GBTA Oregon & Puget Sound Education Day 2023

Agenda

7:00 AM Registration Opens
7:30AM Breakfast Buffet Opens

8:15AM  “Creating a Culture of Belonging” – Diana S. Cutaia, Coaching Peace

It’s proven that fostering a culture of belonging improves employee satisfaction, employee retention and productivity. In this session, the focus will be on the five domains of belonging in the workplace and how a sense of belonging benefits both customers and those colleagues who we serve.

Event Speaker

Diana Cutaia, Founder & CEO | Coaching Peace Consulting

Diana is a professional trainer, coach and strategist. She has a background in education, coaching, and corporate human resources with a focus on equity, leadership, and team building. She’s worked with over 50 colleges and K-12 schools, national and local non-profits such as the US Soccer Foundation, Girls Scouts, Women’s Sports Foundation, and corporations including Nike, Adidas, Portland Trail Blazers, Timbers FC and Orange Theory Fitness.

9:45AM Breakout Sessions:

Overview of Market – Forecast 2024 — Steve Cohen, Travel Portland

Description : Travel Portland is committed to generating travel demand that drives economic impact for Portland. The team at Travel Portland does this by promoting the destination in bold, innovative and collaborative ways that harness Portland’s personality and values that connect visitors to authentic experiences. In this session, you’ll hear from Travel Portland’s Director of Research and Insights on the status of Portland’s tourism industry and market forecasts for 2024.

Steve Cohen is the Director of Research and Insights for Travel Portland. Steve’s leads the organization’s research program to increase internal and external understanding of convention and meeting strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for Portland. He also provides a research-focused, quantitative approach to the citywide sales process, ensuring current market conditions, industry pricing standards, and sales practices are optimized.

​Prior to Travel Portland, Steve lead research efforts at MMGY Global, Walt Disney Parks & Resorts, Marriott Vacation Club International, The Ritz-Carlton Club and the AAA National office.

Social Media: What you need to know right now! — Kara Campuzano, KC Creative

Description:

Session 1: Social Media: what you need to know right now!

Session 2: Let’s Get Reel: Reels 101

Kara Campuzano is the CEO and Founder of KC Creative. After 16 years of working in hospitality sales and marketing leadership, she ventured out on her own and founded KC in August of 2020.

KC Creative is a hands-on boutique social media and digital marketing agency that strives to keep its clients visible through brand exposure and awareness.

Kara is an award-winning hospitality veteran that brings her passion for making a difference, to her community and clients. Kara is actively involved as a board member with the following organizations: JDRF Oregon/SW Washington, Chemeketa Community College’s Hospitality and Tourism Advisory Committee, and the Miss Oregon Volunteer America Pageant.

Kara also owns Co.W a shared office and event space in downtown Salem, Oregon. When not working you will see Kara spending time with her two kids, Brody 14, and Isabella 9!

Revenue Management 101: — Jonathan Becker, InnVentures

11:00AM Breakout Sessions:

There is No Self-Care without a Community of Care — Diana Cutaia, Coaching Peace
Micro adventures and Chocolate — Meagan McGuire & Angie Archuleta, Explore Seattle Southside
Discover the curiously wonderful and join Explore Seattle Southside for a micro microadventure. What is a microadventure? Experience one for yourself with a simulated tour of the Seattle Chocolate factory in Tukwila, Washington. Complete with tastings, of course!

ArchuletaMeagan McGuire
Anti-Human Trafficking Awareness — Amanda Swanson, Oregon Department of Justice, Cassie Trahan, A Village for One

11:45AM Lunch Buffet Opens

12:15PM Keynote: The Realities of NDC, Panel Discussion
Traxo, SAP Concur, Spotnana, Bio-Rad Laboratories, Direct Travel

The way in which airline content gets distributed is at a crossroads. Airlines are looking to reduce costs by bypassing traditional booking channels. But how does this affect your business travel program? There are many unanswered questions surrounding service delivery, reporting, access to low fares and much more. In this session you’ll hear our panel of industry experts discuss the ways in which their businesses are working through the many challenges of NDC.

Moderator: Aash Shravah, Vice President of Sales & Client Success at Traxo
As a business travel expert with over 20+ years of experience in the business travel industry, Aash Shravah has worked in many aspects of the industry. His expertise ranges from travel technology, new business acquisitions and partnerships. Aash has always believed that to understand business travel, one has to look at it from the lens of the traveler. To that point, he has traveled more than 3 million miles and to over 100 countries. In his current role as Vice President of Sales & Client Success at Traxo, he helps companies eliminate blind spend and gain complete visibility into all employee travel bookings regardless of source.

