Rudy Monteleone, Founder and Past President of ACTE
to the Association of Corporate Travel Executives
ACTE IX Chicago Conference
April 28, 1997

Taking early retirement - something my golf game and I both recommend highly - gives you a great opportunity for reflection. You look back at career moves and get to decide which ones were washouts and which ones weren't worth agonizing. And then you look back at some decisions that stand out like a beacon, even ten, twenty years later.

Participating in the founding of ACTE is one of those bright, AHA! moments for me.

Although I see a lot of familiar faces out among you, I also see a lot of new faces - a nod, of course, to the vitality of our organization, and its ability to grow and globalize so quickly. It was only ten years ago when three travel managers - Peter Jensen, Ed Chu and I met at Peter's townhouse on a gloomy winter night to discuss the feasibility of establishing a new professional trade organization.

The first order of business was to determine whether we should even bother. There already were a number of excellent travel organizations - The National Passenger Travel Association, which later changed its name to the National Business Travel Association; ASTA and SITE, to name a few. They were all on firm footing, all positioned to grow.

But in analyzing these groups' makeups and missions, we discovered that the market was ready to support an organization that served the unique needs of the senior level managers in our industry, and not only recognized the interdependence of all market segments of the travel industry - but treated all of them equally.

We decided it was time to create one that did.

So on that night in February, 1987, ACTE was born. It was born as an association that was designed from the beginning to help its three major constituencies - corporate travel managers, travel agencies and other suppliers - understand each other's mind sets and methodologies.

We also were founding an organization that was aiming high, to the senior level manager...someone who recognized that a whole new skill set was necessary to meet the needs of an industry that was growing considerably more complex, we were determined to identify, and then deliver the broad-based management tools necessary to thrive in this complicated business environment.

Remember that in the late 1980s, we were just beginning a new era of travel management expertise - at a time when our industry was changing so quickly we could hardly keep up.

We knew that the need for our organization would never be greater, that the need for parties on both sides of the bargaining table to come together and collaborate would never be stronger.

In essence, this group of charter members formed a not-for-profit association whose constituency would come to profit substantially from this charter...from the relationships that were nurtured, the partnerships, even the unusual ones, that were forged, and from the superior educational offerings we knew were the key to our survival - as travel management professionals and as members of ACTE.

Little did we know at the time that our fledgling organization would mature into a globally respected association with 1,600 members. We certainly didn't dare to dream that optimistically at our official "coming out" party, so to speak, ACTE I, New Orleans in 1989, exactly two years after our first meeting.

Of course, from my perspective, as ACTE's first president, chairman and co-founder, I was well aware that much like any baby born to this earth, we'd be experiencing our share of growing pains. Particularly during those early, formative years. But as all of you parents who survived the terrible twos know, even those difficult, sometimes frustrating times seem worth it when you look back when you and the kid survives adolescence and becomes an adult you can admire.

There are lots of reasons to be standing up here like a proud papa. Earl and others will be filling you in on the details of our recent accomplishments.

But frankly, what I'm most proud of is our strong financial position.

I remember those anxiety-filled days... and evenings... and late-night phone calls with my then Vice President of Finance, Mike Spooner, trying to figure out how to squeeze more than 100 cents out of every dollar.

But we managed. I'm extremely proud of what we've done. My only regret is that Peter Jensen and Ed Chu, aren't around to share this feeling of satisfaction with me. Peter, the dynamic and creative visionary who died tragically at 39; the dedicated and knowledgeable Ed Chu, who died a still sprightly 52. I miss them still, and so does the organization.

But if there's any message I'd like to leave with you, it's this - get involved in ACTE, at any level you feel comfortable. You will find, as I do, that the rewards flow both ways.

Thank you very much.