Don't miss the premier educational and networking event for the business travel industry, presented by the editors of Business Travel News. The April 3 and 4 Corporate Travel World program will feature the highest caliber supplier and buyer executives as speakers.
Continental Airlines president Jeff Smisek and Steven Brill, of Brill's Content and CNN fame, who is now CEO of Verified Identity Pass, the first operating Registered Traveler smart-card business, are the keynote speakers—Brill at lunch on Monday and Smisek at the Power Breakfast on Tuesday.
The Tuesday breakfast also will feature a panel discussion on business travel distribution featuring Andy McGraw, senior vice president and general manager of American Express Business Travel North America; Frank Morogiello, American Airlines vice president of global accounts; Ken Esterow, Cendant Travel Distribution Services president and CEO of Travel Industry Services for the Americas; Cheryl Rosner, Expedia Corporate Travel president; and Trip Davis, TRX president and CEO. These industry leaders will discuss recent airline interactions with global distribution systems, GDS alternatives and changes on the travel management company playing field.
About half of the executives BTN named as the 25 most influential of 2005
(BTN, Jan. 23) plan to attend the reception at 3:30 on Monday.
We kick the program off Monday morning with general sessions on hotel, featuring PwC hospitality guru Bjorn Hanson, and air, featuring Calyon Securities airline analyst Ray Neidl and airfare consultant Bob Harrell, followed by breakout benchmarking sessions for groups of the largest and the smallest business travel buyers, and one for midmarket and large company executives combined.
Corporate travel buyer speakers include BTN 2005 Travel Manager of the Year Richard Wooten of Lockheed Martin, GE's Keith Mullineux, HP's Lea McLeod, Credit Suisse First Boston's Michelle Lee and Larry Bolsch, Discovery Communications' Yukari Sison and Estee Lauder's Cindy Shumate, Bristol-Myers Squibb's Lynn Ridzon, KPMG's Catherine Ascolese, Verizon's Deborah Goldmann. Other industry experts on the faculty include Sabre Corporate Solutions president Ellen Keszler, Prism president Michael Whitesage, Topaz president and CEO Bradley Seitz, Four Seasons' Phillip Pena, Visa senior vice president of commercial sales David Cramer, Tower Travel Management president John Smith, Carlson Marketing's Peter Moen, WorldTravel's Maria Chevalier and travel management consultants John Caldwell, David Hillman, Andy Menkes and Tom Wilkinson.