General Sessions
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9 – 08:00 – 09:30
Making the Most of Opportunities: Business Travel Trends and Outlook
Understanding business travel trends is paramount to recognizing opportunities and challenges and coming up with creative solutions. Business travel programs have been under intense scrutiny and no stone has been left unturned. What lasting trends have emerged from this? What will the new business travel landscape look like? What does it all mean for the industry?
In this highly anticipated general session, industry insider and strategist Isaac Collazo will share his insights into the trends and future of the business travel industry. Moving beyond the data, this entertaining, engaging and highly sought after industry analyst will explain how companies in today’s market are leveraging themselves for success and strengthening their top-line performance.
About Isaac J. Collazo
Isaac J. Collazo
Vice President, Performance Strategy & Planning
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG)
Isaac Collazo’s style of blending industry data with his passion for music to tell a unique story of today’s travel trends has made him a perennial favorite within and outside of IHG. As one organizer so aptly put it, “Isaac has a gift of making numbers entertaining and very relevant.” In the past, Isaac has shared his knowledge with The Port Authority of New York, the New Jersey Aviation Department, the Conference Board’s Marketing Research Conference, the Coca-Cola Company’s Lodging Channel Summit, and various Experient Meet with Success meetings.
As Vice President, Performance Strategy & Planning for InterContinental Hotels Group PLC, Isaac is currently responsible for centralizing brand reporting and business analysis for each of the brands globally as well as assisting in the formulation of the company’s overall strategy.
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9 – 12:00 – 13:30 LUNCH KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Compliments of:
Brain Software: Words that Change Minds
Learn the art of influence from Dr. Mike Mandel. Uniquely qualified and drawing from a quarter century of real-world experience with “words that change minds”, Mike will share the power of language. Learn how words sway and change behavior, techniques to develop rapport and diffuse frustration, and seven magic words that put you in control. Attendees will gain the ability to influence and persuade others in a wide variety of settings from presenting to groups to one on one meetings.
A highly energetic, innovative and entertaining speaker, Mike is known for being simultaneously fascinating and hilarious.
About Dr. Mike Mandel
Dr. Mike Mandel
Expert in the Art of Communication, Motivation and Influence
Dr. Mike Mandel is widely regarded as one of the world’s premier hypnotists, holds a doctorate in clinical hypnosis, and is certified in a number of psychotherapeutic disciplines. His career covers many different fields: corporate speaker, trainer, psychotherapist, martial arts instructor, writer and stage performer. He has earned 18 nominations and 6 awards for excellence in entertainment, including the COCA Hall of Fame Award, previously won by Sarah McLaughlin, the Tragically Hip and Jim Carrey.
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9 - 16:00 – 17:15
General Session Round Table: Raising the Bar on Business Reviews
In this mixed round table general session, moderated by Nellie Vieira, buyers and suppliers will join forces to uncover the secrets to putting together meaningful and superior business reviews. What information is essential to include? What can you do to improve and provide more value? What does a best in class business review look like?
Working with pre-determined questions, buyers and suppliers will interact at round tables to discuss and share the many challenges of conducting an effective business review. But the work will not stop there. Moving from the strategic arena to the tactical, the defining purpose of this session will be to ultimately develop business review guidelines post-conference. Come and help shape business reviews of the future!
About Nellie Vieira
Nellie Vieira
President
Forrest & Associates Inc.
Nellie Vieira is founder and president of Forrest & Associates Inc., a Toronto-based organization specializing in communication and behavior skills development that effects positive relationship management. As a professional speaker, consultant, trainer, Certified Professional Coach, and NLP Practitioner, Nellie is passionate about person to person interaction.
Nellie has been featured on CBC radio, interviewed in several purchasing and business publications and for Idea Woman television, keynoted at several conferences including Purchasing Management Association of Canada (PMAC), Canadian Association of Montessori Teachers (CAMT), Canadian Professional Sales Association (CPSA), to name a few.
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 10 – 09:00 – 10:15
View From the Top: CFO Conversations
In the new economy, the importance of a well-managed travel program has significantly increased, especially for Chief Financial Officers (CFOs). This general session, moderated by Michael Bingham, is expected to be one of the key events for this year’s conference. A panel of Canadian CFOs share their perspectives on what managed travel success looks like in a downturn economy, and ultimately how they strive to find the right balance between cost containment, investment in growth and duty of care. Both travel managers and suppliers alike will greatly benefit from hearing these key senior-level stakeholders as they discuss their thoughts and insights on how travel management has changed in the new economic environment.
CFO Panelists:
Peter Allen, CFO, Allen Vanguard
Richard Prupas, CFO, Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP
Alan Smith, Canadian CFO, Ernst & Young LLP
About Michael Bingham
Michael Bingham
Partner
BottomLine Consulting Group
Michael Bingham is a Partner at the BottomLine Consulting Group, a boutique consultancy that helps B2B companies accelerate revenue growth and optimize expenses. Mike has over 25 years experience in the Travel & Expense (T&E) Management field during which he has built a reputation as one of the top experts in the T&E space. He is an accomplished leader having led large scale card and travel businesses to market leading positions.
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 10 – 10:45 – 12:00
Human 2.0: The High Speed World of Intellect vs. Technology
In his state of the art presentation, renowned author and keynote speaker, Steve Prentice, will present the latest information concerning the crossroads of human minds and the technologies we work with.
The year 2009 has emerged as a hallmark year for demonstrating the rise and power of interactive communication technology. World calamities, elections, celebrity deaths and of course travel have all changed substantially through the reach of the collective tools we call Web 2.0. But are we changing, as human beings? Are blogs and Twitter sources of intelligence gathering and marketing opportunities? Is Blackberry usage paying off in heightened productivity? What is the cost of over using or under using technology in the corporate environment?
Through case studies from the travel industry and beyond, Steve will demonstrate not only some of the many fascinating ways in which people and business are changing and adapting to the latest developments but will also provide a glimpse of what may be coming next.
In this presentation, with captivating energy and style, Steve delivers the latest information every company should know about harnessing the power of technology.
About Steve Prentice
Steve Prentice
President
Bristall Morgan Inc.
Steve is president of Bristall Morgan Inc., a soft-skills training organization now in its 14th year, with offices in New York City and Toronto. He is also the acclaimed author of two books, Cool Time: A Hands-on Plan for Managing Work and Balancing Time and Cool Down: Getting Further by Going Slower. Having worked with a wide range of high-profile organizations, including Nestlé, AstraZeneca, Ernst & Young, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and many other organizations in finance, law, healthcare and government, Steve’s goal is to improve workplace productivity, profitability and shareholder value.
