Corporate Travel Manager

Are you still trying to make sense out of the “Sunshine Act” and what it means to you and your medical meetings program? In this blog, I’ll spotlight five ways that you can successfully incorporate new controls and processes in order to comply with the federal legislation.

Last time, I focused on knowing the details of the Sunshine Act. Now, we’ll discuss:

Tip 2: Finding out how much of your meeting spend is related to healthcare providers (HCPs).

Here’s what I recommend:

• Survey meeting planners and your Sales and Marketing teams;
• Ask Finance or Accounting how much you spend in honoraria to HCPs;
• Don’t forget to ask any third parties you use, such as independent meeting planners or travel management companies, how much is spent on HCPs on your behalf;
• Review all of the data regularly and consistently.

Also, it’s important that you assign individuals to not just collect all spend data, but to review the data for compliance tracking purposes.

We’ve created a quick tip sheet, titled “Five Ways to Comply with The Sunshine Act for Medical Meetings,” for your reference and can easily be shared with others. 

Susan Dupart, Senior Director, Global Travel, Meetings, Corporate Card & Mobility for McAfee, and I, did a SMMP Case Study for the 100 or so members of the Bay Area Business Travel Association (BABTA) the other night in downtown San Francisco. 

I provided an industry and SMMP update and high level overview, and Susan generously provided her “lessons learned” on how she managed to sell establishing and funding of her company’s global SMMP, which is about to launch this month.  The audience of buyers and suppliers were all engaged in the presentation and discussion afterwards, and throughout the presentation there were a lot of nodding heads. 

The bottom line is that more and more companies realize they really do need some program and process that can provide key information and data around their meetings and events spend.  With supplier costs rapidly rising, a company can quickly fall behind the eight ball in terms of Op Ex versus their competitors who may have an established SMMP in place -- generating cost savings, risk mitigation and spend transparency at an enterprise level. 

Many thanks to BABTA President, Gary Murakami of MGM Resorts and Programs VP Mark Ziegler of NetApp for inviting Susan and me to do our SMMP Case Study.  Also, sincere thanks to Peter Gamez, VP of Global Sales for Commune Hotels & Resorts for the fantastic venue, the Hotel Kabuki in San Francisco.

I just read a great article in BTN about two friends of mine and their opinions on the feasibility and applicability of Travel 2.0 -- online airfare booking. 

Bruce Finch who is an industry veteran and very knowledgeable travel manager, wondered if Travel 2.0 would benefit his company, Autodesk.  He went to Topaz to validate whether having a managed travel program is more cost effective than just having travelers book the lowest options online.  Topaz validate that his managed travel program derived better financial benefits as well as safety/security.  Scott Gillespie who is an industry procurement and travel guru still advocates that Travel 2.0 does work but did concede that it isn’t for every company.

The bottom line is this, do your own research and check if the current trends are harmonious with your company’s programs and processes.  One size doesn’t fit all!

If you allow business and meetings travelers to book online, versus through a designated agency, which do you find saves you the most? Which better supports your overall management goals? I'd love to hear from you on this!

Just finished reading all about market conditions in an article in HotelMarketing.com.

In light of this article and all the recent surveys, reports and studies conducted by GBTA, American Express, Carlson Wagonlit and others, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that, if you’re managing travel and meetings spend for your company, you are going to have a very rocky road ahead.  Even the larger multinational corporations won’t be able to use their volume as much of a weapon during upcoming and on-going supplier negotiations.

In fact, that very volume may make them less attractive to suppliers who are trying hard to maximize their revenue yields, whether that be on a hotel room or airline seat.  What we have here people is buyers and suppliers on a collision course with opposing goals -- buyers trying to save money and suppliers trying to maximize the demand for their products with higher profitability.

Add to all of the above, the burgeoning cost of oil and its impact on goods and services costs and you get the picture; this will not be the year for corporations and consumers to save any money.  So the strategy then switches to: How can we minimize rising costs ...  versus how am I going to beat my savings targets and goals from last year’s performance?

So here’s some tips for buyers of all different sized companies:

1 - Analyze your spend and try to use a limited amount of preferred suppliers to deliver incremental share and revenue to weather the current storm.  The suppliers are still seeking incremental market share and spend so you can’t be all things to all suppliers, but being more of a strategic and supportive partner puts you in a better position to get any kind of cost break.

