Page 5 - MIL Connection Spring 2018

conferences

Association of Government Accountants (AGA)

2018 Financial Systems Summit

MIL’s John Roland, VP for the Financial Services Sector, The AGA pre-event program began with opening remarks by
represented MIL at the 2018 Financial Systems Summit (FSS) the guest speakers, and was followed by a roundtable discussion
and pre-event sponsored by the Association of Government that enabled representatives from each organization to ask a
Accountants (AGA). The pre-event roundtable took place on question of the guests. The next day, MIL participants attended
January 16th at the Marriott Marquis in Washington DC. This the conference sessions where they met with federal financial
year’s event featured special guests Jose Arrieta and Anil John. managers and private-sector executives to discuss issues affecting
Jose Arrieta is Deputy Assistant Secretary for Acquisition and the federal government’s financial management systems.
Senior Procurement Executive for the U.S. Department of Health
& Human Services, and Anil John is a Program Manager of the
Identity Management and Data Privacy Research, Development
and Transition Program, Cyber Security Division, Homeland
Security Advanced Research Projects Agency (HSARPA), DHS
Science and Technology Directorate.

employee stories

Planning MIL’s Annual Awards

Ceremony & Celebration in Charleston

The Charleston Social Committee’s hard work planning the 2017
Awards Ceremony was a huge success! To give you an idea of
what it takes to stage an event of this size and caliber, here’s a
peek behind the curtain…
First, you need to secure a venue. In early February, the Social
Committee began researching venues. The challenge was to find
a venue in a central Charleston location that could seat over 200
people indoors. Charleston’s climate is relatively warm in the Then, determine an event date. We wanted the event to feel
winter with average temperatures in January ranging from 38 separated from the holidays, so we chose Jan 27th as our date
to 48 degrees. An average of 208 sunny days per year allows for because it was far enough away from New Years’ and Presidents
the option to attend outdoor events all year long, which is one Day weekend, and was a week prior to Super Bowl Weekend. This
of the charms and attractions of the city, and makes it tempting way, MIL employees would be rested from any prior traveling and
to host outdoor events. We’ve hosted the event in outdoor areas would not have the Super Bowl the following day to create any
with great success in the past, but we thought it wise to secure distraction. Our goal was to have as many employees attend as
an indoor event space where we wouldn’t be susceptible to the possible.
elements. We toured multiple sites and ended up choosing And, find vendors. At MIL, we strive for the best, day in and
the Grand Magnolia Ballroom in Sterling Hall at the Hyatt day out. Choosing vendors for the event is no exception! That’s
House in Historic Downtown Charleston. The venue is indoors, why we choose to work with Cru Catering. Cru has been voted
has parking, great views of downtown Charleston, and could Charleston’s # 1 caterer for the past 15 years. The food is truly
comfortably accommodate our guests. Hosting the event at the amazing; they offered us so many options, worked with us to tailor
hotel offered the chance for guests to stay the night and the venue the menu, and were flexible as we worked to refine our number of
has a new rooftop bar, which gave partygoers the opportunity attendees.
to continue the unofficial festivities once the official event Okay, time to dial-in the menu! One of the great things about
concluded. working for MIL is the company’s diverse work culture. That
diversity is also expressed in our favorite cuisines; not everyone

spring 2018 | The MIL Connection | 5