Themes can be a key to unlocking an event’s greatest potential for an unforgettable experience.
By customizing your event with a theme that resonates with your audience, you’ve tapped into the secret to crafting an engaging experience that will most certainly wow the crowd.
The right theme sets the foundation for architecting an event that is more focused and intentional.
When a focused theme is a driving force behind the event elements and the overall purpose, the planning comes together more synergistically.
And when it’s “showtime”, the event experience will be more engaging, more inspired, and, undoubtedly, the one most remembered by your attendees.
Top 10 ways a theme can boost your event experience:
Supports and defines the goals and objectives of the event.
Directs the planning with more ease and more focus.
Provides a guide for more interesting content.
Brings your team together with a more creative purpose.
Creates buzz and enthusiasm.
Generates more connection and engagement from the attendees.
Engages all senses and is visually more captivating.
The Global Experience Team at Miller Tanner masterfully works in partnership with each client to plan and deliver an impactful event theme that will boost their attendees’ overall experience.
Recently we planned a corporate event in Key Largo drawing our inspiration from the alluring Caribbean capital of Cuba to create an experience that captured the essence of the culturally-vibrant city, Havana.
The Havana theme was infused in every detail of the evening. At the lively “Havana Nights”, attendees enjoyed traditional Cuban entertainment and the artistry of local artisans as well as mingled amid the tropical-inspired decor, which made for a truly memorable experience for the event participants.
By implementing a few creative measures with an inspired theme, you’ll design an event that generates more excitement and connectedness among your attendees and one that transforms your event experience.
Our Global Experience Team can take any idea and transform it into a memorable event.Contact us to discover a new way of looking at your event.
The Miller Tanner difference is our people. That’s why we want to introduce you to our team of superstars that brings our corporate meetings and events to life for our clients. Today we introduce you Vivian Thompson, billing manager for Miller Tanner Associates. Vivian brings her 30 years of accounting know-how to the Finance Team.
Meet Vivian Thompson
Tell us about your current role with MTA. What are your primary responsibilities?
As the billing manager, I audit all of the bills from an event and then create the billing portfolio for the client.
How long have you been with MTA? I have been with MTA for 6 years.
What did you do before joining MTA? I have been in accounting for 30 years.
What do you feel are the most fulfilling aspects of your job?
I love a mystery and each event holds a mystery – I just have to find it!
What makes Miller Tanner Associates stand out as an event planning company?
MTA offers white-glove service from start to finish. Our staff is the most amazing, talented group I have ever encountered.
What do you do for fun? I love spending time with my children and grandchildren. I cook, garden, read, and cross-stitch.
Where do you live and what do you love most about your state/city?
I live in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Murfreesboro is a college town with plenty of shopping and activities weekly. If interested in history, the National Battlefield and the Cannonsburgh Village are both great to visit; the downtown square has shopping and music on Friday nights, with plenty of great places to eat. It’s well worth a visit!
Miller Tanner Associates (MTA) would not be the event planning company that it is today without the incredibly talented individuals working tirelessly behind the scenes to create memorable experiences for our clients.
At each annual MTA Workshop, our company’s internal global meeting, we recognize those distinguished team members for their outstanding contributions to Miller Tanner throughout the year. Our theme for our 2019 Workshop was Depth 2x, as we focused on how we can go deeper as a team and as a company to meet the needs of our clients. This year’s award winners demonstrated this quality of depth that we all strive for each day at Miller Tanner Associates. Our 2019 winners include:
2019 Gift of Service Awards: Caroline Drummey and Tomas de Dominicis
This year’s Gift of Service Award recognized two outstanding associates, Caroline Drummey, Global Experience Specialist (GXS) and Tomas de Dominicis, Global Experience Designer (GXD), for their exceptional dedicated service to both our clients and their fellow Miller Tanner colleagues. Both Caroline and Tomas displayed a level of dedication and initiative that represents MTA excellence.
