say, Venice. Another component that adds to the fun is working across global time zones. Since our days are very dynamic, the ability to pivot and think on your feet is paramount to keeping up with the challenges and being successful.

Is this your first time working for a virtual company? And if so, what is that like?

This is not my first time working for a virtual company. Virtual companies can be a bit more challenging when you start because it can be harder to connect with your team. However, good technology helps overcome that barrier.

How does technology play a role in making Miller Tanner work well as a virtual company?

Technology is the glue that links us as one organization. This company has been virtual since Inception, which in 1997 was on the cutting edge. The virtual part of the company enables us to hire the best talent regardless of where they sit in the world, and it’s my team’s job to support their connection needs.

What is your favorite piece of technology that you couldn’t live without?

I try not to get too attached to any one piece of technology or service — things change too quickly. I suppose if I had to pick one it would be my laptop. Or maybe Netflix.

What do you enjoy most about working at Miller Tanner?

The flexibility Miller Tanner provides for me is one of my favorite aspects. As a former business consultant, I sometimes missed the comradery of a team environment – teammates to discuss various ideas with, that sort of thing. I prefer smaller companies because you are empowered to do things that make an impact within the organization.

How does Miller Tanner create exceptional client experience through the use of technology? In other words, how does technology play a role in the client experience?

Our people really create the exceptional experiences and our technology supports them; Our business is about top level of service through connectedness.

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How We Relocated an Investigator Meeting During a Medical Outbreak

A lot goes into planning a meeting. It requires organization and preparation, and the simultaneous turning of many different screws to successfully put the plan in motion.

And yet even the best-laid plans can be derailed by the unpredictable.

That was the case for one of our clients, who had to consider canceling their event after the sudden emergence of a public health crisis.

Fortunately, for every incredible meeting challenge, there’s usually an equally incredible solution to overcome it.

Here’s the story of how we helped a client work around a health scare to plan a successful hybrid meeting in one week.

Challenge: Meeting Attendance Threatened by a Public Health Crisis

One of our clients was planning an APAC (Asia Pacific) meeting in Seoul, South Korea.

Within weeks of signing the hotel and meeting contracts, the MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) epidemic—a viral respiratory illness—peaked and many hospitals in South Korea were closed for decontamination.

Both the site attendees and the corporate attendees were reluctant to attend since there was not a full understating of if/when the outbreak would be contained.

In addition, many investigators and study coordinators invited to the meeting were prohibited from traveling out of the country.

This created some major barriers to holding the meeting as planned.

Seeing no other alternative, the client requested a postponement/cancellation of the meeting.

Solution: Hybrid Event Connecting Attendees in Two Countries

As an alternative to canceling the meeting, we quickly mobilized to offer a hybrid solution that would enable the client to proceed with the meeting—while also providing a feeling of comfort and safety for all attendees.

Utilizing our strong hotel contacts, we were able to negotiate with the hotel in Seoul to receive a 100% refund and void the original hotel contract. This freed up the original funds to be applied to the new strategy.

The APAC meeting was relocated to Hong Kong as the main meeting site, and we also secured an additional space in Seoul for a small satellite meeting.

During the day of the event, 80% of the meeting in Hong Kong was webcast to the meeting in Seoul. The remainder of the Seoul meeting content was provided via local corporate representatives.

As a result of these planning efforts, we were able to accomplish the goal of training all the sites/countries involved in the study while overcoming the travel challenges created by a serious public health crisis.

Overcoming Location and Attendance Challenges by Uniting Multiple Sites

When it comes to planning meetings, sometimes the unpredictable happens.

That’s why it’s valuable to have a few different options available via face-to-face, virtual, and hybrid (combination) meeting solutions.

In the case above, creating a hybrid event provided the flexibility the client needed to help investigators, coordinators and attendees overcome the obstacles of multiple locations to experience essentially the same event and receive the same training.

That’s the brilliance of hybrid events. They enable you to combine the benefits of face-to-face meetings with the convenience of virtual solutions to reach people across different countries and sites.

Whenever you’re facing attendance or location challenges—for whatever reason—hybrid meetings can offer an ideal solution.

Need help putting together an event that people can attend both live and virtually? Talk to Miller Tanner today.

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5 Ways We Wowed Our Client’s Leadership Conference in Dublin

At Miller Tanner, we love creating unique and memorable events for our clients.

