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Check-in with Suzanne

Tune in for a behind-the-scenes, pre-conference preview by Suzanne Neufang, CEO, GBTA, of the GBTA Conference – Berlin in partnership with VDR. Over 500 people will converge in person at the Estrel Conference Center this week, coming together for the first time in Europe in over two years at this event to learn, share and…

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Check-in with Suzanne

A few days ago, I headed out from New York City to Germany in anticipation of our upcoming GBTA Conference – Berlin in partnership with VDR. The flight was full and many people showed the classic signs of a business traveler: carry-ons in tow and working on their computers inflight. And many of you are…

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Check-in with Suzanne

We used to know the rules of the road when it came to business travel: where travelers could go, how they could get there, and the steps to needed to make it happen. But the pandemic was a great disruptor, and uncertainty now challenges the road back.  That’s why GBTA has focused advocacy efforts on…

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Check-In with Suzanne

This week marks another “first” in getting back to business travel as well as face-to-face GBTA events. Over 120 GBTA chapter leaders from across the U.S. are gathering for the first time since 2020 for the GBTA Leadership Summit in Tampa, FL, to learn, develop, network and collaborate.   GBTA’s 38 U.S. chapters and their volunteer members…

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Check-In with Suzanne

GBTA continues to get back to business around the world. And we continue to be bolstered by our active and knowledgeable volunteers working across the local, regional and global levels.   Last week’s GBTA Europe Town Hall – the first for 2022 and hosted by Catherine Logan, GBTA Regional Vice President, EMEA – (virtually) welcomed…

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Check-in with Suzanne

It feels like only yesterday that we wrapped the 2021 GBTA Convention in Orlando. Yet, we’re fully focused now on the 2022 Convention, August 14-17 in San Diego, CA, and registration will open soon. (Sign up for updates!)  And thanks to your 2021 post-Convention feedback, we are building on both our successes and areas needing improvement for 2022 to Re(Connect), Re(Imagine) and (Re)Create to deliver the most relevant and engaging events in the COVID-era.  And by the way, we hit an all-time response record for attendee feedback! The diversity and quantity of feedback will play a significant…

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Check-in With Suzanne

We’ve turned the page on a new calendar year, and challenges of the pandemic remain. But there are glimmers of progress as the first hot spots of omicron plateau and start to cool off, in what will hopefully be a trend that continues. On Thursday, we’ll release the January GBTA COVID-19 poll findings which reflect the current state of business travel including the impact of the omicron variant.   This month we saw a positive indicator for larger in-person conferences. The Consumer Electronics Show – billed as the “most influential tech event in the world” – returned as a…

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Check-In with Suzanne

Welcome back to the New Year! I hope you had the chance to enjoy the magic of the holiday season and share some meaningful moments with the people you care about most. That’s what really matters. I took some “real” time off and so did all the GBTA staff with a week-long holiday hiatus –…

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Check-In with Suzanne

Is anyone completely comfortable yet with “expecting the unexpected”? Me either. Not an easy task in current times, but that doesn’t mean there haven’t been some upsides amid the challenges.  The omicron variant is one of the latest developments testing our resolve. On Thursday, GBTA will release the findings from our special quick poll about the emergence of omicron as another twist in…

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Check-in With Suzanne

It might have felt like déjà vu this past week as the world started to assess the fast-emerging news about the omicron variant. Earlier in the year, we faced the discovery of the delta variant and whose effects we are still tracking. New COVID-19 developments will likely continue for the foreseeable future and will demand our ongoing agility and resiliency.   GBTA is staying agile, too. Out of an abundance of care and safety, working with our VDR partners In Europe, we made the decision to reschedule what would have been this week’s GBTA Europe Conference. (From the feedback we received, we know many of…