2 - Now is the time to maximize that magical and difficult to quantify “supplier relationship.”  Your managers and senior execs may not believe in something that is challenging at best to quantify, but believe me, we all know the “relationship” factor makes a huge difference in a challenging marketplace where demand far exceeds supply and costs are going through the roof.

3 - Analyze and make recommendations on where to scale back for your company. Become an internal hero and develop a strategy for your management to use to mitigate costs. This would include, limiting the number of attendees, trips, meetings, hosting them closer to headquarters or offices, picking venues and destinations with competitive negotiations still in play, etc.

Everyone will need to be smarter and more strategic versus reactionary to weather these rough times. Be smart and pro-active and you will be doing the best that you can despite the perfect storm of supply – demand cycle that we’re currently dealing with for the immediate foreseeable future.

Check out the latest buying trends here as you're negotiating with your suppliers!

If you happen to be in Silicon Valley (the Bay Area of Northern California) next week, on Valentine’s Day, February 14^th (my birthday BTW), I’ll will be moderating a panel of business travel experts about Emerging Trends in Business Travel Management. 

The lunch meeting is part of the Silicon Valley Business Travel Association chapter’s monthly meeting calendar and will be held at the Hyatt Regency Santa Clara.  The panel of Silicon Valley experts are Mark Ziegler of NetApp, Ralph Randle of Hitachi Data Systems and Donna Headley of Chevron. 

We will be discussing a variety of new challenges and considerations in managing business travel corporate programs and meetings.  Get more information on the meeting and register here!

Drop by, enjoy a nice lunch and feed your mind with an interesting exchange of perspectives from this panel of experts.

In a way, the Great Recession of 2008 was like a big storm that whipped through the meetings and events industry. It left a lot of changes in its wake – many of them permanent.

Now, a new ACTIVE Network study of eRFP activity from 2008 to 2012 reveals how the recession changed the way organizations source and plan events. ACTIVE Network’s Event Trends: 2008-2012, which looked at eRFP patterns in five key meetings destinations across the U.S. – Chicago, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York and Orlando – found that companies are:

•    Meeting smaller – by paring the amount of people attending events, often to under 50,
•    Meeting shorter – by reducing the length of their events, from multiple-day to same- or one-day meetings,
•    Planning on the fly – by sourcing for meeting services with less lead time in order to accommodate fluctuating event budgets.

Event Trends: 2008-2012 also confirms that meetings recovery is in full swing – after a period of corporate travel cutbacks and reductions.  Average monthly unique eRFPs across the five cities during the first 10 months of 2012 surpassed 2008 levels –by 6%. More significantly, 2012’s average for the five cities stood 46% higher than the recessionary low-mark in 2009.

What’s important about this data is that, like it or not, it reflects the current world of the meetings/events industry.  With current global economic conditions and the rapidly escalating costs for meetings/events, companies and organizations have to make radical changes in order to manage shrinking budgets and reduced resources and headcount.   By understanding these changes and limitations, it will help you to better manage and navigate your way through this new reality.

Find out more about these and other current eRFP trends, and learn what these trends mean for both planners and suppliers by downloading the full Event Trends: 2008-2012 report here.
 

I recently had a great conversation with a new industry friend.  Her name is Susan. She's been a meetings industry professional for several years now, and we were introduced by my dear friend, Debi Scholar, who is a leading SMMP and industry expert.  Susan and I talked about many things, but one of the more passionate conversations we had was around the rapid changes in our industry where meeting planners and professionals are looking for more legitimacy and cooperative partnerships with their stakeholders.  

This got me thinking about how travel managers successfully made that transition. That extends to procurement professionals, too. They moved from a tactical and thankless role into a more strategic role.  How did they accomplish this?

While there are several factors involved, at a high level here’s what I believe meeting professionals need to do in order to get more respect and appreciation for all of the valuable and thankless work they do to make each meeting, conference and event successful and flawlessly executed:

1)     Invest in continued education.  With all of the association scholarships that are available as well as any continued education programs your company may have, it is foolish for you to not seek and get more education accreditation.  You may not think those credentials matter, but talk to any hiring manager or HR person and it could be the one variable that makes you more attractive as a job candidate vs. the other candidates.  Remember, you may leave your company, but if they paid for your continued education and accreditation, you get to take that with you and share your knowledge and benefits with your new employer!

