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Pharma Co. finds policy cure: managing meetings at: Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals.

Article Excerpt
After years of outsourcing, mega pharmaceutical supplier Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc., based in Ridgefield, Conn., last year implemented a new corporate meetings policy that mandated the use of a small, centralized meetings department and implemented a comprehensive meetings technology system to track data and increase efficiencies. The initiative already has produced significant cost savings, said the company's travel and meetings manager, and has been driven by the internal procurement department--which also has taken over management of the transient travel program.

Susan Owens, manager of travel and meeting services for Boehringer, said the department follows a 25-25-25 rule--events that require 25 or more room nights, $25,000 in contracted spend or have at least 25 attendees-to determine which meetings must be sourced through the department. During the past year, the department has focused on tracking expenditures and volume.

Owens estimated "99 percent" of the company's meetings that...

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