T-Biz Talks Tech Integration, InvestmentTravelocity Business president Ellen Keszler last month told Meetings Today the company is in talks with SeeUthere Technologies and StarCite Inc. to offer online travel self-booking at the point of meeting registration. However, Keszler stressed, T-Biz also plans to invest further in the DirectMeetings tool owned by Sabre, T-Biz's corporate parent.
"DirectMeetings is an industry-leading product," Keszler said. "With our sharpened focus on small meetings, we are continuing to invest in it while we are forming relationships with other meeting technology vendors—SeeUthere and StarCite—to integrate with their tools." Keszler said she sees DirectMeetings as a strong tool for small meetings management, and SeeUthere and StarCite's products for larger events.
Sabre Debuts Group Air Mgmt. ToolSabre Holdings last month announced a new tool that automates the sale and management of group airline reservations and can return to airlines unsold inventory by a specified block reduction and return dates. Continental Airlines has signed a deal with Sabre to use the product, called the Sabre Group Management Tool. "To reduce costs, we needed to eliminate manual processes and increase the efficiency of our group desk and reservations department," said Continental managing director of distribution planning John Slater. "We also wanted to improve revenues by minimizing spoiled inventory, so we needed a system that automated the sale of group or block space while providing inventory control." Travel management companies booking groups will have the ability to request and manage blocked space on specific flights with minimal manual intervention, Sabre officials said.
ICPA Shifts to External Mgmt. StructureThe Association of Insurance and Financial Services Conference Planners next month will lay off its Vancouver, B.C.-based internal association management team and outsource that responsibility to Chicago-based association management firm SmithBucklin Corp. The move was announced in a letter sent last month to ICPA's membership by president Debbie Boschee, Minneapolis-based director of conference and meeting services for Prudential Financial. "Our membership in the past two years has remained flat or declined and, even with the decision to open it up to financial services organizations, we have not made any significant inroads," Boschee's letter stated. "With this in mind, the board began to evaluate our operations management and look at alternative models and options to best position our organization." External meeting and travel association management is not uncommon. The Society of Incentive & Travel Executives shifted to SmithBucklin in 2002
(BTN, March 25, 2002).Maritz: Employees Respond To IncentivesA recent Maritz Travel Co. survey of 2,100 people who have participated in a company-sponsored incentive program found a strong majority indicates travel is an effective motivational tool. Maritz is a major presence in incentive travel management. The poll, conducted throughout 2003 following incentive travel programs, found that 89 percent of respondents "kept the incentive travel program in mind when performing their jobs." The effectiveness of travel as a motivational tool has been questioned by some during the past few years, as safety concerns and international conflicts have unnerved some travelers. Yet, most industry figures contend that travel can be a key part of any performance improvement strategy.
Call for Best Meeting Practice NominationsBTN again this summer will name at least three corporate meetings buyers or managers as best practitioners in particular fields for initiatives begun or completed in 2003, including, but not limited to, air and hotel programs, internal consolidation, meeting policy construction and compliance, relationship with transient programs and use of technology. Please send nominations by May 24, along with a brief explanation of why they—or you—are deserving, to Meetings Today editor Chris Davis at cdavis@btnonline.com.
~Chris Davis