In the “Industry Insights” section of the NBTA Business Travel Quarterly Q4 edition, a section in which an industry question is asked of a handful of NBTA Members, members were asked to reflect on their greatest accomplishments of 2008. The response this quarter was overwhelming, attesting to the fact that corporate travel professionals met the challenges of this year head on and are proud of their hard work to further their careers and the business travel industry.

In this issue of Connecting News, NBTA features additional Industry Insights materials that did not fit into the magazine due to space or time constraints. For additional insights from your peers, see the Q4 Business Travel Quarterly, scheduled to mail December 5.

Hollie Amano

Corporate Finance Administrator

Central Pacific Bank

As we continue to face this challenging economic climate, companies are being fiscally conservative and are looking at ways to tighten budgets in all areas—including business travel. In order to effectively control travel and entertainment expenses throughout our company in this challenging economic climate, I worked on streamlining our company’s travel policy this year.

To better control travel-related costs throughout the company and to ensure the consistent application of our travel policies and procedures, a group of 17 employees was also designated as Travel Coordinators in our updated policy. The Travel Coordinators are the only authorized employees to book travel for our more than 800 employees. This allows me to better monitor travel policy adherence and budget. All travel-related costs, such as airfare and hotel, must be booked by a Travel Coordinator to ensure the consistent application of our travel policies and procedures.

Margaret Chauvel

Project Specialist, Corporate Services
The Standard

My greatest professional accomplishment in 2008 has been to bring a fully managed travel program to The Standard. In 2007, with the approval of my manager, I invited the director of purchasing to look at travel as a spend category. The idea of centralizing travel in a 100+ year-old company that managed spend at a department level was a challenge. The key to success was to determine the culture and requirements through focus group sessions and then to build a program that would meet those customer-service-driven needs while also focusing on cost containment.

Working as a team and with senior management sponsorship, my manager, the director of purchasing and I worked through all the nitty gritty details--including rewriting the travel policy and going out for RFP both for a travel agency and for an online booking tool. We launch the program in the first quarter of 2009.

Kristen Dierickx, CMP

National Director, Meetings Management Americas
BCD

I was honored to have been appointed to the NBTA Groups & Meetings Committee in January of 2008, and am serving on the Convention subcommittee. This opportunity is very rewarding, as the collaboration and guidance of this committee offers is truly setting the standards for Strategic Meetings Management Programs (SMMP) around the globe. Serving as the co-chair of the Convention subcommittee, our team is extremely energized regarding the continued NBTA membership interest and growth around SMMP discipline.

On a personal note, a truly great joy and accomplishment is being a mother of two young sons (Peyton, 6 and  Gibson, 3). As a working mom, it’s a balancing act between being a wife, a mother, a leader, a road warrior, and a contributor. The age old question is…can I do it all? Most days, the answer is YES, with a lot of strategy, planning, and team work.

Jack Lever, CCTE

Global Travel Manager

Booz Allen Hamilton

We began a rapid and widespread Registered Traveler roll-out, registering travelers on-site at company locations across the United States. More than 1,000 of our travelers are now participating, saving themselves time and productivity at many U.S. airports. In the coming year, we plan to do the same with the new international registered traveler program, Global Entry. Our international travelers will benefit greatly from the ease of breezing through customs when coming home.


Bob McGurk
Vice President
Turner Broadcasting System

Every four years, the Presidential election cycle creates a unique set of travel challenges, and I’m proud to have made it through successfully one more time. We have to move hundreds of people all over the country for CNN election coverage. We start with the candidates’ appearances, then on to the primary debates, then the primaries themselves, more debates, and more primaries; then we move on to cover two back-to-back political conventions, the Presidential and Vice Presidential debates, and finally election night. It’s a very fluid and dynamic situation that we have to manage on top of our normal day-to-day business, with no addition staffing. On election night, we had crews working in Washington, New York, Chicago, and Phoenix. If they don’t get where they need to go, the coverage falls apart.

We did it by expanding our hours of operation to 80 hours a week. We staggered staffing in order to stay open till midnight Eastern Time 7 days a week. When I sat back and watched CNN on election night, I was proud of the important role the travel team played in making that unique coverage possible.

Cathy Picone
Travel Manager

Market America
 

I was able to highlight the importance of professional networking this year. Through industry connections and professional education, I was able to contain costs and prove to the company what we saved. My company and I are looking forward to more beneficial networking opportunities in the coming year through NBTA and other industry groups.