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Tom Tolvé, Senior Manager of

PAST Tolvé got his start on the hospitality side of the business as a convention services manager before pursuing a career in meeting planning. He came to Novo Nordisk in 2002 from Bristol-Myers Squibb, and three years later began the drive to implement the company’s SMMP.

CRED Tolvé has led Novo Nordisk’s SMMP through various evolutions since its inception and boasts a 15 percent savings on average for meetings booked through the program. Over the past four years, Tolvé and his team have forged strong partnerships with the procurement, compliance, and legal departments to develop policies on everything from registering meetings and using preferred suppliers to tracking data and ensuring compliance with the ever-changing regulatory guidelines for pharma companies.

SUCCESS STORY Last March, he oversaw the planning of Novo Nordisk’s largest program ever—a national sales meeting for 2,800 employees, two-and-a-half years in the making. “When the opening general session started, I welled up a little bit with tears,” says Tolvé. “I got caught up in the emotion of seeing that program come to fruition.”

Another accomplishment has been generating revenue through his department. He has negotiated preferred supplier agreements that stipulate Novo Nordisk will get rebates for using these vendors. Also, when his team uses third-party logistics suppliers, they split hotel commissions with the company.

FORWARD THINKING Tolvé has his sights set on small meetings that come in below the minimum requirements for using his department. “We’re looking into a small-meetings tool to get a tighter capture on that spend,” he says.

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