Miller Tanner Associates Team, Author at Miller Tanner Associates QC

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Meet MTA: Melanie Riddick, Transparency Operations Manager

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 introduce you to Melanie Riddick, Transparency Operations Manager. With a knack for details and her sharp interpersonal skills, Melanie brings her extensive knowledge in data management and client relations to the MTA team.

Meet Melanie

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

As Transparency Operations Manager, I manage the transparency reporting process for our clients’ meeting attendees. I work closely with the others on our team to complete transparency reports in adherence to client reporting requirements and by the necessary deadlines. This requires analyzing lots of data and details! Our team also conducts a rigorous quality control cross-check on completed transparency reports to ensure we provide our clients with accurate data. My role also involves managing our internal guidelines and processes to ensure they remain up-to-date and efficient.

What did you do before joining MTA?

I spent the last 10 years before coming to MTA working in the Nashville nonprofit community. Most of those roles involved donor development, data management, fundraising, and planning special events.

What do you feel are the most fulfilling aspects of your job?

By nature, I am detail-oriented and relationship-driven, so I thrive in roles that combine managing data and serving others. This job does exactly that! I am motivated by providing our clients with a high level of excellence, and I enjoy spending the time needed to dig into the financial data and compile it into a comprehensive and easy-to-understand transparency report. Most of all, I end each day grateful to be a part of MTA. Our team is composed of so many knowledgeable, talented, and personable individuals who are truly a joy to work with together!

What do you do for fun?

My husband, Adam, and I LOVE to travel, and we get restless if we don’t have a trip to look forward to on the calendar. Last year, our adventures took us to the beautiful city of Prague. The year before, we visited London and got to see our Tennessee Titans play in one of the National Football League’s United Kingdom games! We also love spending time together as a family with our son, Connor. Sometimes that means a quiet night cooking dinner at home and watching a movie, and other times it means going out to a concert, sporting event or other fun activity. I also love to run and read (though not at the same time!).

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

What stands out is how do we do what we do more efficiently, differently, etc. from our competitors. Miller Tanner is focused first and foremost on people – the clients we serve, the meeting attendees, and our fellow team members. Everyone at MTA is focused on listening to and meeting the needs of these groups of people. By combining this passion for people with the talents, skills, and resources available through the MTA team, we are able to provide our clients with a high level of excellent customer service and help them achieve their goals for each meeting.

One of the other things I value about MTA is our culture of generosity and hospitality and how it is reflected in the opportunities we have to give back to our communities. Employees are provided time to spend volunteering, and we participate in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities together at our annual workshop. We also assist our clients with implementing their own CSRs at their events to provide their meeting attendees with an opportunity to serve others.

Where do you live and what do you love most about your state/city?

While I love to travel and explore new places, I’m always happy to come home to Nashville, Tennessee! A lot of people have moved here over the last 10 years, and for good reason! We have several sports teams that are fun to see, and there is no shortage of terrific live music on any given day. Our restaurant scene has exploded, so I love checking out new spots and trying different kinds of food (some favorites include Double Dogs, Chaatable, and Skulls Rainbow Room). I always tell visitors to spend time at the honky tonks on Broadway to get a glimpse into the Nashville tourist scene. Even as natives, we enjoy it, and it’s family-friendly during the day!

What’s one of your favorite destinations in the world and why or a place you’d love to visit?

Adam and I spent several days in Positano on the Amalfi Coast in Italy, and it is hands down one of the most beautiful places I’ve seen. I loved being able to wander the quaint little streets and shops, hang out on the beach, and spend evenings having dinner overlooking the sea. The top priority on my travel bucket list is to plan a trip to travel throughout Germany, Switzerland, and Austria – I would love to explore the culture in those areas and know that the scenery will be absolutely stunning to see!

To meet the entire Miller Tanner Associates team, check out our associates here.

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20 Ways to Create an Event that Your Attendees will Love

It’s February and love is in the air – even for events! Do you want to create an event experience that your attendees will love? Give your face-to-face meetings and events more TLC with these 20 tips from Miller Tanner Associates. Click on each tip for more information.

Engage Your Audience

Make It Memorable

Weave in a theme to transform your event from drab to fab.
Celebrate achievements with a sales event, Incentive Travel or a Product Launch.
Make internal meetings a priority.
Add some extras like personalized gifting and cultural outings.
Use team-building and CSR to unite your team.
Go green!
Emphasize work-life balance.
Have fun and dream big!

Get Inspired

Get inspired! Check out Miller Tanner Associates on social media for inspirational ideas! Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.
Discover a new and exciting event location.
Read about our team’s favorite event destinations.
Plan your first incentive trip, even on a budget.
Add the WOW factor.
Be unique.
Hire a professional planner like Miller Tanner Associates to plan an event that your attendees are sure to love.