2)    Read, read, read and stay on top of what’s happening not just with things happening in our industry, but OUTSIDE of the industry, your job and employer.  I've blogged about this before: The more you know,  the better your ability to prognosticate what may be lying ahead for you and your company.  Don’t be tactical and reactive, be proactive and strategic as an employee and individual contributor.  If you want to be perceived as a professional, then it’s up to you to demonstrate your knowledge and contribute to future strategies -- for all of your company, not just your department!  I always advise my friends that companies will always seek to reduce their overhead costs by outsourcing whatever is tactical. But they can't outsource strategy.  Bottom line--if you want to retain your job, be more strategic and visible in your work contributions.

3)    Learn new skills and master technology.  I can’t believe how many people have their heads in the sand with regards to improving and mastering new skills and technologies.  Think back to when you first learned PowerPoint, Word and Excel.  If you haven’t mastered those PC tools, you probably won’t get hired in this day and age.  The same thing will apply to all of the new technologies and products that are taking root in day-to-day corporate America and elsewhere around the world.  

Thank you, Susan, for giving me this idea for this blog posting.  Call me anytime -- as I can always use new ideas to blog about!  Happy New Year to all of you and have a successful 2013!

Recently, I had a speaking engagement that was literally in the clouds. 

In a venue about halfway up the Seattle Space Needle, I got to address about 100 Puget Sound Business Travel Association (PSBTA) members and talk about the latest trends and happenings with regards to strategic meetings management (SMM). I have to admit that, while I’ve visited Seattle too many times to count for business and pleasure, in all those times I've never done the tourist thing of actually going into the Space Needle for the panoramic and breathtaking view of the city.

I’ve now crossed that off my bucket list thanks to my friends at PSBTA. 

The audience was totally engaged as to how a SMMP has become the standard in terms of corporate meetings management and risk mitigation.  The latest trend data also illustrates and reinforces how US companies in particular have done a good job in justifying the creation and deployment of a SMMP.

But as my good friend Carolyn Pund of Cisco always says, “SMMP Is not for wimps!”  Indeed it requires project management skills, stakeholder and change management strategies, communication strategy, and so much more.  At the end of the rainbow, though, lies process efficiencies, leveraged spend, consolidated spend views, Duty of Care compliance and, of course, cost savings and cost avoidance. 

If you’ve been procrastinating on justifying and building a SMMP for your company, you need to read the future tea leaves.  Prices and demand are rising, while capacity is flat; oil prices are rising, as well. All of these indicators mean that costs for everything will be rising accordingly.  The time is now to do something proactively and defend the costs of your travel and meetings programs.

Buon giorno Roma! 

It was great to be back in Italy, one of my most favorite places in the world to visit.  Talk about pressure though, I landed in the morning (fresh from IMEX in Vegas!) and my best-made plans of showering and changing from travel clothes to a suit in time for the afternoon opening general session of ACTE's Global Education Conference didn’t exactly work out the way I planned it.  

One thing I’ve learned first-hand with all the travel that I do for a living is that you have to be resourceful and flexible.  Having said that, I still let out an audible groan when the hotel front desk told me my room wouldn’t be ready until 3 pm.  Normally I could deal with that, but I had to be at the Waldorf Rome Cavalieri hotel by 2:45 pm for a stage rehearsal, and then stay for the Opening General Session at 4:30 pm -- where I presented an update and solicitation to attendees to participate in the ground breaking Emotional Engagement ROI (eROI) study that ACTIVE Network is sponsoring in partnership with ACTE.  There was a record 800 attendees of high-level industry buyers and suppliers, and I didn’t want to disappoint.  Thank God there was a hotel lobby washroom that I was able to use (resourceful) and I was able to freshen up using a lot of paper towels and a large sink (flexible) and change to my professional clothes in time to make my rehearsal and work my time slot in the General Session.

It was great to witness and see that SMMP -- as defined by the GBTA and MPI -- has been more widely accepted in Europe as the strategic roadmap for corporate consolidation of meeting and event spend.  Our sales execs and I spoke to many clients and prospects and even suppliers who are dealing with multinational SMMPs, and they had interesting comments and feedback about their own SMMP experiences with their respective companies and clients.  