The Panel

Ray Pazerekas is Regional Vice President, Concur Travel Suppliers, Americas at SAP Concur. He is responsible for airline, hotel and car relationships and content strategy. He has worked in the travel technology space for over 20 years. Ray began his career at United Airlines where he held various Sales, Marketing and Strategy positions. After United he joined GetThere.com and helped grow the company into the leading corporate online booking tool. After being acquired by Sabre Holdings, he focused on driving strategy for Sabre’s online/OTA segment. Ray has been with SAP Concur for over 10 years, focused on partnering with Suppliers on Concur Travel, Concur TripLink and TripIt Pro.

With nearly 30 years of experience in business travel management, Ted Cullen has seen his share of evolving technologies, service configurations and financial models. He is recognized for creating award winning travel programs for Fortune 100 companies and has been featured in Fortune, T&E Magazine and the Oregonian. Ted has served on corporate advisory boards of United, Delta, Alaska, Northwest, Port of Portland, GetThere/ITN, and Apollo/Galileo. He was awarded Visionary of the Year Award by GetThere, Compass Award Winner for the Port of Portland and President’s Award by Carlson Wagonlit Travel. Ted is currently the Global Travel Manager for Bio-Rad Laboratories and co-founder of Method Verification, a company dedicated to raising the voice of the business traveler.

Johnny Thorsen is the “VP of Strategy and Partnerships” for Spotnana based in Silicon Valley, California – he joined Spotnana in June 2021 after being a strategic advisor for the founders in the early stage of Spotnana being founded in 2019

Prior to joining Spotnana, Johnny was “VP of Strategy and Innovation” for American Express Digital Labs after they acquired Mezi, in January 2018 where he was the head of strategy and partnerships since May 2017

Prior to joining Mezi in 2017 Johnny was the co-founder and CEO of conTgo, a UK-based startup founded in 2007 and acquired by Concur in March 2013, and he held senior positions with companies such as Travelport, Sabre, GetThere, HRG and CWT before founding conTgo in 2007

Edgar Santiago, Global Corporate Account Manager, has been with Direct Travel for 16 years and with 28 years of Travel Industry experience in the greater Pacific Northwest. Edgar has an extensive background in supporting Travel Management program services for varying company types and sizes with a focus on data analytics, service delivery and traveler. In his spare time, Edgar is a musician, writer, enjoys a good book, and walks along the Oregon coastal beaches with his wife and dogs.

1:30PM Breakout Sessions

Anti-Human Trafficking Awareness — Amanda Swanson, Oregon Department of Justice, Cassie Trahan, A Village for One
DEI: Trans 101 — Mikki Gillette, Basic Rights Oregon

Description: Traveling can be stressful or uncomfortable for most of us from time-to-time. But those anxieties can be increased for transgender people who may experience challenges surrounding cultural norms, harassment, discrimination and more. This session will focus on key considerations for transgender travelers.

An avowed Portlander, Mikki Gillette (she/her) has been on the Basic Rights Oregon (BRO) staff for over seven years. As the Major Gifts Officer, she loves meeting with, and learning about, Basic Rights’ amazing supporters and connecting them with our important work. In addition to heading up BRO’s Major Gifts efforts, Mikki is on the grant writing team and oversees the Planned Giving program. A trans woman, Mikki earned her B.A. from UCLA and M.Ed from the U of O. Her hobbies include meditating, listening to too many podcasts and eating anything Buffalo-flavored. Mikki is also a playwright whose work chronicles the trans experience. She was named one of the “25 People Shaping the Arts in Portland” by Willamette Week in 2022.

Tech in Travel: Airlines — Reed Forrester, Delta Air Lines
Description: In this session we’ll explore ways to leverage current and emerging technologies to enable the smooth efficient use of time while on the road. Protecting road warriors time and providing them with solutions for enhanced productivity while traveling for business.

Reed Forrester is the General Manager-Sales, Pacific Northwest for Delta Air Lines based in Seattle. Prior to this role, he served as the Regional Sales Manager for Salt Lake City and the surrounding Inter-Mountain West region for Delta. Previous roles include District Sales Manager for Delta in New York City. He began his Travel Industry career with American Airlines in New York City and held various roles in his 12 years with American. Reed served as the Technology Chair for the UBTA (Utah Business Travel Association) for the last 3 years and is proud to continue his affiliation with GBTA-Oregon and Puget Sound’s Education Day.

2:30PM Breakout Sessions

Let’s Get Reel: Reels 101 — Kara Campuzano, KC Creative
Duty of Care in a Post Pandemic World — Tyler Hosford, Regional Security Manager, International SOS
Maximize your GBTA Membership — Angela Swoveland, Mailene Cline, GBTA

Description: The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) is the world’s premier business travel and meetings trade organization serving stakeholders across six continents. GBTA and its 7,600+ members represent and advocate for the $1.158 trillion global business travel and meetings industry. In this session, you’ll hear about the many benefits, resources and tools available to GBTA members.