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Case Study: How Miller Tanner Associates Implements Event Risk Management Solutions

Challenges

Our client, a pharmaceutical company, needed to host a one-day, face-to-face advisory board meeting for 17 attendees in the region of Bogota, Columbia.

Leading up to the event, protests began to break out in the city, near where the meeting was to be held.

These types of challenges are not new to Miller Tanner Associates as we have planned many events in emerging markets and, at times, this has meant working in high-security risk areas where safety preparedness is paramount.

Solutions

Miller Tanner Associates has developed several intercountry partnerships allowing us to create a seamless risk management solution for monitoring and managing events where a security risk could arise.

As part of our solution for this specific meeting in Bogota, Columbia, Miller Tanner Associates took our usual proactive approach.

We worked diligently with Bogota local partners, who provided a travel brief which included an in-depth analysis of the areas in which our team and meeting attendees were to be located throughout the duration of the meeting. We also sourced hotels that were recommended, thoroughly vetted, and deemed safe properties for the attendees who would be traveling to the site.

Additionally, our partners in Bogota tracked any potential security risks and provided real-time updates in and around the areas that the meeting and activities were taking place. We knew the safest routes to and from all event activities at all times.

Miller Tanner Associates typically hires security staff to be on site unless our client already has hired as was the case in this situation.

To ensure the additional safety of our attendees upon arrival, we compiled a list of travel recommendations in both the confirmation email and welcome packet so that those traveling to the meeting site were fully prepared in advance of the event.

At every event, and for this event specifically, we implement a comprehensive Crisis Action Plan; our on-site staff is well prepared to oversee the well-being of all attendees in case of any emergency situations. Our team was ready to move into action if security measures were necessary during this event.

Results

The event had no security issues despite the nearby protests. Our client and attendees’ reviews were favorable as all felt there was never a cause for concern given Miller Tanner Associates’ thorough safety protocols.

Leave your event’s security in the hands of the event professionals who have a plan of action in place to ensure that all bases are covered. Contact the Miller Tanner Team to discuss your event’s security needs.

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Meet MTA: Keira Gallagher, Proposal Specialist

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 introduce you to Proposal Specialist Keira Gallagher. Keira’s impeccable customer service ensures that all event proposals meet our clients’ requirements and expectations.

Meet Keira Gallagher

Tell us about your current role with MTA.

My current role with MTA is within the Commercial Department as a proposal specialist. My primary responsibility is to create proposals in line with our client’s specifications, budgets, and requirements.

What did you do before joining MTA?

Before joining MTA, I was a corporate sales manager at a large independent resort.

What do you feel is the most fulfilling aspect of your job?

The most fulfilling aspect of my job is when we win a program. Knowing that we provided great service to the client during the proposal phase, the proposal was in line with their budget and expectations, and they are now selecting MTA to provide our services for their meeting(s) is a great feeling.

What do you think is an important factor for clients to consider when choosing a venue for their event?

I think an important factor for clients to consider when choosing a venue for their event is accessibility to an airport. Some of their attendees have to travel very far to attend the events, and there is nothing worse than a 12+ hour flight followed by a 2+ hour car ride to the hotel.

What are some ways that your team takes the burden off the client when planning an event?

We are proactive. We provide holiday reviews to ensure that the dates the client has selected do not have any holidays in any of the countries that are attending and include sponsor-specific preferences in our budgets that we have learned from our prior partnership.

We are compliant. We provide hospitality reviews when needed and ensure any max spend limits are included in proposals both country and sponsor-specific.

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

I had the unique and wonderful experience of working with MTA when I was at my previous job. I remember the entire process for their event on their end was seamless – organized, efficient, thoughtful. Having the opportunity to see how MTA does business is why I wanted to work for them; I wanted to be a part of it all. MTA’s employees are some of the most knowledgeable in the industry and truly care about making each and every event the best possible for the client and that is how we stand out as a meeting planning company.

What do you do for fun?

I enjoy watching sports (Go Steelers!), cheering my husband on at his softball games, spending time with my friends, cooking, and baking.

To meet the entire Miller Tanner Associates team, check out our associates here.

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Events Mash-Up: Engage Your Event Audience

We’ve compiled our best blogs with tips for engaging your event audience. Supercharge your internal events, meetings, and trainings with expert advice using these strategies from the Miller Tanner Team. Reach out to our team for more information about how you can engage your audiences.

Use Technology to Boost Your Presentation Engagement

We have a few proven ways guaranteed to make your event’s presentation more engaging with the help of technology.