While that’s great that SMMP has become more mainstream, the mis-information about it has become troublesome.  There are too many examples of managers who tried to create and establish a SMMP and failed or are struggling because they didn’t truly understand that SMMP is not a turnkey business proposition.  You have internal and external stakeholders to educate, train, and communicate. You have to have technology that is there for you in every step of the SMMP development and implementation journey. And it has to be scalable and ready when you are. They didn’t plan for years 2,3,and 4 in their adoption plan. Or they didn’t seek stakeholder alignment. 

Most egregious of all, is that many still don’t have policies developed. Or if they do have them, they're not communicating them to their employees, and they didn’t think about their change management strategies.  I think my good pal Carolyn Pund of Cisco described it best, when we were co-presenting the Cisco SMMP case study in Bangkok, at CTW this year. She said succinctly: “SMMP is not for wimps!”

So the best advice I can give you is this: If any supplier(s) tell you that SMMP isn’t complicated or can be done as a turnkey solution, RUN for the hills, as clearly they don’t know what they are talking about and have never truly deployed a successful SMMP, especially globally where you have to customize for different geographies.  Don’t be afraid to ask your suppliers for their experience and client references. And by all means, call the references they provide!  By making the time to do that, you will save yourself a lot of pain and aggravation down the road when you get to the actual implementation phase of your SMMP.  

Until the next time – Ciao!
 

I’m really looking forward to seeing old friends and associates this week in Bangkok, Thailand, where I’ll be doing several public speaking sessions at the 2012 CTW Asia convention.  In case you are in the area, here’s a breakdown of the different sessions I’ll be involved in:

I’m moderating a panel of experts:  
1. CTW Session 5, Thu, Oct 4 14.00-15.00 "Brush Up Your Skills If You Mean Business:"
Do you know your KPIs from your ROIs? What about IQ, EQ and AQ? Will knowing how to read company annual reports help you manage your travel program better? If you want to understand the business world a bit better, how the CEO thinks, and what drives corporations in good times and bad, don't miss this session, featuring:

• Welf Ebeling, Regional Director, GBTA Asia, Thailand
• Victor Tay, COO, Singapore Business Federation, Singapore

I’m a panelist on the last closing session:
2. Thu, Oct 4, 16.00-17.00 Christoper Juneau, Concur's Senior Director Marketing, Australia, Asia-Pacific, will be the facilitator. For the conference wrap-up, I'm suggesting each panelist share the key take-aways from the sessions they participated in and answer any questions from the floor. The other panelists are:

• Lisa Akeroyd, Carlson Wagonlit Travel's Vice President Programme Management, Asia Pacific, Singapore, who is on the hotel and TMC sessions.
• Siobhan Foley, Asia Pacific Regional Director of Travel & Events and Global Destination Services Operations Lead, Accenture, Australia, who is on the airlines session.
• Paul Tilstone, Managing Director, GBTA Europe, the UK, who is on the airlines and hotels sessions.

Christopher, who is facilitating the LCC session, will contribute on that.

And most importantly, I’m moderating a global case study on Cisco’s SMMP – program overview, lessons learned and Q & A:
3. Oct 3, 09:00-10:30, CTW Session 1B - Lotus Suite 7, Level 22, BCC, "Strategic Meetings Management Programme (SMMP): A Global Case Study On Cisco Systems!"  Learn how Cisco Systems successfully launched its global SMMP. Carolyn Pund, Senior Manager, Global Strategic Meetings Management, Cisco Systems Inc., will share the goals and objectives for implementing and driving adoption for the organization’s offices globally, and the lessons learned. Her experiences and insight will be valuable for buyers and suppliers.

Check out the agenda here! This conference runs simultaneously with the IT&CMA convention; check out that agenda here!  Both conferences combined make up the largest APAC gathering of Travel Management, Meetings Management and Incentive, Association and Convention professionals.  

So as they say in Thailand:  “Sawadee-ka!”  I’ll be blogging and posting photos next week so watch this space.  After Bangkok, it’s Viva Las Vegas for IMEX! The road in October is going to be busy for yours truly.  Thanks for sticking with me!

After the shocking acts of violence against the U.S. across the Middle East, I'm not surprised by a recent study of 500 US-based international business travelers by EA USA. The study found that 31% of travelers are concerned for their personal safety. Meanwhile, 27% are also anxious about potential terrorism or radicalism events.

