From Tactical to Strategic:Transforming the Purpose

of Your ConventionDepartment by CreatingDepartment by Creatinga Center of Excellence

Cindy A. McCormick, CTSMGlobal Convention Marketing Professional

• The opinions expressed in this presentation represent only the presenters' personal views and opinions, and do not represent HCEA's position.

• HCEA wants to ensure that attendees who participate in HCEA meetings feel comfortable speaking freely and asking candid questions during HCEA meeting sessions. Therefore, HCEA requires that any media representative attending an HCEA event obtain the permission of any speaker or attendee before quoting that person in an article.

Cindy A. McCormick, CTSMBiography

• Cindy McCormick is a Global Convention Marketing Professional with over twenty years experience in the pharmaceutical industry. the pharmaceutical industry. She is a strategic leader who is fluent in helping pharmaceutical corporations create value with domestic conventions and international congresses.

Learning Takeaway’s1. Establish a strategic leadership role and align with

marketing & sales to promote the convention department’s expertise within the organization.

2. Balance department staffing resources and skill sets to adequately support strategic alignment with marketing.adequately support strategic alignment with marketing.

3. Manage resources by decreasing or eliminating housing responsibility.

4. Provide detailed post-show information to brand managers and other stakeholders to accurately assess the strategic impact.

State of the Industry

• Consolidation• Increased Time to Market• Less New Products Making it to Market• Blockbusters Coming Off Patent• Blockbusters Coming Off Patent• Generic/Bio-Similar Threat• Increased Compliance• Lay Offs• Outsourcing• “AIG” Effect

2010 LayoffsJanuary

Pfizer, Merck to cut 900 N.J. jobs

Merck, Schering reps face 500+ job cuts

Pfizer cutting 680 Pennsylvania jobs

Hospira revamp claims up to 1,500 jobs

In pharma ripple effect, Lonza cuts jobs

AprilOverhauling U.S. pharma biz, Novartis lays off 250

MayLilly slices 200 sales and marketing jobs in biomedicine

Pfizer to sell NY building, cut up to 1,400 jobsIn pharma ripple effect, Lonza cuts jobs

AstraZeneca adds 8,000 to job-cut toll

Glaxo said to cut up to 4,000 more jobs

MarchPharma reports 26,000 layoffs in 2010

AprilKV Pharma lays off 42% of its workforce

Lilly plots consolidation of Indianapolis quarters

jobs

Takeda plots 1,400 job cuts at U.S. ops

Pfizer manufacturing overhaul claims 8 plants, 6,000 jobs

JuneGSK Cuts 700 sales and marketing jobs

Biovail-Valeant combo to claim up to 870 jobs

Convention Department Consolidations

MERGER/Layoffs

Layoffs

OutsourcedOutsourced

Outsourced

MERGER/Layoffs

Layoffs

Merger/Layoffs?

Is There Any Good News?

Face-to-Face Events are Here to Stay!

• President Barack Obama visited more countries (16) in his first year in office than any other US any other US president before him, thereby showing that face to face remains at least one person’s preferred medium for doing business.

Characteristics of a “Center of Excellence”

• Aligns strategically with company, brand & sales goals, strategies and objectives

• Has acknowledged “experts” that provide continuity & knowledge management

• Routinely develops, documents and utilizes Best Practices

• Is dedicated to continuous improvement• Has visibility throughout the organization

Key Learning 1

Establish a strategic leadership role and align with marketing and sales to promote the convention department’s convention department’s expertise within the organization

Establish a Strategic Leadership Role• Gain working knowledge of marketing and sales

• Develop, document, publish and continually demonstrate best practicespractices

• Keep current on all compliance/regulatory developments; become expert

• Formulate a Mission/Vision Statement for the Department

Example: Become a Compliance Expert

To flawlessly execute Global Congresses and Conventions to maximize the impact and value for our customers and stakeholders.

�������

Example: Mission/Vision Statement

our customers and stakeholders.

Our Vision is to be a strategic partner with Sales and Marketing, providing a competitive edge in the development and execution of Global Congresses and Conventions.

������

Establish a Strategic Leadership Role

• Enforce frequent interactions between conventions department & brand teamsteams

• Utilize a department “scorecard” for sr. management to track overall performance

Example: Dept Scorecard

Establish a Strategic Leadership Role

• Develop consultative mindset & eliminate “order taking” mentality“order taking” mentality

• Develop consultative mindset & eliminate “order giving” mentality

Establish a Strategic Leadership Role

• Maintain a “value” deck; present to senior management

• Staff conventions department with long-term positions to build expert competencies

Align With Marketing

• Gain access to and read all brand marketing plans & strategic summaries

• Gain an understanding & align efforts with • Gain an understanding & align efforts with marketing timelines

• Attend important marketing meetings (be part of the team)

Align With Marketing

• Align convention tactics with product lifecycle if appropriate

• Align each convention’s objectives with product objectives with product objectives

• Get to know everyone on your brand’s marketing team and gain understanding of their role

Example: Aligning Convention Tactics to Brand Objectives

Align With Marketing

• Understand Marketing’s other strategic partners and their roles– Marketing research– Compliance/Regulatory/Legal– Compliance/Regulatory/Legal– Customer Insights– Competitive Intelligence– Medical Affairs– Public Relations– Outside Agencies (advertising, med. Com., etc.)

