Corp. Hires Agency Exec To Implement Policy

<I>New York</I> - When Andy Menkes helped Republic New York Corp. put together its first-ever global travel program, it never occurred to him that he would end up not only following it himself, but administering it as well.

Shortly before its newly defined policy went into effect on Jan. 1, the bank decided it needed a full-time travel manager to run the program. And who better to recruit than the Rosenbluth International executive who had been so intimately involved in formulating the policies in the first place? Republic first approached Rosenbluth, which gave its blessing, and then Menkes, who happily accepted the bank's new position of vice president of global travel management.

A former TWA regional automation manager and an agency owner before moving into corporate travel positions with USTravel, BTI Americas and Rosenbluth, Menkes is reveling in his new role on the other side of the bargaining table. "I feel like I'm playing in a bridge game, and there's a mirror behind the other players," he said.

But the job before him, as Republic rolls out a strict global program that stresses "mandates with a capital M," is far from a game. With major offices in the United States, Geneva, London, Hong Kong, Singapore and Latin America, a T&E budget "in double digits" and its own Visa card, the bank is determined to take greater control of its travel spending this year. To that end, Republic has loaded the new travel policy--which "includes the word 'must' in bold and ties compliance into reimbursement"--onto the bank's corporate intranet, and "explained to travelers that without their support of preferred vendors, there is no program," Menkes said.

So far, Menkes says, the biggest surprise to him has been "the number of hoteliers out there. My phone has been ringing off the hook." And the thing he's looking forward to the most? "Going to NBTA and wearing a blue badge for the first time.