There's no better time then to tune into the latest ACTIVE Network|StarCite webinar: Meetings Management and Corporate Payment Solutions: Successful Methods for Mitigating Risk. The webinar -- a joint production with American Express -- will take place Thursday, September 20, 2012 at 12:00 PM (EDT), and it will feature hosts:

• Ben Thirlwall, VP Product Management, American Express

• Linda McNairy, VP Strategic Partner Management, Active Network|StarCite

• Mitlon Rivera, VP American Express Meetings & Events

• Will Anderson, Deputy Director, North American Employee Transportation Services Sanofi Pasteur

If you're responsible for the safety of your meetings attendees, I urge you to join in to hear how companies can use meetings management technology and corporatepayment solutions to alleviate risks. I'm looking forward to the webinar, too, because it will also focus on other types of meetings risk, such as financial.

Hope you can join us! Click here to register!

You might also want to read the new whitepaper by ACTIVE Network|StarCite-American Express: Successful Methods for Mitigating Risk.

Over the last couple of years, I've had the opportunity to evangelize about risk mitigation -- managing every kind of risk that comes with meetings, including security concerns that come with sending out attendees on the road (often to unsafe destinations around the globe).

I've been heartened to watch growth in interest in this topic -- much of it traced to some pretty awful events that have shook the world over the last few years, for example, Japan's devastating earthquake and tsunami in 2011.

Now, AirPlus International has come out with a new survey that confirms corporate interest in risk mitigation. In a BTN  story just out, 61% of 133 corporate travel buyers in North America and Europe polled said their organizations issue pre-trip advisories for high-risk areas -- up from 41% in 2011's survey.  Plus, the number of companies with no safety and security components included in corporate travel policies has dropped.

Among other findings:

- 46% (versus 33% in 2011) required pre-trip approval for high-risk areas
- 46% (versus 40% last year) had in place standard procedures for travel managers in case of travel disruption
- 25% conducted travel safety training, up from 20% in 2011

Meanwhile, a considerable number, 45% had in place standard procedures for travelers in case of travel disruption. And 49% of travel managers performed pre-travel conditions assessments. When emergencies do occur, 68% use traveler-tracking systems, the most popular procedure among those listed in the survey.

While AirPlus' survey focused on risk to traveling attendees, there are many other types of meetings risk to be managed. I'm talking about everything from the financial risk that comes with putting on an out-of-policy event, to the risks involved in permitting untrained employees to sign event contracts with suppliers, and more.

ACTIVE Network has come out with a new whitepaper on ways to mitigate meetings risk! It's a great read. Click here to get access. And let us know what you think!

Are you tightening control over business travel and meetings spend more so than a year ago?

I ask because, since my last post about a possible return to a buyer's market, more information is emerging that indicates companies are slowing down on current and future travel plans. An August 1 story in The Beat reported that June mega agency transactions through the Airlines Reporting Corp. dropped 6.5%, the biggest decline in nearly three years. And hotel reservations booked in the month of June through GDSs fell 10.6% globally, as noted by Pegasus Solutions.

Could it be a vote of non-confidence in the economy, especially considering what's happening in Europe? "...The world is not the same," said Amadeus president and CEO Luis Maroto, in The Beat story. "Economies are evolving differently, and business travel is very much linked to confidence and the economy. ..."  Maroto expects a weak second quarter and an even weaker third quarter -- in terms of travel demand.

If demand truly is slowing down, this is precisely the right time for corporations to ensure that every dollar that they do spend on business travel and meetings is in line with established policy.  It may be time to take a fresh, new look at compliance rates -- in terms of usage of preferred suppliers.  Perhaps the negotiation pendulum has swung back to the side of buyers instead of suppliers?

As far as meetings management goes, what kind of technology are you using to make it easier and more efficient for your planners to do their jobs? As we all know, efficiency saves money and cuts down on resources -- enabling you to actually keep meeting at current levels or even step up your activity.   

Change is the only constant in life -- including the business travel and meetings industry. But if you have the right tools, change management and policies in place, you can weather any storm.

What's your plan for meeting spend for the rest of the year and beyond – and what are your short- and long-term strategies for getting the most out of every dollar?  If you haven’t thought about this or made it a priority, perhaps now is a good time!

New figures out by American Express have me wondering if we're slowly turning back to a buyer's market -- even in the face of higher air and hotel prices.  If so, it may be time to start planning tougher negotiating strategies as part of your company's strategic meetings management program (SMMP).

