SMM Goes Global

Two corporate meeting managers for pharmaceutical companies are taking their strategic meetings management programs global. That said, meetings globalization isn’t a quick rollout. Both Shire head of global meetings and events Monica Dickenson and Amy Perrone, procurement manager for meetings and travel at a major biopharmaceutical company in San Francisco, have multiyear strategies in play. While corporate culture and the complexity of the vertical bring challenges to the globalization process, they spoke with BTN meetings editor Elizabeth West about the unique strategies they’re nonetheless pushing in 2017.

What prompted your companies to pursue global strategies for strategic meetings management?

Monica Dickenson: Shire acquired Baxalta less than a year ago. We found that each organization had a different way of managing its overall meetings program, so we are looking to create a level of consistency. As a starting point, that includes alignment on a global meetings policy and registering all meetings. While this seems simple in terms of SMM, we had to consider the [program] maturity between the two organizations, some of the quick wins to bring the meetings programs together, and understand what spend looks like globally. Also, in light of recent events in Fort Lauderdale, Paris and Brussels, we’re really targeting meeting registration as a form of crisis management and duty of care.

Amy Perrone: Our U.S.-based company was bought by the [global parent] several years ago and we’ve integrated as one company in a lot of ways, but meetings are still handled at the affiliate level. In the U.S., we’ve worked on pulling together the sourcing component and the data component of SMM. We’ve put some policies in place where we just had guidelines before. We are starting to pull good data and gain a lot of insights into our meetings. We also have some interesting data coming from meetings outside the U.S., with affiliates using our systems and entering data not related to our U.S. meetings business. They are getting creative in accessing resources they don’t have but that they could really use. It has also shown that we have a significant amount of risk in the sourcing and contracting process in some of our markets outside the United States.

Monica, you mentioned alignment with a global policy as a goal for 2017. Is your vision a blanket policy or does it have local market addenda?

Dickenson: Our preference would be to have one global policy that is inclusive of all countries, but there are several complexities so we will have to determine an appropriate balance from a global perspective. First, different countries have differing regulations that, at times, limit our options in terms of venue and meals. How do we create a global standard that can apply, whether it’s an internal meeting or a meeting with a healthcare professional? Our second task is to set up a service model and determine how that is interdependent with other policies and department operating procedures (e.g., compliance, finance, legal, etc.). For example, at legacy Baxalta, we had great adoption in Asia/Pacific in getting people to register meetings and utilize some of our global suppliers for venue sourcing and meeting planning support. In Europe, meeting organizers really wanted to do more local, in-country servicing. That’s still the case at Shire, so we have to assess a few areas before we centralize. We shouldn’t necessarily service our customers outside the U.S. from a U.S. provider, so do we set up a hub model? And, finally, language is important for a global company and for driving adoption and creating an inclusive program. We have a core group of about seven languages, but we know that doesn’t cover everyone.

Amy, would global policy be possible for your organization, which places such a high value on decision-making at the affiliate level?

Perrone: Our parent company imposes few requirements on its affiliates. If we rolled out a credit card program or an expense tool, for example, affiliates can opt in or opt out. As a result, getting buy-in for a standardized process or policy is met with a lot of resistance. Plus, in the U.S., we’re 80 percent internal meetings and 20 percent congresses and trade shows. Globally, it’s the exact opposite. Combine that with the different regulations per country and everyone having their own budgets, and standardizing policy and process has not been my goal. I think I have to go for a straight data play. I would need to figure out how to get some standard pieces of data out of these disparate policies and processes, and I don’t know that it could go farther than that.

With such a culture of self-determination, how do you expect to get the buy-in to capture standard data?

Perrone: The company has hired in Europe for a role that is basically the same as mine. We look at this as a kind of joint venture, where I have some SMM structure in place that is delivering results but he is in Europe exploring the appetite for working cooperatively on this. He’s Dutch; he speaks six languages. To Monica’s point about the language of the policy and making sure the program perspective is inclusive, having him in that role gives those local stakeholders a wider comfort level and better platform to build a relationship than having me in the U.S. trying to build those bridges.

Monica, you are the global head of meetings and events, but you sit in the U.S. Does that similarly put up barriers to cooperation or compliance?

Dickenson: We do have some resources in Europe and quite a few event planning roles located outside of the United States, but there is a sense of this being a U.S. initiative. That’s a perception we have to break down because that’s not our intent. My goal is to align with the local resources, and I am taking small steps now to facilitate broader adoption later.

So Shire really is phasing out the global SMM? The initial policy and process may not be the final policy and process?

Dickenson: In terms of getting the easy win on meetings registration, we are really looking to capture data to identify what and where meetings are happening and from a duty of care and crisis management perspective. In addition to keeping attendees safe, we want to understand exactly what the needs are in the local countries and regions first. Having a global managed program is something new for our organization, so we need to take the time and listen to the individual markets, then design the right approach going forward.

To Amy’s point, doesn’t that really take more than gathering data through registration? It really takes a commitment to building trust.

Dickenson: I’m actually going to Europe to speak with a group of key stakeholders about globalizing the program. It is important that we have a face-to-face because it’s about trust and fostering relationships. Otherwise there again is this perception that this is a U.S. initiative that does not take the needs of those outside of the U.S. into consideration. My intent is to say, “Let’s talk about it. I want to know what you’re up against. How can I help you?” That has the strongest impact.

Perrone: Plus, there’s more to trust than language and listening. There’s also delivering results.

Amy, have you been able to deliver results to some of the potential “buyers” for SMM on a global basis?

Perrone: Here in the U.S., where we do have a policy, there’s pretty high adoption because they see the benefit in the service. Also, everyone’s using the tool and everyone’s putting their data in, and that allows me to do something more for them. Now, [meeting organizers are] asking for data back out. I’ll send them a report and they’ll say that it looks about right or that we might be missing a few things here and there, but they always say, “Wow.” At that point, I’ve got those people making sure their people are [entering the meetings data]. They’re seeing value in data; they’re seeing value in security. Those are things that anybody anywhere would care about, so if you can start to deliver some of those pieces back to them, or show how you did it for others, you can build a lot of buy-in.

Both of you have a close relationship with travel management at your companies. How important is it for travel and meetings to understand one another and work together to build SMM?

Perrone: I come from the meetings side, and I inherited travel management. Parts of our travel program are global: hotels, airlines and car rental to a certain degree. I have a colleague who manages TMC relationships. You need clear executive support for consolidating at this level. Without that, globalizing is very hard. I want to spend this year identifying where we actually have some demand in affiliate markets. I want to focus on where we know people would be interested in working with us and then building it from there. But we have to move slowly. By the end of the year, my goal is to have a plan and a strong sense of what can be accomplished and the value for the company.

Dickenson: Travel is not my scope but I do have a business partner in travel management, and we’re aligned in the same department. While we maintain separate programs, it may be helpful as we roll out the global meetings program to consider ways to mirror parts of the travel program structure. For example, if travel created regional hubs, maybe we can leverage these in the same locations. This is the same strategy as it relates to local in-country servicing. With my close alignment with travel, I’ve been able to sit in some of their discussions about [how they want] the travel program to look in the future. That’s helpful in terms of finding ways to align and integrate.