The
Sights and Sounds of ACTE XI
The
dynamics of education took on a hot new look when the Association
of Corporate Travel Executives rolled out the program for ACTE
XI-the Annual Members Conference which convened in Washington,
D.C. on May 23. Networking, technology, and a stronger emphasis
on the business side of travel management filled seminars and
presentations with ranking business travel experts from around
the world.
"ACTE XI was a far cry from the traditional flip chart and
typical Power Point presentations," said Cara H. Brown, director
of Corporate Travel Services for Prudential Securities. "
'The CEOs Speak Out' was really well done and gave conference
participants access to the insight of key travel industry leaders."
Brown added that presenters were especially effective in the timeliness
of their topics and the thoroughness that each issue was discussed.
Two seminars she found especially valuable dealt with developing
global supplier partnerships and measuring supplier performance.
"These are two issues that are in the forefront of my company's
thinking right now," she said.
Huub
M.A.A. Smeets, travel manager, EMEA for IBM Nederland N.V., said
that ACTE XI certainly lived up to the association's objective
of educating the profession on a global scale.
Hype-free one-on-one demonstrations added
value to
ACTE's Technology Showcase concept.
"The
level of education was extremely high," said Smeets. "This
was one of the best educational conferences that I have attended."
He added that the response to ACTE XI should drive the association
to remain on the cutting edge of education, technology and to
offer state-of-the-art educational products.
The
association adopted a new educational philosophy in the planning
of ACTE XI. The program evolved into a multimedia educational
event, incorporating motivational speakers, industry leaders,
video, technology, and old-fashioned networking into one formula
that really enhanced participation. Varied seminar formats included
roundtables, breakouts, and video presentations as well as the
traditional panel presentations. The association imported experts
from outside the travel industry to head seminars on negotiating
and other topics. Handouts and collateral material were created
for each seminar, and a video tape of the "CEOs Speak Out"
session was distributed to all attendees. These features were
made possible by an innovative sponsorship program channeling
greater economic resources to educational applications.
The
Technology Showcase, emphasizing educating rather than marketing
in a showcase format, was an overwhelming favorite among conference
attendees. Thirty-one suppliers put automation through its paces,
dealing with products available now-not vaporware. And each
company was required to bring a customer to help demonstrate
the product and to attest to its claims.
"Having
a customer there to answer questions relating to implementation,
operation, or maintenance brought real value to the Technology
Showcase experience," said Anika R. Ortmark Sellebo, senior
consultant and partner for Ortmark & Consultants AB. "Having
access to this information from the field really impressed one
of my clients."
| Like
hundreds of other conference attendees, Smeets thought
the Technology Showcase was a major conference highlight.
"The Technology Showcase brought a tighter focus
to the product evaluation process, while bringing everything
together in one room," said Smeets. "This was
a very positive conference, and the planning committee
did a great job." |
National Building
Museum
|
|
The response to the Technology Showcase was so successful
that it will be repeated at ACTE Global in Costa del Sol
next fall. |
The
association introduced a number of other innovations as well.
The Cyber Café-a series of workstations linked to the
conference database-polled participants, processed requests
for information about the conference, and provided one of the
most efficient means of leaving and retrieving messages-all
by swiping a card. How often was the system used? According
to conference administration, more than 1600 card swipes were
recorded in the Cyber Café.
 |
 |
 |
|
ACTE XI Co-Chairs Hard
At Work
|
ACTE Participants Exploring
Cyber Café
|
"I
loved the Cyber Café," said Sandi Parachuk, office
operations manager and corporate travel manager for the Canada-based
Trojan Technologies, Inc. "This conference was a great overall
value and met my expectations."
|
Speaker Dan Thurmon
|
Motivational
speakers with a message, and in some cases a very unique
way of delivering that message, kept participants riveted
to their seats during lunch and various sessions. Faith
Popcorn spoke to a standing-room-only crowd, while Dan
Thurmon juggled knives, battle axes and a bowling ball-sitting
atop a unicycle. Stuart Varney took a traditional approach
to economics, and ACTE XI co-chairs Cary Erickson and
Jonathan Stobart played Secret Education Agents through
a series of fast movie video feeds. But the star of ACTE
XI was networking.
"This
year's conference agenda was particularly conducive to
networking, providing the appropriate opportunities to
confer with suppliers and colleagues," said Brown.
|
That sentiment was echoed by Thomas Barrett, associate director
of Corporate Travel for Bristol-Meyers Squibb Company, who said,
"The networking potential of ACTE XI was enhanced by the
event's educational content and intensified by the event's overall
efficiency. ACTE has consistently raised the bar in presenting
educational programs to the business travel management profession.
This association takes its commitment to educate our profession
very seriously."
