Press Release

For Immediate Release
24 June 2008

ACTE BESTOWS "DISTINGUISHED FELLOW" HONORS ON SEVEN MEMBERS

Alexandria, Va. -- The Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE) has conferred upon seven of its members the title of “Distinguished Fellow” for exceptional educational achievement during its recent Global Education Conference in Washington, D.C. (18-20 May). The title is awarded to speakers who presented the highest ranked educational session at the conference. Two sessions, “Risk Management & Corporate Liability” and “Open Skies,” were virtually tied, making them the two most valuable presentations on the program.

“It is my pleasure to confer this distinction upon seven ACTE members, who worked in teams, to provide their colleagues with a thorough understanding of issues and developments that are changing the business travel management profession today,” Richard Crum, ACTE President, said. “These speakers were recognized by a majority of members as significantly important and exceptionally timely.”

Commented Kate Farrell, ACTE Director for Global Education, “This particular conference produced an extraordinary field of contending sessions for this distinction.  ACTE’s focus on providing valuable education presented by speakers who offer diverse and fresh perspectives really resonated with attendees. This is reflected in the both the very high evaluation scores and the positive subjective comments we collected from the education sessions.”

The ACTE Distinguished Fellows for the Washington, D.C. Global Education Conference are:

Risk Management & Corporate Liability
• Bruce McIndoe, President, Vice Chairman, iJET Intelligent Risk Systems
• Judith Bauer, Global Travel Lead, Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc.
• Marcia Saurman, Director, Global Travel, Cadence Design Systems, Inc.

Open Skies
• Tony Berry, Distribution Services Director, HRG
• Woody Harford, Senior Vice President, Commercial NA, British Airways
• Patrick Murphy, Partner, Gerchick-Murphy Associates
• Rose Stratford, Senior Vice President, Supplier Relations and Global GDS

“Each of these dedicated individuals donated extensive time, research, and expertise to their sessions,” said Crum. “This level of commitment is what makes ACTE Global Conferences the standard by which other events in the industry are measured. Professionalism and the spirit of volunteerism at ACTE events are higher than ever before, and that is reflected in our conference attendance figures.”

Three other sessions, jointly conducted with Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business at the Washington, D.C. conference, were also highly rated, filling their meeting rooms to capacity.

ABOUT ACTE:
The Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE) represents the global business travel industry through its international advocacy efforts, executive level educational programs, and independent industry research. ACTE's membership consists of senior travel industry executives from 82 countries representing the €200 billion business travel industry. With the support of sponsors from every major segment of the business travel industry, ACTE develops and delivers educational programs in key business centers throughout the world. ACTE has offices in Asia, Canada, Europe, Latin America, South Africa, and the United States. For more information on ACTE, please go to www.acte.org.  

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For more information, contact:
Jack Riepe
ACTE National Communications Director
t: 610-719-8396
c: 610-256-0124
e: [email protected]

For more information, contact:
Debbie Flynn
CEO
Brighter Group
The Pod, London's Vertical Gateway
Bridges Wharf, Battersea
London SW11 3BE England
T: 020 7326 9880
F: 020 7326 9890
E: [email protected]
W: www.brightergroup.com