The Global Experience Team responsible for corporate events comprised of Molly Suggs, Director of Global Experiences (DGX); Gracie Fisher, Global Experience Manager (GXM); Jenny Decker, Global Experience Designer (GXD); and Melissa Eggert, Global Experience Manager (GXM) received the Theme Award. This team was recognized for their stellar event design and implementation of the 2019 Workshop in Montebello, Canada. This planning team knows how to wow the crowd with their creative finesse and attention to every detail.
2019 Saver Award: Lisa Clifton
Lisa Clifton, Accounts Payable Analyst, was awarded the 2019 Saver Award for her commitment to ensuring a quick turnaround time for reimbursements and billing for a large event series. She worked diligently to meet all deadlines post-event and managed her responsibilities like clockwork.
2019 Marnie Award: William Morton
Creative Manager Bill Morton was awarded the 2019 Marie Award for his role in masterfully rebranding Miller Tanner Associates in an effort to better exemplify and distinguish our brand within in the meeting and event industry. His creativity has shone throughout the year while designing a new look for MTA and our newest proprietary event technology – EPIC and Attend.
Story of the Year: Gemma Plans, Emoke Szoverfi, Diana Reed, Lisa Clifton, Carla Mahlberg, Heather Cheng, and Richard Chalmers
The 2019 Story of the Year was awarded to the following team members: Gemma Plans,Sr. Global Experience Manager (SGXM); Emoke Szoverfi, Global Experience Specialist (GXS); Diana Reed,Senior Key Account Manager; Lisa Clifton, Accounts Payable Analyst; Carla Mahlberg, Technical Projects Lead; Heather Cheng,Director, Global Experiences (DGX); and Richard Chalmers, Global Experience Designer (GXD). The collaborative efforts of this team resulted in a very successful program for our client. This team skillfully managed a seamless event using our latest innovative proprietary event technology – EPIC and Attend – to enhance and streamline all meeting details from paperless agendas to digital reimbursements.
The Miller Tanner difference is our people. That’s why we want to introduce you to our team of superstars that brings our corporate experiences to life for our clients. Today we introduce you to Terri McGee, Transparency Operations Manager.
Meet Terri McGee
Tell us about your current role with MTA. What are your primary responsibilities?
In my current role, my team and I are responsible for collecting and reporting aggregate spend for U.S. and global events. There is investigative work that goes into collecting the data for each event. It’s all about the details.
How long have you been with MTA?
I am working on my 12th year with MTA. I’m so honored to be here.
What did you do before joining MTA?
Before joining MTA, I worked for a local healthcare corporation for 20 years where I held multiple positions in operations and distribution.
What do you feel are the most fulfilling aspects of your job?
I’m very passionate about what I do and it’s very important to me that we provide our clients with the best product. Sometimes that means digging for every detail until the story comes alive.
What are some ways that the Finance Team takes the burden off of the client when planning an event?
One way the Finance Team can help clients that do not have guidelines and transparency reporting templates in place is to provide guidance through the process if they choose to include in the meeting budget.
What makes Miller Tanner stand out as meeting planning company?
MTA stands out because we are continually challenging ourselves to exceed and keep reaching for excellence in our processes, our performance, and our people. MTA always goes the extra mile to provide exceptional service for every event.
Where do you live and what do you love most about your state/city?
We live in Tennessee about 30 miles outside Nashville, the home of country music and the Nashville Predators. If you’ve never been to the Grand Ole Opry, you should make plans to visit soon. Downtown Nashville is booming in growth with lots of new hotels and restaurants to visit.
What do you do for fun?
I love spending time with family and friends. We have two precious grandsons. Whatever they want to do, I’m up for it! I love working in the yard and exercising when I make it a priority.
Anything else you’d like to add?
First and foremost, I can’t say enough about the people that I have the privilege of working with every day. So many talented individuals, who care so much and give outstanding service to our clients. I’m honored to work with these amazing people!
