Experience Buyer Empowermentb

Senior-level travel buyers asked for it. ACTE delivers it.

What is ACTE Buyer Empowerment?

ACTE is working hard to develop a conference curriculum designed with the corporate travel buyer in mind - to give you the knowledge, resources, and contacts that will have an immediate impact on your job performance and career.
Look for the bsymbol throughout the conference website to experience more travel buyer-led panels, more travel buyer presenters, buyer-only education sessions, and buyer-only networking.

MONDAY, 6 OCTOBER (10:30 - 11:45)

M103 Making a Multi-national Travel Program Work: Managing Expectations
The fastest growing travel markets world-wide are all emerging markets such as China, India, Latin America, former Soviet republics and the Middle East. Given the diversity, size and regulatory differences within these regions can it be expected that global travel programs can take root and flourish? This session will examine through case study examples:

  • The pitfalls of a top-down approach - why industry “standards” just don’t fit
  • Successful alternatives to a “global program”, including hybrid models and approaches
  • Integrating regional requirements and corporate culture within the travel programme


M106 Evolving Models for Managed Travel
In a marketplace characterized by increasingly fragmented content and changing financial models and driven by market forces beyond anyone’s control, it maybe useful to re-imagine managed business travel. This visionary session will look at possible “what if” scenarios for a corporation’s travel programme and provide an alternative way of thinking about how to deliver value and operate a travel management programme - for both buyers and suppliers. This session will:

  • Identify the factors contributing to the evolving role of a travel manager and solutions required from suppliers in 2010 and beyond.
  • Describe alternative methodologies to manage travel to
  • Examine technology requirements that enable new thinking concepts to be implemented
  • Explore the future role of TMC's and the value in a transaction based relationship in the future

Presenters:
Megan Stowe, Global Strategic Sourcing Manager, Mobility, Intel

MONDAY, 6 OCTOBER (12:00 - 13:15)

M202 Capturing Procurement Synergies Between Transient Travel and SMM
Meetings related spend can account for one third to two thirds of a corporate T & E budget. With such spend volumes incorporating a centralized management program is key to controlling overall travel and entertainment costs. Some companies clearly demarcate the control between meetings spend and transient travel spend, while others employ a reporting structure with single oversight. There are two camps of thought when it comes to leveraging transient travel spend for the optimization of meetings spend. Listen to case studies that represent these models and gain an understanding of:

  • Benefits and advantages of both models
  • How to Integrate transient and meetings programs
  • Profile of meetings program more adaptable to integration


M204 Managing the Pain/Cost of Green
Going forward with the integration of green objectives in your travel program requires understanding your corporation’s sustainable objectives, interpreting those objectives into achievable travel programme performance and a heavy dose of change management. This session will use case study examples to demonstrate how to overcome the pain as well as overcome cost in going green, emphasizing:

  • Better manage complex international airline contracts
  • Painless sourcing for green vendors
  • Role of change management
  • Measurements
  • Communicating results


M206 Value Management: Focusing on Financial Outcomes
Value management practiced in the business travel space evaluates the financial gain to the company from the business trip in relation to the total cost of that trip. This approach requires a strategy that considers revenue to be derived, critical nature of the trip and maximizing traveller productivity. This session will provide the framework for a value management approach to travel and discuss:

  • Green options available to a travel program
  • Travel value assessment
  • Decision-making matrix and communication concept
  • Work-flow in adopting Value Management

TUESDAY, 7 OCTOBER (14:30 - 15:45)

T203 Managing Hotel Programmes to Achieve Projected Savings
This session will examine why the hotel program is usually the weak link in the chain of managed travel spend and what can be done to improve on the performance in this spend category. Attendees will be provided with practices they can take away to optimize their hotel programmes while gaining an understanding of:

  • Hallmarks of a successful hotel program
  • Multiple distribution channels
  • Working with online consolidators
  • Working with online consolidators


T204 Expense Management: Are You Losing Control?
Travel is to expense claims what airplanes are to airports and stations to trains. One doesn't go without the other. Tickets are linked to taxi or parking receipts. Yet in organizations the two have traditionally been managed by distinct departments. Procurement dealt with travel while finance handled expense claims.

This session will look at the changes affecting organization as they put in place advanced expense claim solutions integrating travel procurement and travel and expense policies and:

  • Reasons for low deployment of end-to-end solutions
  • Savings that can be realized through expense management solutions
  • Best practices through case studies
  • Enhanced reporting