The past 12 months have been a time of marked change for, and increased visibility of, corporate meetings programs. The number of corporations at the mercy of a down economy that are demanding new ways of divining savings or greater efficiencies from meetings programs is likely higher than it ever has been. Though some corporations have met this goal simply by avoiding meetings travel or holding meetings onsite, other companies have sought more innovative ways to make their programs more efficient, faster and less costly. Several have embraced centralization and consolidation, others have merged meetings and transient travel operations. Still others have turned to technology as their main weapon.
In that vein, Meetings Today congratulates its Best Meetings Practitioners of 2003—which it named for specific practices implemented in the past 12 months that can be held up to the industry as methods to better manage their companies' meeting processes or expenditures: Craig Ardis, director of global special events for Amway Corp.; Michael Benedict, global manager of travel, Metro and meeting expense data systems for Cisco Systems Inc.; Madlyn Caliri, global group travel and events manager for AT&T Corp.; and Karin Ruble, travel and meeting services manager for Toyota Motor Sales USA. Meetings Today appreciates the cooperation of its Best Practitioners and those in the industry who participated in the process.
See stories:
AmwayAT&TCiscoToyota