It’s that time of year again when the Miller Tanner Associates (MTA) team comes together for our annual Workshop. As a virtual organization, we devote resources for a face-to-face (F2F) event knowing it’s the best investment we can make in our global team.
This year we are providing hands-on event technology training, further exploring how we can actualize event industry trends while simultaneously testing the new event technology that MTA is building within our own team.
Last year, we experimented with hologram technology as an option for remote speakers. This year, we will test VR technology and how our clients can use for innovative training solutions.
Building upon our 2018 Workshop experiment of using hologram technology to “visualize” remote speakers by bringing them into a live event, we will experiment with virtual reality (VR) technology. MTA will explore how we can use VR technology for medical training in venue breakout rooms or how we can apply VR technology to help our clients experience the “feel” of a proposed hotel in MTA’s venue site selection reports. Additional VR applications will include creating a VR video that reveals, in a unique way, the location of MTA’s 2020 Workshop, replicating a “reveal” feature used at many of our corporate events.
I believe that there is no better investment of time, currency, and resources than advancing the MTA global team. Our annual workshops provide opportunities to lead MTA to a broader understanding of how to better serve our clients plus provide the MTA global team time to refresh before a busy fall event season.
Our team tested various work stations during breakout sessions.
Clinical events will resume in earnest the first week of September while the planning for our early 2020 corporate events continues to keep pace. Our virtual events continue throughout the year as they can be organized quickly with a small investment of resources, such as time and funds.
Please reach out to learn more about how MTA can use our experience to create your events. Be sure to watch MTA’s social media channels as we post details about our 2019 Workshop and share internal MTA news. Thank you for the opportunity to be of service.
Why is a Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) credential important?
The CMP credential is recognized globally as the “badge of excellence” in the meeting, convention, exhibition, and event industry, according to the Convention Industry Council (CIC). Those with a CMP after their names are regarded with industry-wide trust and respect. The qualifications for certification are based on professional experience, continued education, and a strenuous exam.
Enlisting the services of an event planning company with CMP certifications will:
Promote industry standards, practices, and ethics in the management of your event
Offer access to a broad body of knowledge in the events profession
Provide expert contract negotiation and management for your benefit
Establish and enhance quality relationships with vendors, who recognize and honor the CMP
Maximize the ROI of your choice in an event planner
Meet Our Certified Meeting Professionals
Patty Cullim, CMP, Global Service Director
Years in the events industry: 20+ years
Reason for pursuing the CMP: I pursued the CMP for personal growth. I wanted to stay current on trends in the industry and have the opportunity to network with others in the industry.
Most interesting aspect of event industry that you learned through your CMP training: One interesting aspect of the training was identifying the cultural differences regarding international meetings and how they are not so different from USA.
Jenny Decker, CMP, Global Event Director
Years in the events industry: 13 years
Reason for pursuing the CMP: I received my certification in 2014. Education has always been important to me. There is always more to learn regardless of the industry. I know that the value of a CMP designation extends far beyond passing a test—it encourages and provides continuing education throughout one’s career. Earning my CMP has been empowering; I feel that it enables vendors, hoteliers and our clients to have a level of confidence and trust in my role as a planner and in my decision-making process.
Most interesting aspect of event industry that you learned through the CMP training: Learning about international meetings and how the culture impacts your decision-making not only was intriguing but has also helped prepare me for my role with Miller Tanner.
Melissa Eggert, CMP, Global Event Director
Years in the events industry: 12 years
Reason for pursuing the CMP: My motivation for having a CMP credential was two-fold. First, I wanted to challenge myself and expand my scope of the events world outside of pharmaceutical meetings. By studying for the CMP, I was able to glean from the knowledge of many event professionals and understand the central backbone of the field. Secondly, having the CMP credential boosts the confidence of both our clients and vendors in Miller Tanner as a company. It is important to me that I provide our clients with the best service in the industry, and having the CMP aids in achieving that goal.
