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Keynote Speakers

James A. Belasco: Soaring With The Phoenix

Does your company launch one change initiative after another, each failing more dismally than the last? Many do. The reason for the flameouts: incremental changes and short-term tweaks have no lasting value. Consultant and writer James Belasco has a message for those organisations: In the face of constant global, technical, social and personal change, timid attempts at reinventing your organisation aren't good enough. You need, he believes, to "revivolute"-to renew yourself, your team and your organisation, through revolution. Belasco, a dynamic speaker, will vividly outline the five overarching principals on which all renewal efforts depend.

James A. Belasco, a professor at the University of California, is a specialist in the implementation of high-performance management. The co-author of Flight of the Buffalo and author of Teaching the Elephant to Dance-both best sellers-he also consults with corporations around the world.

Michael Daun: The New E-conomy

E-mail has become the new communication standard, and e-commerce is changing the way we purchase things for home and business. The natural question to ask is: what e's next? More of the same, or is there a backlash brewing? Keynoter Michael Daun will explain (and demystify) the driving forces of the New Economy-some of which are astounding-and the consequences and opportunities awaiting consumers and suppliers.

Michael Daun is CEO and co-founder of Fluidminds Business Revolutionaries, a cutting-edge management consulting firm based in Stockholm. Formerly a researcher at the Institute of International Business at the Stockholm School of Economics, he is also one of the founders of Spray, established in 1995 and now one of Europe's leading Internet companies.

José Antonio Tazon: The Evolution of Distribution-The Challenge of Change

So much of corporate travel news revolves around changes in distribution that it's hard to put it them all in perspective. This is precisely what José Antonio Tazon, president & CEO of Amadeus, will do in his keynote address. First, he'll cover the major highlights of the past few years: how the CRS evolved into the GDS, the trend toward disintermediation; catalysts like commission caps and the growth of on-line bookings. Then, he'll offer his vision of the future role of the GDS, the growth of new channels, and the exciting opportunities they create for corporate travel management.

José Antonio Tazon has been president and CEO of Amadeus Global Travel
Distribution since October 1990. It was under Tazon's leadership that the Amadeus system became operational in 1992 and rapidly expanded throughout Europe, South America, Asia/Pacific and, with the 1995 takeover of System One, into the U.S. He holds advanced degrees in Telecommunications Engineering and Data Processing from Madrid's Universidad Politécnica.

The Millennium Bug: Real Danger Or The Hype Of The Century?

In this special two-part keynote presentation, two international authorities on the Millennium Bug will offer their insights on the likelihood of a Y2K debacle-and what you and your travelers need to know before the clock strikes midnight on 31 December. The first speaker, Dale Way, will provide a global and historical view on the crisis and the resulting scenarios most likely to affect the global economy. He'll also explain why the Pollyannas-cheerful optimists-and Chicken Littles-paranoid pessimists-are both wrong about Y2K. The second speaker, Tom Windmuller, will outline the likely effects of Y2K on the aviation industry and the travel industry as a whole.

Dale Way is chairman of the special Y2K committee of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the oldest and largest association of engineers and computer scientists in the world. An international, independent, non-profit organisation, the IEEE is unbeholden to any commercial or governmental interest.

Tom Windmuller, director of the IATA Year 2000 Project, is spearheading the cooperative initiative to ensure that Y2K poses no compromise to safety and has minimal impact on the world's airport and airspace capacity. A former diplomat responsible for U.S. aviation relations with the European Community, he now works at IATA headquarters in Geneva.