Bowing to cost and timing concerns of local
chapters about the "Chapter of the Future" initiative, the Global
Business Travel Association announced it would "modify the timeline"
and form a cross-functional task force that includes chapter representatives to
"refine plans." The original timeline required chapters by May 1 to
commit to the new organizational and financial model. Chapters also were
expected to pay GBTA immediately, or in installments this year, a one-time fee
of $70 per member and, starting next year, 20 percent of all chapter revenues.
GBTA executive director Mike McCormick declined to say how many chapters
committed to COF, citing confidentiality agreements with local chapters.
"We had almost unanimous support for the overall plan. The concerns were
mostly about two things: timing and costs," he told Business Travel News. GBTA officials were told the "timelines
were too aggressive, we needed to slow down a bit and build some additional
support for the plan over the coming months." He added that GBTA is "looking
for a much quicker timeline than end-of-year."
The goal is to address some of the concerns about budget cycles and
"make sure we can get the timing right so appropriate adjustments could be
made soon for 2013 budgets," McCormick said. "Everyone has vested
interests in getting the plan and timing hammered out."
McCormick said the association informed chapter
presidents of the revisions in a conference call late Thursday and in a letter
from GBTA president and CEO Jim McMullan, which was posted to the GBTA site.
One of the first jobs for the yet-to-be-named task force members, including
10 to 15 people appointed by McMullan, would be to determine "the new
timeline for the rollout," McCormick said. "Certainly we want to keep
the momentum going and make the investments and improvements in the chapter
system as quickly as we can, but we recognize that we need to take the time to
have everyone on board and coming with us."
McMullan's letter stated that "by adjusting the timeline for
implementation, we hope to give all of our local chapters a better chance of
absorbing the proposed changes and ensure that local chapters understand the
valuable return on investment this initiative will provide."
However, McMullan added that the association "needs to continue to
move forward immediately with the plans to migrate all chapters onto a single
chapter system provider and to move forward with integrating those systems with
the GBTA global platforms. This will allow for more effective marketing,
consistency throughout the local sites, increased sponsorship opportunities and
much more."
McMullan also stressed the importance of "improved programming
content for all chapters, increased staff resources dedicated to supporting
local chapter membership growth and standardization and uniformity among the
local chapters."
As for chapter demands for more specific return-on-investment
deliverables, McCormick said: "There was a clear plan outlined. It really
comes down to timing. We know we need to make these investments together. We
know we need to do everything from the single platform to investments in
marketing, programming and content so every monthly meeting at every chapter is
a great one. The ROI will be there, we've proven that at the global level and national
level, and it's really about taking a lot of the same ingredients to the
chapter level everywhere."
While GBTA has grown outside the United States, local chapter growth has
been stagnant. "The primary reason for this investment in the local
chapter system is to restart growth at the local level again," McCormick
said. "We've grown very successfully at the global level for the last
three years, despite the backdrop of the economy. The challenge is how can we
restart that growth consistently in the U.S."
Asked if the marketplace in recent years has added talent—and potential
new members—McCormick said, "I have to look at it as a tremendous
opportunity at the local level to expand the membership. We have people who may
have travel as part of their responsibilities. With the right programming and
propositions, they would very much like to participate at a local level—because
that's what their time commitment would allow. There is still very much an
opportunity to grow and engage with local members at the local level."
Another area of concern for some local chapter executives is that the 20
percent cut of revenues GBTA requires to fund the Chapter of the Future would
apply to all of a chapter's revenues, including those garnered for
chapter-supported charities. Addressing that concern, McCormick said, "The
financial underpinnings of this were not a tax. All the money the local chapter
would put in would be put into reinvestment. The cost of this whole program
over time was a shared cost and 100 percent of the funds asked to be
contributed are to be reinvested back into the chapter system."
In documents sent to chapters and obtained by BTN, GBTA estimated a total of 5,000 chapter members. At $70 per member, GBTA planned to raise
$350,000 from the one-time fees and dedicate $200,000 for branding and
marketing and $150,000 for "technology implementation," which
includes the transition of all chapters to a single platform from StarChapter.
"We're a professional non-profit association," McCormick said.
"Our sole purpose is to advance the professional development of our own
membership and that needs to be a priority. Certainly we're all about being
good social citizens, whether locally or globally, but first and foremost we're
here to serve the membership and advance their careers and the industry, in
business and in politics."