Last year, we introduced our top 20 Changemakers to the meetings industry — 20 individuals who gained visibility among senior management in their companies by initiating strategic meetings management programs and thereby maximizing savings. We call them “changemakers” for their ability to create positive change — both in their careers and in their industries. This year's winners are, once again, shining examples of elevating the meetings role beyond logistics to focus on strategy and ROI. Cognizant of their ability to make a difference, they have also reached beyond their four walls to influence the profession as educators, mentors, and leaders. There's much to learn from their stories.

And the Winners Are …

Lee Ann Adams Mikeman
Vice President, Conference Planning & Special Events
Science Applications International Corp.

Debbie Andersen
Senior Manager, Americas Meetings & Conventions
Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics

Craig Ardis, CMM
Director of Global Event Management
Zimmer Inc.

Lynn Averill
Second Vice President, Travel & Conferences
National Life Group

Kim Boriin, CMP
Senior Events Marketing Specialist
Guardian Investor Services

Terri Breining, CMP, CMM
President & CEO
Concepts Worldwide

Jeff Calmus, CMP
AVP, Conference &Event Planning
MetLife

Louann Cashill, CMP, CMM
Meeting Services Manager
Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A.

Patricia Kerr, CMP
Director, Distribution Sales Support
Manulife Financial

Kari Kesler
President & Chief Strategist

KK Strategic Solutions

Susan Lichtenstein
Director of Travel and Global Meeting Solutions
Cisco Systems Inc.

Kathy Lieberman
Manager, Event Management
GlaxoSmithKline

Rosemary Mueller
Senior Meeting Planner
Weyerhaeuser Company

Donna Foppoli-Patrick, CMP, CMM
Manager, Group Meetings, Events, and Travel
Medtronic Inc.

Angie Pfeifer, CMM
Assistant Vice President, Corporate Meetings, Travel and Incentives
Investors Group Financial Services

Marybeth Roberts, CMP
Director of Global Meeting Management
Amgen

Tom Tolvé, CMP
Senior Manager, Meeting Operations
Novo Nordisk

Tracey Wilt
Manager, Global Travel & Meeting Management
Xerox

Alice Woychik
Director of Meeting Solutions
Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation

Dan Young, CMP
Director of Event Planning & Field Recognition
Thrivent Financial

Lee Ann Adams Mikeman
Vice President, Conference Planning & Special Events
Science Applications International Corp.
McLean, Va.

Past

Lee Ann Adams Mikeman began her career as an administrative assistant supporting meetings and conferences at SAIC 25 years ago. About 10 years later she moved to the corporate level to begin consolidating meetings companywide. She now oversees a team of eight that coordinates meetings, conferences, and events. Earlier this year, she was promoted to vice president of conference planning and special events for the company.

Cred

She began the process of rolling out a centralized meetings management program at SAIC back in 1994, long before the term “strategic meetings management” had been coined. Now, with the program firmly established, she and her team are saving between 10 percent and 20 percent of total meeting spend annually.

A-ha Moment

Early in her career, she managed the meetings team that supported NASA under SAIC's contract with the space agency. Yet, despite her successes in that role, she recognized that her department could do more for the company: “I had a strategic vision, and I knew that there was a place for the meetings department to be a centralized organization.” She transferred into the travel organization to begin developing an SMMP enterprise-wide. “We didn't have a name for it at the time,” she recalls. “We were just calling the process ‘centralization’ or ‘consolidation.’”

Success Story

Among her greatest accomplishments are co-chairing the Groups & Meetings Committee of the National Business Travel Association and working on the task force that is developing a Strategic Meetings Management Certification (SMMC) program.

Forward Thinking

She and her team are embarking on an initiative to streamline the payment process for meetings in order to track payments and reconciliations through the meetings technology system. In addition, she hopes to have the company's online booking tool for air ticketing integrated with the meetings technology platform by early next year.

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