What's got me thinking this? An article in The Beat reports that Amex cardmembers, while continuing to spend during the second quarter, pulled their cards from their wallets at a slower pace than in previous quarters. At the same time, global corporate travel sales fell 4% in 2012 second quarter from a year earlier. That followed a 2% decline in the first quarter -- which was the first quarterly reduction since late 2009. This is big news for the largest travel management company out there.  

In my meetings with customers and prospects, I continue to see cautious spending and stepped-up application of SMMPs. No surprise there -- as the nasty recession we've lived through has taught us all that uncontrolled spending wins you no allies with senior executives ... or, if you're a government agency like the GSA, the public, for that matter.

But this new data from Amex shows that a slower rate of spend is building over time.  That means more leverage for buyers, as suppliers step up their efforts to win over new business. More evidence: Carlson Wagonlit Travel's new pricing forecast for 2013. It calls for slightly higher prices next year in most regions of the world (due to demand outpacing supply). But, according to an article in BTN, those increases will pale in comparison to price hikes in 2012 -- with Asia/Pacific economies normalizing and European uncertainty a big issue.

It’s so easy in our daily lives and work to ignore or miss signs of a reversal in the economy or in business in general, but a smart and savvy travel and meetings manager knows what indicators to look for in order to gauge their sourcing strategies and leverage a marketplace advantage.  

Are you following business intelligence from sources like Amex, CWT and other travel industry indicators? If you’re not, then you may be missing your opportunity to negotiate to your company’s advantage. Remember, a well-informed buyer is an effective one that produces results.   Watch for the signs!

Need help negotiating and sourcing for meetings? Read this free ACTIVEBusiness whitepaper!

I’m 38,000 feet in the air and on my last flight segment from GBTA 2012 to home in Silicon Valley. What a super busy, exciting, challenging and great week for our industry.  

This year, GBTA had the largest numbers to ever attend any of their conventions. The conference general session speakers were definitely diversified from Seth Meyers of "Saturday Night Live" to former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton. The trade show floor this year was massive, and for once, I didn’t even get to see almost any of it, other than from the ACTIVE Network|StarCite booth.  There was new marketing materials and endless demos of our new Meeting Locator product that customers and prospects were able to view.  Then there’s the constant opportunity to network (which can be overwhelming for anyone who has never attended GBTA before).  

For me, my first day was Sunday when I and 225 other industry professionals gathered together to take the first Global Travel Professional (GTP) exam.  I managed to finish the test which was comprised of 125 questions in about 43 minutes, so now comes the agony of waiting until September for the results.  

On Monday, the 23rd, my good friend, Susan Dupart, Sr. Director Global Travel, Meetings, Corporate Card and Mobility at McAfee, and I, did a case study approach to SMM Fundamentals.  Susan has recently gone through a whole business case development and approval to launch the first SMMP at McAfee.  We used her experience and knowledge of going through that process and related that to the SMMP roadmap that has become the industry standard.  There was a full audience of travel buyers and
suppliers who asked excellent questions and got a lot from the case study.  

Then on Tuesday, ACTIVE Network, Business Solutions VP of Strategy Anthony Miller presented in a panel session on "Global Meetings Management – The Next Frontier." He was joined by an impressive group of industry experts -- led by Cindy D'Aoust, new COO of MPI International. Anthony held the audience's attention talking about the hot topic in events these days: persistent communities and audience engagement.

As a former President and CEO of GBTA, it made me proud to see the growth and success of the association.  But it also makes me incredibly sad to see the dissension and conflicts that are also taking place.  As a volunteer association, I wish, hope and pray that people would all work together for the common good and advancement of our industry.  It’s so easy to succumb to personal agendas and motivation.  The true success of any organization is the strength of the numbers, in this case the membership.  With membership and leadership comes great responsibility; so as everyone goes home and starts planning for next year’s GBTA, my advice is to think of ways that you can contribute to positively impact GBTA and our industry.  

United we stand; divided we fall: Truer words were never spoken.

What were your impressions of GBTA? Please share your thoughts!

Since about 87%  of the world has mobile technology, it's only natural that we're going to see increased smartphone and tablet usage in the corporate travel and meetings universe.

A new AirPlus International survey of nearly 100 corporate travel buyers confirms that today's business and meetings travelers are in love with their smartphones and are using them to make their lives easier while on the road. For example:

- Over 83% receive travel alerts, for example, about flight delays;

- 81% check weather conditions, directions or restaurants at their destination;

- 67% use their phones as boarding passes.