Angela Swoveland’s passion for GBTA has been cultivated through her Chapter experience serving on the Membership Committee, as Treasurer and as President for the Baltimore Washington Chapter. During her Chairmanship, she led the taskforce to combine the Northern Virginia and Baltimore Washington Chapters into what is now the Greater DC Metro Chapter. She also served as Secretary/Treasurer of GBTA’s Chapter President’s Council. Angela now assists aspiring GBTA Leaders in her role at GBTA as Manager, Volunteer Relations and Strategy.

My journey in the hospitality industry has been nothing short of extraordinary. With a rich tapestry of experiences spanning 25+ years, I’ve had the privilege of working with renowned brands such as Four Seasons, Fairmont Hotels, Staypineapple Hotels, and Boeing. These ventures have paved the way for my current role as the Director of Business Development for the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA). My passion for fostering strategic partnerships and accelerating organizational growth is unwavering, and I am honored to be a part of a team that is wholeheartedly committed to excellence.
3:45PM Macro Trends in Travel, Panel Discussion:
Festive Road, adidas, MGM/Amazon Studios, Slalom, Smartsheet, Hudson River Trading

The GBTA Business Travel Index Outlook Report shows that business travel is coming back faster than first predicted. Coupled with macro trends impacting the travel sector, it’s no surprise managing travel looks different. Hear the 9 major trends impacting travel programs, the drivers of acceleration and what an esteemed panel of travel managers is doing in response.

Moderator: Katie Virtue, Principal of Supplier Consulting, Festive Road

At FESTIVE ROAD, the consultancy on a mission to #createbetter travel and meetings management, Katie is a purpose driven leader focused on inspiring people and programs to grow. She applies learnings from her 30 years of competitive ice hockey to provide playbooks, strategies and personal development approaches and is a frequent speaker on growth by #findingspace and on different business travel topics. She is a GBTA Ladders mentor and a member of the GBTA Technology Committee.

The Panel

Sara Satterlee is Global Travel Manager at Slalom, a Seattle-based consulting firm doing business in nine countries. Before working at Slalom, Sara was the Travel Manager at an architecture firm and now has more than eight years in travel program management. Previously, she worked in Operations, Human Resources Staffing and Project and Account Management. This year, Sara joined the GBTA Puget Sound board as Treasurer and loves the partnership shared with the GBTA Oregon chapter!

Lee Palmer Taylor served his country as a naval aviator, to seventeen years as a commercial airline pilot, to building a well-deserved and successful reputation in corporate travel management for companies that have included the National Basketball Association, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios. Currently Lee is taking on the new and exciting challenge of initiating and developing a travel centric subsidiary engagement program for Amazon. Lee currently serves as Chairperson of the GBTA Los Angeles Chapter and is a past President. He was honored to serve as a WINiT committee member and a member of their Male Allyship committee in 2022 and in his own words, “It was one of the highlights of my travel career to appear on the GBTA Mainstage during last year’s conference in front of my respected colleagues and friends.”

Joe Taus is the Global Travel& Expense Manager at Hudson River Trading. He has over twenty years in the travel industry, beginning as an account manager with United Airlines. Today, Joe oversees over $50M in global travel spend. His responsibilities encompass a complete end-to-end travel/expense offering. While Joe sits in HR, he is very actively involved with the procurement, events, and accounting teams. He has managed travel at fast-growing start-ups and Fortune 500 companies. Joe has presented at numerous industry functions including Business Travel News and Global Business Travel Association conferences. He has served on the GBTA Aviation Committee and the Portland International Air Service Committee. Although Joe has resided in the Pacific Northwest for over 30 years, he still proudly maintains his New Jersey accent!

Michelle Amos began her career in the corporate travel industry over 10 years ago as an Account Manager with Egencia.

In March 2020 (the 23rd to be exact – the day most corporate travel halted), Michelle joined Smartsheet as their Global Travel Manager – what a time to start with a new company! During the travel hiatus, she supported the Marketing, Events and Product Marketing teams from a Procurement perspective. Michelle also created and implemented a contingent and temporary workforce program.
She is actively involved with the GBTA Puget Sound Chapter. Michelle served two terms as Secretary, one term as Vice President and is the current President. In addition to her involvement with GBTA, Michelle has spoken at ProcureCon Travel and participated in several BTN Whitepapers.

4:45PM Silent Auction and Raffle Prizes

5:00PM Supplier Showcase Reception

6:00PM Conclusion of Education Day

Pricing and Registration

$175.00 Member Registration Fee
$225.00 after 12:00 am September 6
$150.00 Earlybird rate before July 20

$175.00 Guest Registration Fee – not at member of an affiliated Business Travel Association
$225.00 after 12:00 am September 6
$150.00 Earlybird rate before July 20

$175.00 Guest Registration Fee – Affilate Member of GBTA, PSBTA, INBTA or other BTA
$225.00 after 12:00 am September 6
$150.00 Earlybird rate before July 20