Volunteerism at Its Finest

Welcome to my first official post on the newly created GBTA blog!  This will be my main form of communication with you.  Since all of us get so many emails every day I thought it would be great to create one central place for you to be able to hear from me and others about all the great things going on at GBTA.

Speaking of things going on at GBTA, last week we hosted our annual All Committee Summit.  This is a perfect example of volunteerism at its finest.  We had a record turnout with over 80 members flying into Alexandria for two and half days of meetings, updates and presentations.  The event kicked off on Monday as we gathered into chilly conference rooms at the Hotel Monaco with a very productive Committee Chair meeting where we brainstormed pressing issues such as open booking, managed travel and the concept of the “empowered” traveler.  We also heard from GBTA staff members in each department about the hard work they are doing.

The following day we broke out into groups to develop priorities and project lists for 2014.  The committee chairs also brought back the brainstorming ideas discussed the day before. There is a great deal of hard work that goes into creating the goals of each committee for the following year.  I have worked on and chaired the Technology committee and know the amount of time and effort it takes to make the committees successful.  So, thank you for all of your hard work!

A special shout out to the new board committee liaisons and long time GBTA members, Rita Visser and Denise Truso for their help and guidance with all the GBTA committees. Their participation is instrumental in keeping the board briefed on the great work of this very dedicated volunteer group. 

And in order to continue to foster the ongoing and open communication between committees, a new group called “All Committee Group” will be created on the GBTA Hub.  The group will be open to all committee members so they can view all of the presentations developed at the Summit and collaborate with the other committees.

This was a great couple of days. I met some new people, reconnected with others and heard about so many exciting projects and goals for the coming year.  I continue to feel energized and hopeful about the projects and milestones we plan to achieve at GBTA.   Again, I would like to thank all of the Committees and companies that allow this level of volunteer participation on behalf of GBTA.

As always, please reach out to me with any questions or feedback.