I myself use a lot of travel apps on my iPhone and they’ve helped me to check in for flights, check on delays, gate information, locations, bus schedules, taxi reservations and even restaurant reservations. Judging from the travelers around me on their iPads, tablets and smart phones, I’m clearly not in the minority when it comes to using mobile apps.  But the AirPlus survey also pointed out relatively low usage of smartphones to perform travel functions that would normally fall under the umbrella of corporate travel policy and would usually require apps that are company-approved or even provided by the company as a tie-in to other travel tools, according to an article in the AirPlus Community blog. Requiring or strongly suggesting usage of corporate-approved apps would bolster companies' travel management programs and SMMPs! Take a look at some of these findings:

- Only a little more than a third polled capture data on their phones for reimbursement purposes;

- Less than half (45.6%) use their phones to access apps or websites to change existing reservations;

- Just under 28% communicate with their travel manager or other travelers with their smartphones.

The study also revealed that oversight of these tools remains an area of opportunity for corporate travel and meetings managers:

- Only about 27% contribute to strategic plans for using mobile tools or apps;

- Just one in five source, negotiate and purchase mobile travel tools;

- 52% said travel management has no responsibility for mobile travel apps and tools.

Thank you, AirPlus, for this very valuable study. It's so interesting to see how cutting edge technology is being adapted by the corporate travel and meetings industry ... and it's eye-opening, as well, to see what's not being applied.

My take-away? If corporate travel and meeting managers have company-approved apps for travel and meetings, they need to apply some change management strategies, and perhaps twist an arm or two of a senior executive, to get more of their travelers/attendees to use them. And managers themselves need to start paying attention to mobile tech and trends and incorporating them into their travel and meeting management programs.

Read more about mobile meetings technology!

Wow, I can't believe GBTA is coming up again ... official kick-off day this SUNDAY at the Boston Convention & Exhibit Center! I can't wait to see all my old (and new) friends and educate myself on what's happening and what's ahead in our industry!

As usual, I'll be busy taking part in educational sessions and receptions ... and, if you're looking for me, you can be sure to find me at the ACTIVE Network|StarCite booth: #2331. We're open for business Monday and Tuesday from 2:45 to 6:15 pm, and then again on Wednesday, from 9:30 am to noon. So, please stop by and say hello.

Have you picked your sessions yet? Here's a few SMM-related that promise to be stimulating:

-- SMM 101: Building the Framework, Monday, July 23 -- 9am-10am, Room 157C
Yours truly and Susan Dupart, Sr. Director Global Travel, Meetings, Corporate Card and Mobility with McAfee will present in this session. We'll give you some guidance on laying the right foundation for your SMM program. During this session, Susan and I will also point out ways to identify opportunities and risks, build a business case and implement an SMMP step-by-step through case study examples from McAfee.

-- Global Meetings Management – The Next Frontier, Tuesday, July 24 -- 10:30am - 11:40am, Room 159
Don't miss ACTIVE Network, Business Solutions VP of Strategy Anthony Miller in this panel session to be led by Cindy D'Aoust, new COO of MPI International. Anthony will talk about the hot topic in events these days: persistent communities and audience engagement. Joining Anthony will be Amanda Cecile, Assistant Professor of Tourism, Conventions and Event Management Department at IU School of Physical Education & Tourism Management; Mike Malinchok, President of S2K Consulting, LLC; and Roger Rickard, Founder of Voices in Advocacy®.

We're also co-sponsoring a very special night with our business partner Carlson Wagonlit Travel on Tuesday, the 24th, from 7:30-9:30 ... a night of of cocktails and music by the Boston Pops Swing Orchestra at Boston Symphony Hall. Maybe I'll bump into you there!

See you in Bean Town!

When it comes to meeting management software, it's important to think of how it affects the end user: the often overworked and pressed-for-time meeting planner.  The beauty of Strategic Meetings Management (SMM) technology is not only that it helps companies control costs, leverage spend with suppliers and mitigate risk (all those very high-level strategic goals), but its automation of meeting planning, sourcing, payment and reconciliation streamlines hours of labor for meeting planners.

What's so great about that? Well, for one, in the end, process automation saves companies money -- 3% to 6.5% of annual meeting spend, according to ACTIVE Network|StarCite customer benchmarking statistics.