Most interesting aspect of event industry that you learned through the CMP training: While learning how to set up trade shows and exhibition booths was exhilarating, I think the most useful piece of information absorbed was less tactical and more theoretical. I expanded my understanding of the WHY – why do we plan events? What purpose do they serve? What are we looking to achieve with this gathering of people? Setting the end goal before the planning begins is just as, if not more, important than the event itself.
Gracie Fisher, CMP, Global Event Director
Years in the events industry: 8 years
Reason for pursuing the CMP: New challenges keep me invigorated, invested and connected to our industry. Accepting the challenge of pursuing a CMP gave me a new objective and challenged me to grow beyond the skills I use on a daily basis.
Most interesting aspect of event industry that you learned through the CMP training: I feel as though I connected and related to the domain of event design and the purpose of design and its marriage to functionality. We do not create or design an event without taking the original objective and vision of the event and weaving it through every decision. Even something as small as the way a lounge area is set up or a piece of furniture chosen should contribute to the event objective as a whole. For me, it reminded me that every decision and element not only contributes to the event meaning and objective but that each decision can be related back to serving your clients holistically.
Kate Sheelen, CMP, Global Service Director
Years in the events industry: 19 years
Reason for pursuing the CMP: Personal goal and professional development were my reasons for pursuing the credential. I also felt a respect for the designation and achievement in the industry.
Most interesting or useful aspect of event industry that you learned through the CMP training: Something I still reference and use for MTA – the banquet calculations, room types, and setups.
Meredith Shottes, CMP, Director, Global Events
Years in the events industry: 17 years
Reason for pursuing the CMP: While working with our clients it became abundantly clear that this designation was a vital stat for them to share with their internal stakeholders to further validate their decision to choose Miller Tanner Associates. By sharing that I, and other members of our team, have been certified by one of the leading industry organizations in our professional planning knowledge, we helped clear a path towards our selection for major alliance partnerships.
Most interesting aspect of event industry that you learned through the CMP training: I don’t think that it was any one aspect that I found interesting, but rather how in depth the test goes on a large variety of topics with GREAT detail! From Association stakeholders to individual learning styles to formulas that calculate how much coffee to order in the afternoon if your group is all women – the amount to absorb was endless and all fascinating!
We’ve curated a corporate meeting mash-up of some of our best blogs with our tips for creating a successful internal corporate event. Supercharge your internal events, meetings, and trainings with expert advice using these strategies from the Miller Tanner Team.
From an events industry perspective with two decades of event planning experience, Miller Tanner offers three innovative ways to boost your company’s brand internally. Full article
As a contribution to our corporate meeting mash-up advice, we asked our team of event pros why internal meetings matter. Our team members share their perspectives on how internal meetings can be beneficial to the overall health of an organization. Full article
Behind every successful company is an equally successful training program to drive them forward. Give your training a tune up and navigate a new route. Here are 5 ways that you can drive your training ahead. Full article
We recently planned a product launch for a company which included product and branding training for their sales team. Here are 3 ways that you can create a memorable experience at your next training. Full article
The National Conference & Business Fair is the largest conference of its kind for women business owners in the U.S. The WBENC National Conference & Business Fair is attended by Women’s Business Enterprises (WBEs); senior executives and procurement representatives from the Fortune 500 and the U.S. Government; and select partner organizations whose missions align with WBENC’s vision of expanding women’s business opportunities in the marketplace. With three days of robust programming, the conference features lectures and presentations from today’s thought leaders, engaging panel discussions, 1:1 MatchMaker sessions, networking receptions, and a notable Business Fair.
For the past 16 years, Miller Tanner has proudly maintained a Women’s Business Enterprise (WBE) Certification through WBENC, the nation’s largest third-party certifier of the businesses owned and operated by women in the U.S. Nationally recognized by thousands of major U.S. corporations and federal, state and local government entities, obtaining this certification is a lengthy and intensive process. To achieve WBENC certification, women-owned businesses complete formal documentation and a site visit process which is administered by one of WBENC’s 14 Regional Partner Organizations.
