Despite the May 1 deadline for Global Business Travel
Association chapters to formally accept the new "Chapter of the Future" financial and organizational model that among other things would
require them to pay GBTA $70 per member and, beginning next year, 20 percent of
gross revenues, at least a few of the association's 40 chapters have opted to
delay such acceptance. Unknown is how many chapters have committed to the new
model and remitted initial payments.
Through a spokesman, GBTA in April declined interview
requests and this month failed to respond to repeated requests for a status
update on the initiative.
Sources said GBTA's April 19-20 Chapter Presidents Council
meeting was well-attended, but provided no additional information or chapter
guarantees of the benefits of the new structure.
"We're very confused and concerned," one chapter
chair told Business Travel News.
"Our big concern remains our return on investment—and the fact that
there's not really been any substance put to it." That chapter's board
decided not to do anything about the request for now.
Despite being told by GBTA officials that " 'your
members don't need to approve all this,' we don't feel comfortable doing
that," said the chapter chair.
Chapter presidents have been reluctant to be quoted by name
or chapter, and four cited confidentiality agreements as the reason they
declined to comment on the matter.
GBTA contends that local chapters will benefit from a suite
of centralized services and support, new revenue opportunities, membership
growth and a more consistent identity.
The program aims to establish "a more unified
organization through consistency and standardization," according to GBTA
documents obtained by BTN. Those
documents, one of which is structured as a FAQ for local chapters and is dated
March 2012, have circulated among GBTA executives and chapter leaders.
In response, 10 GBTA chapters circulated an email seeking
buy-in to forestall some of the proposed changes. Prior to the Chapter
Presidents Council meeting, at least 31 chapters, including the Baltimore
Washington, Chicago, Dallas Fort Worth, New York City, North Carolina, Rocky
Mountain and Silicon Valley business travel associations, supported the stance
that GBTA's "proposed 20 percent rate on gross revenues is
unacceptable," that the implementation timeline is too hasty and that the
return on investment is unsubstantiated, according to an email shared with BTN and confirmed by several chapter
officials. Additional chapters had registered partial agreement with those
concerns.
In an email to Chapter Presidents' Council president and St.
Jude Medical global travel manager Denise Truso, those chapter presidents
wrote, "The chapters support the ideas of increasing membership and
revenues, and helping keep all chapters viable as described in the CoF
initiative. However, additional information is required in order for the
chapters to support the costs for the initiative, and several questions need to
be answered before the boards will authorize any payments."
Chapters reportedly echoed those concerns at the Chapter
Presidents' Council Meeting in Chicago. Some also asked that GBTA sign service-level
agreements or agree to reduced revenue percentages if GBTA failed to meet
obligations. Sources said GBTA thus far refused any changes to the model.
Chapters that decline to participate in the Chapter of the
Future initiative risk becoming a thing of the past, or at least losing their
affiliation with GBTA. However, they "may opt to operate as an independent
organization" if they decline the program, according to GBTA documents.
Instead of affiliate attrition, GBTA "is expecting full participation from
all chapters," according to its FAQ.
The annual recurring salary, technology, marketing, travel
and entertainment and operating costs of the Chapter of the Future program,
estimated to total $551,500 next year, would be shared by chapters and GBTA.
With the increased funds, GBTA officials reportedly said they plan to hire four
additional dedicated staff members.
"Why would you need one full-time person to help us
find speakers? Our volunteers find speakers. You don't need five or six people
to manage 40 chapters," said one chapter chairwoman, who asked not to be
identified. Except for the Los Angeles Business Travel Association, which pays
one full-time staff person about $66,000 a year, nearly all other BTAs are
entirely run by volunteers. "We don't have any paid staff, so we're
thinking that all of us" would be working for GBTA if the chapter sent 20
percent of revenues to headquarters, the chapter chair told BTN.