10 Benefits of a Paperless Meeting

Here are 10 convincing reasons to shred the paper and embrace the digital devices at your next meeting and how you can better engage your audiences.

Audience Response System (ARS) for Attendee Engagement

Engage Your Audience with ARS

One of the most effective ways that we’ve found to assess and engage your audience is by using an Audience Response System (ARS) to enhance your meeting.

Add More Fun to Corporate Events

Have your corporate events become stale? Are you looking to add a unique touch to your company’s meeting? Do you wish you had better engagement from your team? With the help of expert planners to guide you, you can design an event that is more personalized, exciting, and engaging for your attendees.

Using Video And Visual Content To Improve Virtual Event Engagement

If you are looking for a creative approach to onboarding new employees, optimize your onboarding with video and visual content as part of your training.

Get Help Planning Your Next Virtual Event

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Optimize Your Post-Event Survey to Measure Your Meeting’s Effectiveness

Post event survey measures meeting effectiveness

You want to ensure that your event is effective and successful, right? One proven way to measure this is by using post-event surveys. Post-event surveys allow you to evaluate the return on the experience (ROE) so that you can continue to improve your participants’ experiences at future events.

The team at Miller Tanner has compiled some best practices for boosting your survey response rate in addition to optimizing with key questions that will best measure your meeting’s effectiveness. That way you can stay ahead of the curve in providing an event that meets both your goals and your attendees’ expectations.

3 Tactics to Boost Survey Response Rate

Association Now recommends using these tactics as a guide to help boost your survey response rate:

First, explain the importance of survey feedback so that the participants know that their input is valued and crucial to future event planning.
Be concise and simple. Limit to a small number, yet essential, questions and use a yes/no or multiple-choice format.
Have one open-ended question which allows participants to give more personalized feedback.

3 Powerful Open-ended Post-Event Survey Questions

Start Us Magazine lists post-event survey questions that can determine your meeting’s effectiveness. These three questions can drive a lot of insightful feedback from your participants.

#1 What is your level of satisfaction for this event?

Start with a big picture question to get a sense of whether your participants were satisfied with the event experience overall. Use open-ended questions or create a scale (example: 1-10).

#2 What elements did you like the most/dislike the most?

This is a powerful open-ended question that can give you a lot of insight into what resonated best with your participants. The answers might surprise you so make sure to create a list of the feedback to be applied when planning your next meeting. This allows you to also address any negative feedback that you might receive and improve upon it.

#3 What was the highlight?

This question is not only helpful for post-event surveys but also for multi-day events. If you are conducting daily surveys, using ARS or other engagement tools, during your meeting, this question allows you to effectively gauge what participants enjoyed the most – possibly allowing you to add the activity to the next day’s agenda. For example, if the highlight for a majority of your attendees was a 30-minute break for networking, consider adjusting the agenda to accommodate your participants’ interests.

Get Specific

If you want to be more targeted with your survey questions, Get Feedback offers these following post-event survey questions as a way to dial into the details. You can add a few of the following specific questions to your survey to generate more detailed feedback:

Which event or speaker were you most pleased with?
Did you have ample time to network?
What can we do to make next year’s conference even better?
What kind of speakers would you like to see next year?
Do you feel as though the conference had a cohesive message?
Did you learn actionable information that will help you in your work life?
What features should we add to the event?

Be Concise

And if you’d like to keep your questions more scale-based, Meetingsnet offers these six post-event questions that will reveal the effectiveness of your meetings using a question set called the Event Performance Indices or EPI. Based on Meetingsnet’s analysis, using the combined set of the following six post-event questions will best reflect the effectiveness of your meeting:

How satisfied are you with the meeting’s overall value in helping you improve your on-the-job effectiveness?
How satisfied are you that the meeting was well worth the investment?
How satisfied are you with the overall meeting experience?
How satisfied are you that the meeting was motivating to you personally?
How satisfied are you with the quality of the education sessions at the meeting?
How satisfied are you with the quality of the networking opportunities at the meeting?

Summary

We’ve highlighted a few different ways to approach your post-event survey.

The bottom line: Every event needs a post-event survey in order to improve upon its success. Post-event surveys help you better understand the needs and wants of your audience, while also identifying how and where to focus your time and attention for future events. Your participants will value being heard, and likewise, you’ll gain insights for creating an experience that will leave them eager to attend your next event.

Our team can help design post-event surveys that measure your event’s effectiveness. Reach out to our associates to learn more.

Meet MTA: Dora Feher, Global Experience Designer

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 introduce you to Global Experience Designer, Dora Feher who brings her positivity and years of event experience to our MTA team.