Align With Sales

• Understand how sales is effected by staffing on a “macro” level

• Communicate with highest level of sales possible to set-expectationspossible to set-expectations

• Gather information on sales force structures and available resources

• Work with sales to optimize all staffing efforts

Example: Yearly Breakdown for Sales Management

• Newsletter• Department Branding• Website

Promote Department’s Expertise Within the Organization

• Website• Plasma Screens• “Open House”• PM “On-Boarding”• Convention Calendar

Example: Convention Calendar

Key Learning 2

Balance department staffing resources and skill sets to adequately support adequately support strategic alignment with marketing

Staffing Resources

• Make sure workload is properly distributed– Perform a “workload analysis”– Analyze Stress Points

• Days out of office traveling• Days out of office traveling• Number of concurrent “major” conventions• Overall number of conventions• Specific “other” stress-points

– i.e. : symposia, launch, product theaters, EACs, etc.

– Readjust as Necessary

Example: WL AnalysisConsiderations

– Total Number of Conventions/Congresses– Total Number of Manager On-Sites– Major Meetings with sq. ft. of >1,500– Season When Major Meetings Occur– Related Therapy Areas

Stress Points (pink highlights)– Total Number of Meetings < 22– Total Number of On-Sites <14– 2 "Major Meetings" in Same Season

How to Interpret Scenarios– Green: No Stress Points– Yellow: Manageable Stress Points (up for consideration)– Red: 3+ Stress Points

Example: WL Analysis

“RED” Scenario (stop!)

>22>14

2 “major” fall conventions

“Yellow Scenario” (proceed with caution)

“Green Scenario” (go!)

Align Skill Sets to Tasks

• Manager Skill Set– Strategic– Presentation Skills– Project Management– Negotiation

• Administrative Skill Set– Logistics– Detail Oriented– Organizational– Administrative– Negotiation

– Relationship Management– Marketing/Sales Knowledge

– Comfort level with sr. leadership

– “Big-picture” oriented– Analytical

– Administrative– Coordination– Basic Accounting/ Budgeting

Key Learning 3

Manage resources by decreasing or eliminating housing responsibilityresponsibility

The Housing Management Dilemma• More time spent on housing = less time spent on strategic management

The Housing Management Dilemma• Managing internal attendee housing and/or registration is extremely time-consumingconsuming– Changes– Budgeting– Sourcing– Communication– Last Minute Issues– On-Site Management

Solutions to Consider

• 100% Outsourced

• Using Internal Meeting Planning

• Adding a Head Count(s)

• Hybrid Model (some outsourcing)

• Formalized/Automated Process

Key Learning 4

Provide detailed post show information to brand managers and other stakeholders to accurately assess accurately assess strategic impact & Accomplishment of goals/objectives

Post-Show Debriefs• Measuring each convention’s success & communication “UP” is key to your department’s longevity & credibility

• Work with strategic partners to develop a program to track and report standard metrics at every convention

• Develop a formal, debrief process that includes analysis of metrics from all activities & gives recommendations for the next year

• Distribute executive summaries for key conventions

• Use surveys to collect feedback

Example: Executive Summary• One page, high level summary

• Include Overview, Objectives, Solutions Objectives, Solutions & Results

• Distribute within 1 week of show end

Post Show Debrief Should Include• Metrics From All Activities & Success Analysis– Include pre-show activities– Include at-booth activities– Include at-booth activities– Include post-show activities (if available)

• Tie back all results to objectives• Give your recommendations for the next year

Goal Type Goal Actual

Completion 80% 78%*

Time 4:00 4:22*

Opt-In 70% 76%

Goal Center Section Visitor CenterTotal Booth Visitors

585

International1

Domestic584

Valuable Section Visitors560/437

Other24

Class Prescribers 198/155

Field Targets131/102

Non-Personal Selling 187/146

Class Influencers

44/34

Daily Section VisitsSection HistoryYear Event

Attendees

Booth Visitor

s

Sections / PSS† % Complet

e

Average time

2006 3,746 559 Brand 1/ 8 92% 5:03

2007 3,950 585 Brand 1 & Brand 2 / 8

78%‡ 4:22‡

All/Complete

198/15544/34

Final Thought ………….

• If you stand up and be counted, from time to time you may get yourself knocked down. But remember this: A man flattened by an opponent can get up again. A man by an opponent can get up again. A man flattened by conformity stays down for good. Thomas J. Watson

Contact Me Anytime!

• E-Mail: cindyamccormick@gmail.com• http://www.linkedin.com/in/cindymccormick• Call Me: (973)886-8602

See you next year in Las Vegas, NVJune 25-28, 2011