- Details
- Category: Industry News
The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) announced Sue Spear as its new chair of the Canadian Advisory Board. Spear, a certified travel expert, has been a GBTA member for more than 10 years and a Canadian Advisory Board member for two years. She will serve a two-year term.
GTBA Canadian Advisory Board Chair Sue Spear
Spear serves as manager of corporate travel and fleet for Cengage Learning, an education, and technology company serving higher education, K-12, professional, library, and workforce training markets worldwide. In this role, she oversees a global travel management program encompassing nearly $30 million in annual travel spend; manages all airline, rental car, hotel and card vendor negotiations, and the fleet vehicle program for the company; and oversees the company’s online booking tool. Spear joined Cengage in 2000.
“Sue Spear’s deep experience working across all travel verticals at Cengage will continue to bring tremendous value to our association,” said GBTA Regional Vice President for Canada Nancy Tudorache. “Her impressive industry knowledge, collaborative spirit, and deep understanding of our association make her an outstanding fit as we evolve into the future.”
As chair of the GBTA Canadian Advisory Board, Spear will work with the Canadian Advisory Board volunteers to research for and make recommendations on current issues and initiatives that impact members of GBTA Canada.
“It is an honor to be selected as chair of the Canadian Advisory Board for GBTA,” said Spear. “I have spent many years with this association, and I’ve witnessed firsthand the growth, volunteer engagement, and importance of its advocacy and education work. I look forward to playing an even bigger role in sharing those efforts with our membership.”
As the board begins its next term with a new chair, Tudorache expressed great appreciation for outgoing Chair Sharlene Ketwaroo-Nanoo, who served two consecutive terms in the leadership role. During her terms, Ketwaroo-Nanoo was instrumental in growing the organization’s volunteer base to more than 70 volunteers from across Canada and in developing mentorship programs for travel and hospitality students.
Visit gbta.org/membership-and-communities/chapters-and-regions/canada for more information about GBTA Canada.
[08.21.20]
- Details
- Category: Industry News
It was a full agenda for the United Motorcoach Association’s (UMA’s) weekly Town Hall on August 13. The association holds these member meetings via Zoom each Thursday at 2PM ET.
There wasn’t much to report on the legislative front as both the House and Senate broke for another recess and left the Hill without coming to an agreement on the stimulus/COVID relief package. The fate of an additional round of PPP funding, both the House’s and Senate’s CERTS Act (H.R.7642 and S.4150, respectively), and the RESTART Act (H.R.4321) are still up in the air, although there is strong support for RESTART and more cosponsors are being added to both CERTS. UMA COO Ken Presley once again encouraged members to reach out to their elected officials to support the legislation, although he advised against contacting those who have already signed on to show their support. A full list of bill cosponsors can be found here: H.R.7642 and S.4150.
Presley once again applauded the efforts of members, industry friends, and supporters as more than 83,000 letters had been sent to Congress since the beginning of the pandemic requesting aid for the industry.
Sales Coach Jim Pancero was the guest speaker for this week’s Town Hall. His presentation was dedicated to helping operators find better ways to reach customers and to rethink how they sell as the sales paradigm has once again shifted—an occurrence he notes happens at least once a decade. He recommends stabilizing your company for at least the next 12 months—it’s going to be a slow road back—and identifying the ways that you can remain proactive instead of reactive (or worse, waiting for it to pass over and return to “normal”) in attracting customers. Now is not the time to sit idly by and let sales come to you. The full presentation can be seen here.
Earlier in the week, the association also held the third installment of its Virtual Summit, this time an eight-week checkup focusing on restart. Joe Calhoon, a featured speaker from the first Summit, led a panel of operators from all across the country to share ideas they have implemented and lessons (and tips!) they have learned along the way. The ideas ranged from keeping their best employees engaged as the shutdown lingers to understanding air exchange rates in buses (customers are asking…or will be!) to digital marketing to the best ways to contact legislators and get a response.
Calhoon also shared his advice for staying the course, as pandemic fatigue can sap even the most optimistic operators. He advised the more than 90 participants to keep it simple and to think like they are starting from scratch. Now is the time to really examine the core values of your company. A key takeaway: Think outside the box in everything because travel expectations have changed dramatically in the past six months.
The final leg of the Virtual Summit is scheduled for September 9. The next Town Hall will be held on August 20.
Visit uma.org for more information.
[08.18.20]
- Details
- Category: Industry News
As protests continue around the country and the world for the Black Lives Matter movement, which experienced a resurgence after the death of unarmed Black man George Floyd by Minneapolis Police in May, the Minority Limousine Operators of America (MLOA) released a statement regarding the changes that are happening—and what more needs to be done to ensure equality especially within our industry.
The powerful and honest statement, written and signed by MLOA President Darrell Anderson of A-National Limousine Service, was sent to members in early August and addressed the ongoing inequities that continue to exist for operators of color across the country.
MLOA President Darrell Anderson
Anderson’s statement in full:
“All of us have been significantly impacted by recent developments across the nation. Four hundred years of systemic racism and institutionalized discrimination have reached a tipping point, as America has been forced to confront her unpleasant history of racial bias, housing discrimination, racist laws, vigilante justice, police brutality, and economic disparity. Black families possess only 7 percent of the wealth of a similarly situated white family, in large part due to the racism that dominates our culture and divides our communities. Racism has impacted Americans of color in profound ways—poor schools, mass incarceration, gang violence, high unemployment, substandard housing, food deserts, health pathologies, addictive behaviors, high crime, and shortened life expectancy. The Minority Limousine Operators of America (MLOA) was formed almost ten years ago in response to the obvious disparities that existed within our own industry. The Black Lives Matter movement, launched in response to a series of acts of police violence resulting in the deaths of Black people, was born out of a need to address these ongoing racial disparities.
“The MLOA acknowledges the Black Lives Matter movement as an essential part of a broad-based strategy to reverse the effects of our unpleasant past. For the principles on which this nation was founded to become a reality for all people, we must first create a society where all human life is of equal value, and where every citizen can move about freely without fear of police violence, vigilant justice, or attempts to weaponize law enforcement by calling 911 in response to ‘Living While Black.’ We call on governments, corporations, educational institutions, elected officials, and community leaders to move swiftly to achieve a level of parity that assures every person a fair and equitable opportunity to pursue the American Dream. Proactive steps must be taken to create economic mobility in minority communities through investment, job creation, and most importantly, business opportunity. The COVID-19 pandemic and the economic recession it caused have put many minority businesses on the brink of extinction…the most important thing we can do for these companies is to put them to work. The survival and sustainability of the minority business community must be a top priority, right alongside the important work that must be done on racial equality.
“There must be a re-commitment to utilizing minority businesses as suppliers, joint venture partners, and sub-contractors, to ensure that this important segment not only survives but thrives in the new normal. It is up to all of us to do our part in this fight for justice and equality. All of our futures depend on it. At the MLOA, we affirm that Black Lives Matter, and ask for your help in making sure that Black business has a bright future as well.”
Visit mlooa.org for more information.
[08.17.20]