Day 1: Wednesday, April 26,2023 - It's in our DNA: Getting The Traveler Experience Right

Could the "Less Travel, Better Results" strategy be right for your organization? If so, where do you start, and how do you get to a successful end? Delegates will work through a change management process designed to test the value proposition and accelerate its adoption. Interactive group work and live polling will amplify the insights from your peers.

Scott Gillespie

Industry Advisor
tClara

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The question is how do you get access to NDC content for my corporate travelers?

NDC offers airlines the flexibility to market their fares in new ways, which may include better pricing (without surcharges) and access to additional airline services.

NDC provides a way to bundle service offerings to travelers and corporations in a more modern and personalized manner. It can be complex and confusing when you try to incorporate NDC into your travel program along with GDS and Low-Cost Carrier content.

In this session, we will discuss challenges and identify best practices to help you have the right conversations with airlines, online booking tools, TMCs and GDSs and make the right decisions to make NDC a reality for your program.

Attendees will leave the session with a roadmap of how to incorporate NDC into their travel programs for 2023 and beyond.

Kelly Christner

Head of Global Travel, Fleet, and Meetings
Edgewell Personal Care

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Deborah Mahoney

Head of Sales North America
Amadeus Cytric Solutions

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When it comes to corporate travel, one size does not fit all. Small to midsize companies (SMEs) have very different needs than large enterprises, and as a result, they require a different approach to travel management. This interactive working group will explore some best practices for SME travel programs:

-The Do’s and Don’t’s with working with the TMC.

-What should go in the SME Corporate travel policy Handbook?

-What technologies should SME Invest in?

Karen Bond

Procurement Specialist-Travel & Card
HNTB

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When it comes to corporate travel, your internal stakeholders are key. They're the ones who have to sign off on your travel program, and they're the ones who will be impacted by any changes you make. That's why it's so important to make sure they're on board with your vision for the program. This focused working group will shed light on a important tips for communicating your travel program vision to internal stakeholders:

1. Keep it simple. When you're talking to internal stakeholders, avoid using jargon or technical terms. Instead, focus on explaining the key benefits of your travel program in plain language.

2. Focus on the bottom line. Internal stakeholders are usually most interested in how a travel program will impact their budget. Make sure you highlight the cost savings that your travel program can offer.

3. Be prepared to answer questions. Internal stakeholders will likely have questions about your travel program, so it's important to be prepared to answer them. Be ready to address any concerns they might have and explain how your program will work in detail.

Makiko Barrett

Sr. Director, Global Procurement and Travel
Automation Anywhere

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The rapid pace of technological innovation presents tremendous opportunities for travel managers and managed travel programs as we return to business travel. During the pandemic, digitalization and the use of technology accelerated as travelers were driven online, experiencing contactless and touchless travel. Yet, travel managers cite technology as one of their top pain points, highlighting that there is still work to be done in achieving the right balance. Top industry experts will share their thoughts and insight on the following:

·       Metaverse- How will this immersive technology reshape the traveler experience

·       Human to A.I. VS Human to Human- Are chatbots the future of customer service?

·       Mobil Touchpoints- How to provide critical information to your business travel in real time

·       Online Booking Platforms Do’s and Don’ts

Darlene Fitzsimmons

Travel Manager
Stagwell Global

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Thomas (TJ) Blue

Global Category Leader - Travel & Expenses
IBM

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Kim Hamer

Senior Director, Global Sourcing
Visa

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Katie Loudon

Senior Manager Global Travel & Expense
Airbnb

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Charlie Bacharach

Vice President of Go-to-Market Strategies
Travel Leaders Corporate

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Major shifts in workforce trends. Heightened consumer expectations. Sustainability concerns. An increasingly uncertain economic landscape. 2023 is shaping up to be a year of reckoning for the business community.

Amidst the change, we’re increasingly seeing growth in business travel compared to years prior. Companies know that in-person engagement is critical to closing deals, building strong client relationships, developing trust between colleagues, and effectively networking. Corporate travel is a critical means to help organizations focus on these pressing priorities that are crucial to an organization’s bottom line. 

But that very corporate travel must be more intentional than ever before. Implementing the right controls and staying on budget in the wake of increased traveler expectations can be tricky. 

In this session, Uber for Business’ Sara Spiesman will dive deep into how organizations can leverage technology to stay compliant and on-budget, while meeting employees’ needs and reaching overarching business goals

Sara Spiesman

Global Strategic Lead
Uber for Business

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• The Scenario - the problem we are solving: "Let's SAY/IMAGE your bonus is contingent on adding value to your travel program through one of the topics below:
• To include in the discussion
• Company's "definition" (perception) of what value is in terms of the travel program
• Common pain points
• Best practices and applicable results
•  (Encouraged to share creative ideas that may not have been done, (but are a test & learn) to be shared.

