ACTE Powers Up Intimate Forum Series

<B> ACTE Powers Up Intimate Forum Series</B>

By Sarah Welt

<I>New York</I> - In an effort to foster more knowledge sharing among corporate travel buyers, the Association of Corporate Travel Executives last week held the first in what is designed to be a series of "Power Talks" here in the Big Apple.

The concept of allowing travel executives to interact in small groups has been brewing since ACTE's global meeting in Paris last year. "Members have been telling us they want these small, intimate groups because the conferences are getting so much bigger," said Colleen Guhin, Motorola's global travel manager who also serves as ACTE's vice president of education. "Even regional forums are getting 60 to 80 people, so the opportunity to have a close-knit network with your own peer group isn't quite as apparent as it used to be."

The groups also provide direction for the organization's educational programming and insight into topics it should be covering at its regional and national forums, noted ACTE manager of marketing and membership Kate Farrell.

The first Power Talk, held at the headquarters of Joseph E. Seagram & Sons, home of ACTE president Earl Foster, attracted 10 to 15 travel managers from the metropolitan area. The next will be held later this month in Palo Alto, Calif., followed by an as-yet-unscheduled one in Chicago. While the first meeting was just for travel buyers, subsequent meetings could include suppliers as well.

Meetings will be about two hours in length and fairly informal. "We don't want a presentation format. We don't want to assume how they want it to work. We are going to let participants tell us," Guhin said. "We will ask participants ahead of time what they want to talk about, and it will evolve over time."

At the first meeting, for example, ACTE asked attendees what issues have hindered them from achieving their goals, and what projects they were involved in that they would like to share with the group.

If the program proves successful here in the United States, ACTE hopes to expand it to Europe. Herman Mensink, chairman of ACTE Europe, said the group "will be looking at different approaches to cater to the corporate travel managers' needs in Europe," and will officially announce its plan following its August board meeting.