“In 2002, I first learned of the WBENC Certification and how having this certification could help our clients. Miller Tanner is proud to be part of this highly-valued certification program for the past 16 years. It not only affords us great opportunities and partnerships as a supplier diversity business but also the opportunity to pass along great benefits to our clients,” shares Marnie Miller Battistini, CEO of Miller Tanner Associates. “We look forward to attending this week’s conference to connect with other supplier diversity leaders across the U.S. “
Learn more about the benefits of working with a WBENC-certified business here.
The Miller Tanner difference is our people. That’s why we want to introduce you to our team of superstars that brings our corporate meetings and events to life for our clients. Today we introduce you to Leslie Holt, Billing Analyst. Leslie’s background in finance, along with her keen skills, are a valuable asset to our Finance Department.
Meet Leslie Holt
Tell us about your current role with MTA. What are your primary responsibilities?
My current role is billing analyst. It’s my responsibility to bill the client post meeting. I pull together all supporting documents and create a billing portfolio to present to the client with their final invoice.
How long have you been with MTA? I just began my 5th year in March.
What did you do before joining MTA?
Before joining MTA, the majority of my career has been as an operations financial analyst and payment coordinator.
What do you feel are the most fulfilling aspects of your job?
The most fulfilling aspect of my job is being a part of the teamwork required across all departments and to see the execution of the entire process come full circle. I enjoy delivering a work product that the client can trust and rely on.
What are some ways that the Finance Department takes the burden off of the client when planning an event?
Finance takes the burden off the client by closely monitoring the operational costs to make sure they stay within their budget and by providing a solid audit trail with 100% transparency in reporting such that the client knows it’s work they can trust. In the end, the client has nothing more to do than to simply respond to an email from me to confirm everything is in order.
What makes Miller Tanner stand out as meeting planning company?
What stands out is how we do what we do more efficiently and differently from our competitors. I feel that MTA stands out as a meeting planning company by our seamless performance all over the world. To be able to execute a flawless event regardless of where in the world it might be is impressive. Additionally, MTA is working to provide our clients with an interactive experience by way of virtual and hybrid meetings as well as providing options for clients in areas of learning, training, and development of their teams. MTA stands out because, for us, it’s not just about MTA being successful but also about how to take our clients to their next level of success with our products and offerings.
Where do you live and what do you love most about your state/city?
I live in Murfreesboro, Tennessee just outside of Nashville which can boast that it’s the geographic center of the state. The best thing about this area is the number of state parks and other points of interest which are easily accessible as a day trip by car.
What do you do for fun?
For fun, I like to go out for live music and art exhibits. I like to spend time with friends and family sharing a meal or maybe creating an impromptu dance party or game night and just enjoying each other’s company. I also enjoy riding my bike.
Anything else you’d like to add?
I love the unique culture and work-life balance that MTA has created by being a completely virtual company. While we may be scattered all over the globe, there is a true sense of togetherness and teamwork when it comes to getting the job done.
Last week Miller Tanner Associates (MTA), was honored to be selected, by a panel of judges, as one of 3 national finalists in the Diversity Alliance for Science (DA4S) “EIGHT THAT INNOVATE” program which showcases how diverse suppliers are using novel ideas to drive value within the healthcare and pharmaceutical industry. We were recognized for our innovative event software, EPIC TM, that provides value to clients, and differentiates MTA as a leader within the industry.
EPICTM, Event Planning In Control, is a proprietary event planning web app designed to control and manage the lifecycle of your events, essentially merging all of your event’s details into one user-friendly system.
EPICTM integrates data for:
Event spend
Attendee reimbursement
Travel and logistics
Communication
All event data is available in real time, using single sign-on, and is accessible in traditional or mobile format.
We’d like to introduce you to our latest event technology, now recognized by Diversity Alliance for Science as an innovative event tool. We look forward to bringing more creative technology solutions to your events! Contact us for a demo!