Meet Dora Feher

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

I am a global experience designer for events at MTA; I plan and execute meetings and conferences while maintaining strong relationships with our team members, clients, and vendors and liaising with the venues, travel agencies, ground transportation.

I work closely with our team members on all details to ensure a smooth planning process for our clients and to create an excellent outcome where the goal is always to exceed expectations.

I also travel to on site meetings to support follow through on the event execution and to ensure all goes according to plan – and beyond.

What did you do before joining MTA?

I was a senior event planner for weddings and corporate events in the Caribbean on a small island for almost 6 years, working mainly with the U.S. and local markets.

What’s the best part of your job?

Planning – I love taking care of things from beginning to end, especially when I get to connect with clients and my team members. I love the teamwork behind the process that makes it all come together as a whole.

What’s one item that no event planner can live without?

Patience. Thankfully, I’ve got plenty of that.

Actual item? Phone or laptop. It’s the main tool that connects us with our clients providing the bridge from our office to our daily communications with everyone involved in making excellent programs come alive.

What’s one place that you’d love to travel to for an event and why?

This is a hard question! I do like to travel, see, and experience new places, new cultures, and people.

I suppose one area I would certainly love the opportunity to visit would be the northern countries in Europe – Finland, Sweden, and Norway. I’ve had the chance to work with many people from many different parts of the world but I’d be curious to experience the northern culture from this perspective.

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

Always bring a few favorite snacks with you – helpful on the plane and also helpful at the meeting location in case you are busy.
Choose aisle seats for short plane ride (easier to get out) and window seats for longer flights – you don’t have to get out for others and the window can help with sleeping!
Travel in comfort – not in style.
Always have your charger and appropriate power adapter for the country that you are visiting.
Download entertainment ahead of time and get noise-canceling headphones.
If you have a water bottle, empty it before security check; it will save you buying and throwing away any plastic and, a good one, will keep the temperature of your drink.
With longer plane rides, have nice, fluffy socks to change into instead of wearing shoes.

What do you do for fun?

Anything outside when the weather is good. I love nature and am active outdoors. When I lived in the Caribbean, I was diving, boating, swimming, and wakeboarding a lot. Now that we’ve moved back to a place that has more than just summer, we love going for hikes, skating, bicycling, or even just for a morning run without the humidity of the Caribbean.

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

I was born and raised in Hungary. I left the country after university and lived in various countries. Recently, I’ve moved back to Europe and I now reside in Vienna, Austria.

There is certainly a lot to see in Vienna. The entire city center speaks for itself; with the famed Stephansplatz and its gorgeous church – close to both the well-known Cafe Central and Sacher Hotel where they serve the most delicious desserts (sacher tart and other yummies) along with delish coffees.

Hofburg and the amazing Wiener Staatsoper Opera House along with the historical museums are just a very few to mention in this area as well.

Winter is also quite magical on these streets around the Innere Stadt (city center). Graben Street is one of the most famous with its suspended lighting features but all these streets are wonderful in the wintertime. Not to mention the Rathaus Christmas Market which is across the beautiful Burgtheatre. From here, the famous Belvedere Palace is just about 10 minutes away on a tram.

Within a shorter distance, people can have an amazing open market experience on Naschmarkt in the 4^th district or make their way to the well-known shopping street called Mariahilferstrasse.

When in Vienna, it is really a must to see Schonbrunn, the famous Habsburg Palace. Its endless park gives a great option to wander around and admire the views. It also contains a nice zoo. Visitors can also get a great tour inside the palace which is really stunning and unique.

And finally, if someone just wants to get lost in the forests around the area, they can take a bus up to Kahlenberg, where the entire city is visible – and way beyond. They can admire gorgeous views of the rolling hills that lead to the Alps, and walk or bike among plenty available trails all year around.

What makes Miller Tanner stand out as a meeting planning company? What’s your favorite aspect of MTA?

I love the fact that most (if not all) of the software used as tools to make meetings happen – whether using any paper or not – was all created within the company, created by our technology team members. I find that quite unique and amazing!

My other favorite part is the teamwork – many different time zones yet working so well together as a team. This is my first time working fully virtual and this is definitely a strong aspect to mention, as time does matter. And when you can have your time spent really efficiently – you can also get things done better, and likely faster, which I think helps a lot with a life-work balance.

Meet our Miller Tanner Associates team by visiting https://www.millertanner.com/about/our-teams/ .

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Happy Holidays from Miller Tanner Associates

The Miller Tanner Associates Team wishes you a festive holiday season and an event-filled 2020!

