<B>Passing Colleagues Left Lasting Marks On Biz Travel</B>
<I>BTN</I> is sad to announce the death of Sweden's Annika Ortmark-Sellebo, one of the best-known figures in global travel management, at the end of February.
Annika had been fighting cancer for some years, but after several months in remission it returned a couple of weeks ago and carried her off in the space of just 48 hours.
Annika was senior partner of Ortmark & Consultants and had been a specialist travel management consultant since 1985, becoming one of the first people in Europe to advocate the principles of travel management as we understand them today. She was a tireless campaigner to raise the profile of the sector and to improve its standards of education.
Among the posts she held were president of the Swedish Business Travel Association from 1985-93, vice chairman of the International Business Travel Association from 1987-94 and a governor on the board of the Association of Corporate Travel Executives since 1997.
At the ACTE XII Conference in Dallas in 2000, Annika was awarded the ACTE President's Award for her significant contributions to the association, especially in setting up an education program for the association in Europe.
Ian Epps, regional council chairman for ACTE Europe, said, "Forming relationships with industry colleagues came easily to Annika and where she was prepared to lead, others were keen to follow. She was always there to help, but not afraid to challenge. Her knowledge, enthusiasm and sense of humor will be greatly missed."
These are sentiments echoed by BTN, to whom she was a good friend in her quest to widen the debate about the travel management issues that concern us all.
We salute her passing.
<I>~Amon Cohen</I>
<A NAME="2"><I>William E. Maritz,</I> former chairman and CEO of St. Louis-based Maritz Inc., died Feb. 26, due to complications arising from prostate cancer. He was 72.
Maritz was the driving force behind the success of Maritz Inc., a parent company of TQ3 Maritz Travel Solutions, for nearly half a century. He began his career with the company in 1953 as a salesman in New York. In 1960, he assumed the title of executive vice president and in 1979 he was named president and CEO. He claimed the additional title of chairman in 1983. In 1998, he passed the president and CEO titles to his son, Steve Maritz.
Bill Maritz played a fundamental role in growing the company from a small regional incentive company to a multibillion-dollar international provider of travel, marketing research and incentives. The company, under Maritz's leadership, entered the travel business and eventually expanded into Europe, Canada and Mexico.
Maritz was passionate about the need for TQ3 Maritz to build long-term and highly ethical relationships with clients. He was adamant about developing tools and resources that could increase the value and expand the influence of travel managers and meeting planners within their companies. This was largely the foundation for the Maritz strategic partnering process.
Bill Maritz also viewed technology as a vital tool in the travel business, but never lost sight of the importance of balancing high-tech with high-touch customer service. He always viewed people as the company's top asset and helped to lead its award-winning people development system, for which it was recognized last year as the "Best Place to Work" by the St. Louis Business Journal.