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MARGARET BRIODY-KNIPPER
Briody-Knipper began her career with Parke-Davis, a division of Warner-Lambert. During her 12-year tenure, she managed exhibits and meetings ranging from 20 to 3,000 people. She moved through the ranks of the meeting department, ultimately building its strategic meetings management program. Briody-Knipper joined Pharmacia in 2000, where she created the company’s meetings department and developed its overall meetings strategy. In 2003, she joined Novartis, where she has again been instrumental in developing an SMMP, partnering with her procurement organization, improving savings, and leveraging total meeting spend.
EVOLUTION Briody-Knipper directs the outsourced venue-sourcing function, manages a preferred-hotel program, contracts approximately 800 meetings annually, creates departmental processes, and analyzes meeting data and trends. She has spent most of the past two years sharing best practices and expanding the Novartis SMM model to include affiliate organizations.
MENTORS She feels fortunate to have had many mentors and great leaders throughout her career—“people who knew how to motivate me and pushed me out of my comfort zone.” But most of all, she says, “I credit my Dad, whose constant strength, wisdom, and encouragement have proven invaluable to me.”
ADVICE “I have three pieces of advice: Build strong relationships with your peers in the industry, never stop learning, and always trust your instincts.”- Dave Kovaleski
