GBTA Announces Silicon Valley Icon and Philanthropist Steve Wozniak as Featured Speaker at GBTA Convention 2015

Alexandria, VA (May 14, 2015) – The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) – the voice of the global business travel industry – today announced Silicon Valley icon Steve Wozniak will be a featured speaker at GBTA Convention 2015, July 25-29 in Orlando, Florida. FORTUNE’s Washington columnist and senior editor-at-large Nina Easton will interview Wozniak at Convention Arena on Tuesday, July 28.

“The business travel industry is built on the premise that the #Sharing of ideas and connecting with others can build our businesses and drive the economy,” said Michael W. McCormick, GBTA executive director and COO. “We are thrilled to announce Steve Wozniak as a featured speaker as his work and influence in the technology industry has greatly impacted the way we do business today.”

A Silicon Valley icon and philanthropist for more than 30 years, Steve Wozniak helped shape the computing industry with his design of Apple’s first line of products. In 1976, Wozniak and Steve Jobs founded Apple Computer Inc. with Wozniak’s Apple I personal computer and a year later he introduced his Apple II personal computer, which was integral in launching the personal computer industry.

In 2000, Wozniak was inducted into the Inventors Hall of Fame and was awarded the prestigious Heinz Award for Technology, The Economy and Employment for single-handedly designing the first personal computer and then for redirecting his lifelong passion for mathematics and electronics toward lighting the fires of excitement for education in grade school students and their teachers. In 2014, he received the prestigious Hoover Medal, which is an American engineering prize for “outstanding extra-career services by engineers to humanity.”

Wozniak currently serves as the Chief Scientist for Primary Data and is a published author with the release of his New York Times best-selling autobiography, iWoz: From Computer Geek to Cult Icon.

Attendee registration is open now. Register by June 1, 2015 to receive $100 in savings. Learn more about registering your organization for the Corporate Travel Team Program. Space is limited, so act fast. More info on programs and speakers will be unveiled in the coming months. For the latest developments and more information, please visit gbta.org/convention.

Media registration is complimentary and available online. GBTA will also host its first-ever Media Dayon Sunday, July 26.

CONTACT: Colleen Lerro Gallagher, +1 703-236-1133, cgallagher@gbta.org
Gayle Kansagor, +1 202-295-8775, gayle.kansagor@harbourgrp.com

About GBTA Convention
The GBTA Convention, with nearly 7,000 attendees, is the largest, most comprehensive annual gathering of business travel and meetings managers, meeting planners, procurement professionals and suppliers anywhere in the world. The Business Travel Event of the Year ® features: more than 80 industry-leading education sessions organized into 20+ specialized tracks geared to specific levels of experience and a variety of disciplines; a 400+ company Exposition showcasing market choices not available at other.

About the Global Business Travel Association
The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) is the world’s premier business travel and meetings trade organization headquartered in the Washington, D.C. area with operations on six continents. GBTA’s 9,000-plus members manage more than $345 billion of global business travel and meetings expenditures annually. GBTA and the GBTA Foundation deliver world-class education, events, research, advocacy and media to a growing global network of more than 28,000 travel professionals and 125,000 active contacts. To learn how business travel drives lasting business growth, gbta.org