The Global Business Travel Association last week claimed through a lawyer
that the Georgia Business Travel Association, which previously announced plans to
wind down "exclusivity" with the mother ship and partner with other
entities, has breached its contract.
Additionally, GBTA has demanded that GeorgiaBTA
cease and desist from using the GBTA trademark, logo and "proprietary and
confidential information" and even shed its identity as a "business
travel association" or BTA. The latter "strongly suggests a connection
or affiliation to GBTA," according to the memo sent to ?GeorgiaBTA president Haley
Johnson on behalf of GBTA by Morrison Cohen lawyer Y. David Scharf.
The Georgia chapter on June 8 notified GBTA that it would end its "exclusive affiliation" with the association,
which, according to GBTA, went into effect July 23. In the run-up, the chapter has
remained "an affiliated member of GBTA," therefore bound by member agreements,
according to the memo.
?GeorgiaBTA's
Johnson, who also works for United Airlines, in a July
17 memo to chapter members obtained by BTN
indicated
that the BTA has worked to establish partnerships with other entities, including
the Association of Corporate Travel
Executives "to produce an Executive Forum in Atlanta in March"
and Georgia State University to
develop an "academic" member category for students and faculty. Additionally,
Johnson's memo also referred to a partnership with The BTN Group, which publishes Business
Travel News.
"Some of our people have been guest speakers at their
events but we do not have a formal partnership with GeorgiaBTA," according
to The BTN Group vice president and group publisher Tim Reid.
GeorgiaBTA's Johnson did not reply to requests to
comment.
While GBTA counsel in the memo to Johnson asserted that
"chapters are directly prohibited from entering into such agreements
without the GBTA's permission," a source close to the chapter stressed
that GeorgiaBTA has not violated any agreements with GBTA and has yet to sign
official partnerships with other entities.
Regarding one such proposed partnership, ACTE
executive director Ron DiLeo said the association this week expects to
formalize an agreement with GeorgiaBTA, which he likened to partnerships ACTE has
forged with others, including the French Association of Travel Managers and the
Guild of Travel Management Companies. "The agreement that we submitted to Georgia's Business
Travel Association is not dissimilar to other associations around the world," DiLeo said. "We do membership
swaps. We write educations sessions for each other. We collaborate; we
co-market."
GBTA on Friday claimed that the Georgia chapter's "actions and
statements suggest that it intends to develop its future business on a model
created by GBTA, and may plan to continue utilizing GBTA's confidential and
proprietary information," according to a statement attributed to GBTA president and CEO
Jim McMullan and executive director and COO Michael McCormick.
As such, GBTA is demanding that the GeorgiaBTA
"return all confidential and proprietary property belonging to GBTA and
cease and desist in using or disclosing any such information." Among those
are GBTA marketing lists, computer programs, electronic data, research,
reports, whitepapers and "all GBTA templates," including those for
"RFPs, contracts, sponsor solicitations, chapter and member position descriptions,
voting ballots, charts of accounts and record retention policies."
GBTA last week demanded that GeorgiaBTA by the close of
business on July 20 affirm an "agreement to cease and desist in using
GBTA's proprietary and confidential information in its future business," and
demanded that the BTA "not share said information with other entities,"
according to the memo sent by GBTA counsel.
"Absent such compliance and written confirmation,
GBTA will have no choice but to exercise all available legal remedies,"
according to the memo sent by GBTA's lawyer.
At press time, a GBTA spokesman said the association
had "received no further communication from the Georgia Business Travel
Association or its counsel."
Meanwhile, GeorgiaBTA leadership has proposed new
bylaws for the chapter "to help build a
structure to support the new collaborative direction," according to Johnson's
memo to chapter members.