Paul Wakelin, Strategic Sourcing Specialist, Services Bureau Project Manager, at IBM UK, and recently named a MeetingsNet 2012 Changemaker, immediately comes to mind. In a recent Business Travel Magazine profile, Paul commented on the convenience of having ACTIVE Network|StarCite tech collate, compare and contrast thousands of responses from hotels.  

It seems to me that in times like these, when meeting managers and planners are being asked to do more with less resources, it makes sense to deploy more technology. And, more than ever before, meeting planners, travel managers and meeting owners need an easy-to-use intelligent tool that helps eliminate the guesswork from planning meetings and events -- and also to document the sourcing process for internal audits and Sarbanes-Oxley purposes.

Today, we’re introducing Meeting Locator to address the pain points. Part of the ACTIVE Network|StarCite SMM solution, Meeting Locator uses a patent-pending algorithm that searches an up-to-the-minute, aggregated travel database from our partner, Carson Wagonlit Travel, combined with our sophisticated meeting spend platform. Here are just a few of the manual processes that Meeting Locator addresses:

1. Researches and evaluates meeting locations based on various criteria, including traveler locations, current airfare and hotel sleeping room rates, telepresence options and carbon emissions.  
2. Eliminates the tedious process of researching, gathering, and sifting through loads of disparate travel data.
3. Expedites the approvals process via integration into the approvals workflow.

Another benefit of SMM technology like Meeting Locator is that it provides easy access to more accurate information about the true cost of your future events.  And that enables meeting managers to justify their spend ... a tremendous benefit in these times when every dime is under the microscope.

What are your meeting planning pain points, and what strategies are you taking to streamline processes? Please share your best practices!

I've been extremely busy over the past several weeks -- traveling and presenting at industry events and shows. So, I thought I'd update you on my life on the road:

- San Antonio, TX -- I was at the Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) Education Conference here June 10-13, where I gave a meetings industry update and a high-level overview of SMM. Liz Lathan of Dell presented on her recent SMMP launch. You can get more detail on this session in Eric Olson's Active Network blog (why reinvent the wheel?), but, to sum up the case study, let's just say that Dell, after four previous attempts to launch SMMP across its enterprise, finally persevered -- succeeding on the fifth attempt. I commend Liz and her team for their passionate belief and resolute attempts to do what they felt was right for Dell. No doubt, that passion and belief will drive success at
Dell.  One more thing: I was really honored when Liz said that she considered me to be the “Father of SMMP,” and thank God she didn’t say Grandfather!

- San Jose, CA -- On the 14th, I spoke at the Silicon Valley Business Travel Association (SVBTA) here. It sure was great to be in front of the hometown crowd. It's ironic; I speak all over the world -- but rarely in my hometown. I’m proud to be a Silicon Valley-er, and proud to represent the heartland of technology wherever I go. So this engagement was especially meaningful for me.  I gave an update on the industry including trends and stats, then brought in how procurement is increasingly getting involved in policy creation, compliance tracking and cost-savings reporting for more companies, especially now in Europe.  The reception to the presentation was very satisfying on many levels, and I made a mental note to not let years go by without speaking locally again.  This is indeed a tougher crowd of very knowledgeable and seasoned industry veterans. But, hey, isn't that what keeps you on your game?  Thanks to SVBTA President, Rick Wakida of Atmel, and Program Director Barbara Arena of Oracle,
for inviting me.
 
- Baltimore, MD -- Back to the East Coast for the Americas Meetings & Events Exhibition, which ran from the 19th to the 21st. I took part in a joint session by ACTE, Randall Insights and Active Network -- where we unveiled our eROI study. Lynn Randall did a great job of hosting the session, and we took a “gamification” approach by having three audience members compete for valuable prizes (my SMMP book and a Starbucks gift card) by linking key emotions to certain movies.  ACTE Executive Director Ron DiLeo then spoke about why we’re doing this important study and how everyone can participate.  I spoke about this study as the “Holy Grail” and missing piece of quantification, in terms of event effectiveness evaluation.  The audience was very receptive and we asked for volunteers for the study. We got at least a dozen inquiries from various associations, corporations and independent planners to use their upcoming meetings and events and measure their attendees’ emotional engagement.  I'll have more to say on this study -- but I'm gratified over the interest and support this project is getting.  It’s also great to see how Active Network is once again taking a thought leadership role in something that will benefit the whole industry and marketplace!