CONTACT:
Caleb Tiller, +1 703-684-0836, ext. 138, ctiller@nbta.org
Nicole Hayes, +1 703-684-0836, ext. 133, nhayes@nbta.org
Social Networking Application Allows Attendees, Exhibitors to Connect, Schedule Meetings, Plan Agenda
Alexandria, VA (June 16, 2009) - The National Business Travel Association (NBTA) – the world’s leading association representing the business travel community – is offering two new online tools to attendees and exhibitors of the 41st Annual NBTA International Convention & Exposition, to be held August 23-26 in San Diego. The NBTA Online Expo and the social networking site My NBTA Convention will allow registered delegates and exhibitors to plan their time while at Convention. With these synchronized technologies, users can connect with colleagues, schedule meetings, and research exhibitors before arriving onsite.
NBTA President & CEO, Kevin Maguire, CCTE, GLP, said, “Corporate travel professionals know that attending the NBTA Convention this year is more important than ever, and they want to be sure to make the most of their time while there. These new technologies will help attendees plan their Convention experience in advance, allowing them to focus their time and attention on the education sessions and exhibitors that matter most to them and their companies.”
The NBTA Online Expo is a virtual mapping technology that provides attendees with details about each exhibitor, including booth location, contact information, and product and service highlights. Users can connect with customers or suppliers before the Convention to schedule meetings or demonstrations on the show floor.
My NBTA Convention is a social networking platform for Convention attendees to interact with colleagues and clients before arriving in San Diego. Users can
- maintain a personal profile
- search registered attendees by company or name
- connect with colleagues
- provide status updates that can be viewed by their connections and synched with a Twitter account
- schedule meetings with connections
- create a personal calendar of meetings, education sessions and general sessions that can be exported to Outlook or other electronic calendars and synched with mobile devices
Maguire added, “When times are tough and budgets are tight, Convention attendees can maximize the value of their investment by planning now. With these new planning and social networking tools, attendees and exhibitors can begin to benefit from the industry’s largest gathering right from their desktops months before leaving for the event.”
For more information about the 2009 NBTA Convention, to be held August 23-26 in San Diego, please visit www.nbtaconvention.org.
About the 2009 NBTA International Convention & Exposition
Widely recognized as the must-attend event for business travel buyers, suppliers, industry leaders and business travel journalists, the 2009 NBTA International Convention & Exposition will be held in San Diego August 23-26, 2009. More than 5,000 travel professionals are expected to take advantage of the Convention’s programming, designed to empower attendees to maximize value for their companies, including more than 65 seminars on the most important topics in business travel, more than 400 companies exhibiting in the Expo and countless opportunities for networking with peers. For details, visit www.nbtaconvention.org.
The National Business Travel Association (NBTA) is
the world’s premier business travel and corporate
meetings organization. NBTA and its regional
affiliates – NBTA Australia / New Zealand, the
Brazilian Business Travel Association (ABGEV), NBTA
Canada, NBTA Europe, NBTA Mexico, and NBTA USA –
serve a network of more than 17,000 business travel
professionals around the globe with industry-leading
events, networking, education & professional
development, research, news & information, and
advocacy. NBTA members, numbering more than 5,000 in
30 nations, are corporate and government travel and
meetings managers, as well as travel service
providers. They collectively manage and direct more
than US$340 billion of global business travel and
meetings expenditures annually on behalf of more
than 13 million business travelers within their
organizations. For more information, visit
www.nbta.org