We collaborate with clients to produce successful meetings that achieve organization goals and create a positive attendee experience.
Time is a precious commodity and we intentionally invest it wisely.
We value people and understand the pressure to perform well and achieve results.
We keep it simple. We serve you, clarify your goals, and produce a successful event. We provide meeting planning expertise as your contracted partner or as an extension of your team.
How do we achieve results?
Many firms develop and implement events. We do that, too. So what makes us different?
We know from experience that attitude plus aptitude equals success. We bring an attitude of personal responsibility and genuine concern to each engagement. We understand the magnitude of your trust.
We meet your needs – right where you are. We are flexible and not “one size fits all”. We provide you the space to explore the landscape for best options, discuss problematic situations to find solutions, and work to implement a plan to move your goals forward.
Whether you seek complete, turnkey solutions for a meeting or support to augment your existing staff (or somewhere in between!), we are nimble enough to make it work. And, we even offer to train and develop your staff through the process along the way if you prefer.
We help create a project timeline and build in accountability milestones all along the way to get things done so you don’t have to worry.
Mary-Margaret (“MM”) Armstrong, a native North Carolinian, has over 20 years combined experience in meeting and event planning, non-profit association management, and strategic planning. She began her meeting planning career in the 90’s where she sourced and executed 100s of meetings for clients including GlaxoSmithKline. In 2001 after the 911 tragedy, she moved into a sales and consulting capacity for a national meeting planners network group securing over a million dollars in revenue. From 2001 – 2005, she served as a volunteer for the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association (HBA) a global non-profit, served as chair of the annual Leadership Conference in 2005 and co-founded a local chapter. She served as co-chair of the annual Leadership Conference in 2005 which drew a record number of attendees and catapulted membership. In 2006 she joined the HBA as staff and went on to become the Vice President of Membership and Education. During her tenure, she helped double the footprint of the organization to serve more than 6000 members in 15 locations (domestic and international) and conduct both large annual events as well as more than 300 local events each year.
In 2013, she launched CertainInsights, a consulting company to provide strategic planning for small businesses. During 2013 she also began instructing for the Duke Continuing Education Adult certification program bringing expertise to aspiring meeting planners, served as a contractor for various high profile meetings and events, and co founded a local professional women’s group where she planned the logistics for their monthly events. In 2015 she officially launched Meeting Advantage to form an organization focused on event planning and production with a strategic and consultative approach.
MM is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and has achieved both the CMP (Certified Meeting Professional) and CAE (Certified Association Executive) designations. She is a proven performer keenly focused on organizational strategy, leadership goals and achieving outcomes.
Her unique background in meeting planning, association management, sales and marketing, strategic planning and client relations make her especially skilled to provide critical, big picture assessment that translates into thorough planning, effective implementation and successful results.
As experienced professionals, we understand the importance of excellence and optimizing resources. Our relationships with proven and trusted vendors serve as a unique pool of talent that we leverage to create solutions depending on the needs of our clients. We manage all vendors to ensure cohesiveness and save our clients time and trouble of dealing with multiple points of contact.
Our resources include caterers, audio visual companies, printing vendors and graphic designers, awards and promotional product suppliers, planners in major cities across the US, photographers, videographers, decor and rental suppliers, and more.