We thank you for allowing us to be part of your events in 2019. We’ve traveled the globe and have had the pleasure of planning exciting product launches and incentive trips, designing global sales meetings that helped our clients accomplish their goals and coordinated investigator meetings that engaged attendees using the latest technologies. It’s been an exceptional year of event experiences!

The Miller Tanner Associates Team wishes you an exciting new year filled with memorable experiences! We hope to see you somewhere in the world in 2020!

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Case Study: Virtual Event Translation Options

Case study on MTA virtual event translation

How We Provided Translation Options for a Virtual Event

Virtual events offer an affordable, efficient method for delivering key messaging. The goal of a virtual event is to spread a consistent message where a smaller budget and time constraints might apply. Miller Tanner Associates aims to simulate the key elements of a face-to-face meeting – interpretation being one of those essential elements. When a client wants to offer interpretation to a select group of attendees, it is our job to make sure that happens with ease.

THE CHALLENGE

Virtual platforms introduce a few challenges. Unfortunately, these platforms rarely have multiple audio channels that allow attendees to choose their preferred language translation. For this reason, advanced virtual event translation is important. Additionally, the slides shared with the audience and translation must match the timing of the presenter. The message and instruction to attendees need to be coordinated accurately with the presentation, polling questions, and any attendee interaction with the presenters via text.

THE SOLUTION

Miller Tanner Associates (MTA) has designed a creative solution that meets the translation needs of the attendees.

MTA uses a suite of virtual products that allows us to open multiple meeting platforms and isolate the features in each one.
Our solution offers local and toll-free numbers for countries around the world providing added convenience to attendees during a 4-hour session.
We provide thorough instructions on how to connect for interpretation prior to the meeting, and within housekeeping slides during the meeting.
We also provide presentations and recordings to our interpreters days prior to the meeting, allowing them the opportunity to study the content and presentations.

THE RESULTS

Our clients and their attendees are equally important to us and our primary objective is to provide ease during any event face-to-face, virtual or hybrid events. Using ingenuity, we provided a simple, creative solution for our client which enabled the attendees to listen to a very difficult protocol in their native language while ensuring a better understanding of the study.

Contact our team of experienced event planners to learn more about translation solutions for your virtual events.

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Add More Fun to Your Corporate Event

Have your corporate events become stale? Are you looking to add a unique touch to your company’s meeting? Do you wish you had better engagement from your team?

For starters, add more fun elements to your next corporate gathering! With some creative thinking outside the box and the help of expert planners to guide you, you can design an event that is more personalized, exciting, and engaging for your attendees.

10 Fun Corporate Event Ideas

Here are just a few ideas that our Miller Tanner Team has used to bring more fun to the corporate events that we’ve designed.

1. Pick a Theme

A theme can unleash so many creative ideas, boost attendee engagement, and bring the details of your entire event together in a way that WOWs the crowd.

2. Unique, Interactive Food and Beverage Options

Instead of gathering your team around the proverbial watercooler, gather your attendees around a food and beverage station that is sure to spark fun and engagement during the break time. Try adding a sugary donut wall or a customized drink dispenser such as Drink Ripple (pictured).

3. Choose Your Gift

Remember those choose-your-own-ending stories? Well, the latest new trend in corporate event gifting is offering a gifting suite where attendees can choose their own gift, the one that speaks to them personally (pictured).

4. Customize the Roomset

We have so many options in roomset design. You can add the unexpected twist to your traditional meeting room with cozy sofas, modern chairs, or outdoor-style loungers.

5. Get Outside

Take your meeting outdoors. Offer a rejuvenating activity like outdoor yoga or yard games. Dine al fresco under the stars (pictured). The sky’s the limit when you take your event outside of the venue conference space.

6. Friendly Competition

Who doesn’t like a little friendly competition among coworkers? Bring your team together for unique competitions like ax-throwing or a game of skeeball (pictured) aimed at bringing fun into a friendly match.

7. Get Techy

Technology is a powerful tool to boost your attendees’ engagement. Using apps, virtual reality (VR), and holograms, learning can be entertaining and memorable.

8. Include Cultural Entertainment

If your event is hosted in a country with a vibrant culture, use it as an opportunity to partake in cultural activities with your team. You’ll gain a new understanding of the world together while adding fun entertainment to your event.

9. Invite an Inspirational Speaker

Bring in a comedian or motivational speaker to teach a new perspective, motivate with an inspirational talk, or to simply bring some uproarious laughter to your event.

10. Add CSR

Corporate Social Responsibility activities can bring your team together for a great cause while fostering team bonding. Whether your teams are competing to build a bike for youth or assembling gift baskets, they will certainly have fun doing something meaningful together for others.

Our team can design a perfectly unique corporate event for your company. Contact us to get started!