A panel of experienced hoteliers shared the stage with a trio of pharmaceutical meeting pros for a open discussion of the issues that cause friction in the buyer–seller relationship—especially meal caps and RFPs. 

Tammy Routh, vice president, global sales–U.S., for Marriott International, welcomed attendees on behalf of her company, whch was the Titanium Sponsor of the 2016 Pharma Forum.

Special thanks to the Marriott Convention & Resort Network, Access Destination Services, and Totally Mod Event Furnishings for the comfortable and varied seating.

Augusto Labat, clinical meeting global travel director (left), and Hara Hawthorne, senior manager, global clinical meeting planning  (right), both from Eisai Inc., talk with Christian Jaramillo, Sonesta Coconut Grove.

Michael Dominguez, chief sales officer at MGM Resorts International, helped attendees understand how the economics of the hospitality industry today affects planner-hotelier relationships. Read more. 

CBI’s Amanda Batstone, senior program director for the Pharma Forum (left), was a constant presence at the conference. Here she chats with Nathaniel Stockman, national account executive, Iacono Productions Services; and Heather Schmidt, conventions and events manager with Spectranetics.

Jere Thomas, president of leadership development company Sage Resources, discussed the brain processes at work that help or hinder audience engagement. Read more.

At the Pharma Forum Luminary Showcase, meeting experts probed the question, What keeps you up at night? There was no lack of issues to discuss for (from left) moderator Kimberly Meyer, Meetings Analytics, and panelists Martin N. Jensen, MSc, head of global congress and event management, Lundbeck, and co-president of the International Pharmaceutical Congress Advisory Association; Meredith Smith, executive director, enterprise shared services, Merck & Co.; and Christopher Wall, global manager, meeting services, Johnson & Johnson

Pfizer executives Michael Glatts, senior director, global congresses, and Aynn Furie, senior director, global meetings category lead, shared the conference chair role on the first day of the forum.

Speaker Merrick Rosenberg, CEO of Take Flight Learning, shared his amusing and actionable insights into four basic personality types. Rosenberg makes the case for “chameleon selling,” by which he means understanding what drives different personalities and how those personalities want to be treated.

Marriott International’s flagship property in Times Square, New York City, hosted Pharma Forum 2016. Meeting managers experienced an evening of New York–themed hospitality, complete with fabulous dining stations and dancing skyscrapers and taxicabs.

Enjoying the hospitality of the Marriott-sponsored dinner reception during Pharma Forum 2016 (from left): Rachel Pavel, St. Jude Medical (wearing the loaner headphones through which attendees could hear the musical selections of two differnet DJs); Alison VanderWiel, Renaissance Dallas; and Joy Gentile, Dallas Marriott City Center. 

Two Pharma Forum presenters: Kimberly Meyer, founder, Meetings Analytics, and Karen Vander Ploeg, director, travel, meetings and conventions, at Daiichi Sankyo

The team from Access Destination Services takes a break at the CSR table. Access organized the Pharma Forum’s corporate responsibility project, which involved making animal ornaments to decorate children’s IV poles and IV bags in their hospital rooms.

MeetingsNet staffers at the Pharma Forum included (from left) Joanna Siddiqui, marketing manager; Melissa Fromento, managing director; and Alison Hall, editor.

QuickMobile representatives Sophie Collins and Ryan Ball were on call for any Pharma Forum attendee with a question about the meeting app.

Meeting planner Meghan Palm, CMP (left), and MeetingsNet’s Sue Pelletier compare notes about the show. Palm is a MeetingsNet IdeaXchange columnist.