Topics: 

• Data - 
• What data is important to showcase the value you bring to the travel program? 
• Are there data points that are more important to the Executive team? 
• Why are these data points important? 
• How do you use this data in communicating the value of the travel program? 
• Employees
• Road Warriors - do you engage them in a different way than other travelers? 
• Have you built (how have you built) partnerships with different departments? 
• Have these individuals turned into advocates? 
• What impact on retention does your travel program have? (We all know that top tier talent is very competitive)
• C-Suite Communication
• What C-Suite org do you roll up to? 
• How do you communicate with your direct C-Suite leader to show the value of travel? 
• Are you working with other C-Suite orgs to champion the value travel brings?
• Travel Program "Culture"
• Innovation - how receptive is your organization to leveraging evolving tech? (What are those tech solutions)
• How flexible/fluid is your company in terms of pivoting for the travel program (goal/initiatives, vendors, policies, etc)
• What policies do you have? Do you see those adding value (both spend/budget control...aka the "value" to Finance as well as employee satisfaction)?
• Is the perception that the "value" of travel is cost reduction? How tight is the tracking of spend to budget? Are budgets driving the value of travel? 

Michelle Amos

Global Travel Manager
Smartsheet

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Gone are the days of simple expense reports. With modern business technology, companies must be able to track and manage every penny spent on their behalf in order for them not only survive but thrive as well! That is why it's important that managers have access top up-to date software which can accommodate all these needs without sacrificing quality or functionality so they don't miss out any opportunities along life’s journey just because some outdated program didn't work like expected.

Rick Wakida

Global Travel Manager
Informatica

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Leslie Andrews

Global Category Leader-Travel Corporate Procurement
JLL

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Luis Ramirez

Global Travel & Expense – S2P
Coinbase

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Lydie Charpin

VP, Corporate Travel and Spend Management
Mastercard

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Teddy Oberts

Sourcing Manager – Corporate Travel
Salesforce

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Legacy T&E solutions only provide insight into spend after the travel has occurred, leading to non-compliant bookings, zero visibility, and long reconciliation processes, which can have ripple effects across the business. A modern travel solution allows you to build smart controls into the front end to empower employees to make smarter financial decisions, keep travelers on budget, and give visibility into T&E before it’s too late. Discover why transparency and control will transform how you do business travel.

Nicole Jackson

Principal Solutions Consultant
Brex

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This working group session is designed for travel procurement professionals who manage midsize travel programs. The objective of this meet up is to bring together travel program managers to discuss best practices, share challenges and successes, and collaborate on solutions to common issues in the industry.

Agenda:

·        Sharing of success stories and best practices

·        Discussion of common challenges in midsize travel programs

·        Collaborative problem-solving sessions

·        Networking opportunities with peers

·        Attendees can expect to leave the session

Sean Parham

Senior Manager Travel Services
Discord

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Katie Romanko

Sr. Manager of Travel & Events
Coinbase

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Now more than ever, meeting planners are finding themselves juggling several responsibilities at any given time. From scheduling and logistics to budget and engagement, there's many moving parts to keep track of in order to have the most successful meetings possible. Putting together the right SMM program will help streamline many of these bottlenecks and ensure your staff gets the most out of the meetings run by your organization. This session will provide you with the best plan on how to implement a SMM Program while also pointing out the problems you need to avoid.

Carolyn Pund

Global Strategic Meetings & Digital Events Management
Cisco Systems

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Amy Perrone

Principal Program Manager, SMM and Hotel Programs
Genentech

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Jason Ring

Head of Travel, Events and Executive Support
Datadog

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Ciaran Delaney

Founder & CEO
Hubli

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Anil Punyapu

Senior Vice President, Enterprise Sales & Partnerships
Cvent

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There’s no denying it…in-person events are back! Hotel rates are at their highest across transient and meetings. But with that, meeting and event programs have become more complex. And teams are faced with greater pressure than ever overcome inflation, budget constraints, and overworked teams. So how can technology help to jump-start your SMMT program and also travel data to save costs? Join us for our breakout session as we provide actionable tips to reduce costs and increase efficiency across your event program today, including:

1. Centralizing visibility of all meetings and events to cut duplicative programs.

2. Strategically sourcing venues and vendors to reduce expenses.

3. Continuing to use the digital medium, webinars, and virtual events to maximize ROI

Anil Punyapu

Senior Vice President, Enterprise Sales & Partnerships
Cvent

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This working group session is designed for travel procurement professionals who manage large and complex travel programs. The objective of this meet up is to bring together travel program managers to discuss best practices, share challenges and successes, and collaborate on solutions to common issues in the industry.

Agenda:

·        Sharing of success stories and best practices

·        Discussion of common challenges in midsize travel programs

·        Collaborative problem-solving sessions

·        Networking opportunities with peers

·        Attendees can expect to leave the session

Darlene Fitzsimmons

Travel Manager
Stagwell Global

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