Message From the Office of the GBTA President – January

*This post was also sent as an email to GBTA members.*

Dear GBTA Members,

Happy New Year!  I hope your 2018 is off to a great start.  As we begin the new year, I would like to provide a brief update on GBTA’s current activities.

Convention Theme
The 50th Annual GBTA Convention will be held in beautiful San Diego from August 11-15. As we announced a few weeks ago, the Convention theme this year is Momentum. It reflects how GBTA is providing “momentum” to help the industry address the rapid – and rapidly accelerating – change taking place in the business travel sector. Chief among the driving factors is technology, which is changing everything from our communications with our employees to driverless cars and artificial intelligence. The pace of this change is unlike anything we have seen before. As always, Convention will help us navigate these changes and their ramifications. I hope to see you there.

Call for Proposals
Convention 2018 will feature more than 100 business travel industry education sessions with a minimum of eight time slots – giving you more opportunity to attend sessions than ever before. GBTA’s sessions help attendees improve their knowledge and skills by providing them with opportunities to learn more on virtually every issue currently facing the business travel industry. We welcome any and all suggestions you may have for particular topics to be addressed at Convention. We are interested in new and timely information on industry trends, techniques and best practices. I encourage you to “think outside the box” in regards to the content and delivery to create a session that is informative and engaging. To share your insight or submit a proposal, please click here. All proposals are due by February 2, 2018 at 11:59pm EST.

Events

  • The 15th Annual GBTA Leadership Summit will be held in Portland, Oregon from January 29-30. All Chapter and Affiliate board members are welcome and encouraged to attend this two-day event.

  • The 21st Annual GBTA Foundation Gala Dinner will be held on March 19 in New York City. The Gala Dinner is a prestigious gathering of business travel leaders that provides networking opportunities during the pre-dinner reception and the dessert after party.

  • The annual GBTA Conference Mexico will be held on March 21-23 in Mexico City. The conference will feature thought provoking education sessions, as well as a packed Expo floor highlighting the latest products and technologies impacting the business travel industry.

This is GBTA’s 50th year as an organization, a true milestone worth celebrating. We will be celebrating the momentum we’ve built over the past half century to position ourselves and the industry for the next 50 years – a period that undoubtedly will be even more exciting. I look forward to all the exciting things we have planned this year.

As always, thank you for your continued support and commitment. Please feel free to reach out to me with any thoughts or questions.

Sincerely,

Christle Johnson
GBTA President