For us, there’s no better feeling than planning and executing a meeting experience that gets attendees excited, makes our clients smile, and keeps people talking for months (or even years).

A great example of an event like that was a leadership conference we recently planned for a client in Dublin, Ireland.

Energizing Attendees and Celebrating The Client’s Heritage

Our client is headquartered in Dublin with thousands of employees all over the world.

The opportunity to gather the organization’s top leaders together for a conference in the company’s home city was quite a special occasion that needed to be recognized.

Through the conference, the client wanted to explore and emphasize what set them apart from the competition, celebrate their Irish heritage, and get everyone energized for the year ahead.

How We Created a Truly Memorable Conference Experience in Dublin

Here are five ways our team’s attention to detail and focus on exceptional customer service helped the client achieve their conference goals:

1. Meticulous planning.

Miller Tanner was involved from the beginning of the planning process and once we became aware of the client’s specific goals for the conference, we made sure to find ways to incorporate them into all aspects of the program.

We helped our client sculpt the content of the agenda to make sure they were highlighting what makes the company stand out and how they could be a difference-maker for their customers in the coming year.

We also knew that celebrating their Irish heritage was important, so we wanted to bring that into the program in any tasteful way we could.

A few ways we were able to highlight their heritage was through custom gifts, a unique Dublin tour, and even the appearance of our staff members (more on each of those below).

The client also helped set MTA up for success by selecting The Shelbourne Hotel, which is an absolutely amazing venue. It’s one of Dublin’s oldest and most famous hotels with a long and storied Irish history.

Not only is the actual property beautiful with old charm, but the staff are also first class and were always going above and beyond to help us with our event.

2. The arrival experience.

At Miller Tanner, we always try to go the extra mile to make sure the program is flawless and the guest experience is memorable.

There was some bad weather in Dublin on arrival day and it required some flights to reroute to Shannon Airport. We always track all flights to make sure we know when our guests are on time or delayed.

This time we knew that after flying overseas from the States and landing in a different airport than planned, it was probably not going to be a good experience for the guest.

We were able to be proactive and get shuttles to Shannon Airport to pick up all of our guests and get them to Dublin comfortably with snacks in hand.

You can’t always prevent problems like this one, but this time we were able to make the guest experience more enjoyable.

3. Staff appearance.

Our event team wore green scarves for easy ID

As a team, we wanted to make sure to stand out to attendees in case they needed our assistance.

Because we are not keen on staff uniforms, we are always trying to come up with a creative and elegant solution to stand out.

This time, our team decided to wear green scarves and green necklaces throughout the conference to have a touch of green when welcoming guests to Ireland.

The fact that the “green” also happened to be the client’s brand color was not exactly a coincidence either!

Our Team wore in green necklaces for easy ID

4. Nightly “room drops”

Nightly gifts included a Dublin gift box

As mentioned above, we created custom gifts to bring in the client’s Irish heritage and welcome all the leaders to Dublin. These gifts were dropped in attendees’ rooms each night as a surprise.

The first night was a “Taste of Ireland” gift left in the attendee’s room while they were at the welcome reception.

This gift included famous Dublin chocolates, renowned Dublin soaps and of course, a mini bottle of Irish whisky – all packaged together in a customized box with a ribbon.

The second evening’s gift was a combination of scarves and hats for the attendees to wear the following day during the surprise activity around the city.

The final gift was our favorite – it was an artisan gift made by a local Irish artist—a framed, cut-out map of Dublin. Each map was handmade for our attendees with beautiful detail.

All the gifts were a big hit and provided that extra touch at the end of each night. One attendee even joked: “Going back to my room is like Christmas morning to see what gift will be waiting for me!”

5. The pub crawl.

The cultural pub crawl was unique because we created it specifically for our group. The group was a mix of Irish attendees and people from all over the world, so we needed to come up with an idea that wasn’t your usual tour.

We were able to customize an experience that was fun for all to enjoy.

This tour involved traditional Irish music, tasting some of Dublin’s delicacies, exploring some Irish history, all while sipping on drinks at a few of the famous pubs around the city.

All told, this event—and the conference as a whole—was a smashing success.

We received rave reviews in person and after the meeting. Most importantly, we already started discussing details for next year!