The Biz at BTN Podcast

Closing out this podcast series, BTN’s 2024 Travel Manager of the Year, Gilead’s Steve Sitto, chats with BTN executive editor Michael B. Baker about strategies for responsible collaboration, both with start-ups and legacy players, as well as how to drive compliance through AI and cost savings through personalization.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When faced with the rapidly approaching deadline for American Airlines’ removal of content from EDIFACT channels last year, Oracle travel operations director Brian Hendrickson was able to work with his travel management company, online booking tool and global distribution system to enable touchless ticketing for NDC a few days before that deadline hit. Hear his story, along with how he has grown NDC bookings since those early days and how he plans to keep adapting for the future.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Faced with growing demand for internal meetings and limited support staff to manage them, Elevance Health travel services manager worked with his company’s meetings and events teams to create an attendee management dashboard to streamline the meeting management process. Hear how he went about creating this tool, bumps along the way and the newfound efficiencies meeting and event planners at Elevance are enjoying as a result of having this tool at their disposal.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

BTN executive editor Michael B. Baker chats with Akamai Technologies' director of global travel and expense, Priscilla Campbell. Campbell took the reigns on supporting remote workers with satellite meeting spaces. She leveraged her hotel partners to ensure clusters of employees had access to physical meeting spaces for collaborative work events. Baker and Campbell talk about the impact of hybrid work environments on travel and how the needs of employers translate into opportunities for travel managers.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

BTN executive editor Michael B. Baker hosts 2024 BTN Best Practitioner Dorian Stonie, Salesforce senior director of global travel. In this episode, aired Sept. 16, Stonie talks about working with legacy ecosystem players American Express GBT and Concur to implement New Distribution Capability content at scale and what the future holds for the Salesforce program with NDC now fully in play.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

NDC Ecosystem Update 2024 - Part 3: BTN Sr. Editor Donna M. Airoldi talks with Oracle's Rita Visser, EAB's Steven Mandelbaum and ZS Associates' Suzanne Boyan on the buyer perception, currently reality and ultimate potential of New Distribution Capability. Discover who’s already rolling with NDC and who isn’t—but more importantly, why and how. LISTEN NOW.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

NDC Ecosystem Update 2024 - Part 2: BTN Executive Editor Michael B. Baker chats up Amex GBT’s John Bukowski, AmTrav’s Jeff Klee, BCD’s Thane Jackson, Encore’s Jake Jonassohn, and Spotnana's Seth Anagnostis about the challenges intermediaries have faced integrating NDC content channels, but also about the opportunities that it should open up. LISTEN NOW. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

NDC Ecosystem Update Part 1- Airlines & Aggregators: BTN Sr. Transportation Editor Donna M. Airoldi talks with Neil Geurin from American Airlines, Jay Richmond from Amadeus, and Tye Radcliffe from Accelya. LISTEN NOW. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

BTN editors tackle some of the key issue facing the corporate travel industry today. Why has M&A activity in the travel industry slowed down? How do travel buyers maintain policy controls amid the direct push to travelers from supplier loyalty programs? Does proposed regulation for the U.S. credit card industry pose a threat to loyalty programs? How quickly will TMCs adopt AI technology? Will online booking tools ever be able to truly satisfy corporate travel needs? How is the corporate travel industry addressing accessibility needs? BTN senior editor Donna Airoldi, contributing editor Amon Cohen, managing editor Chris Davis, BTN Europe editor-in-chief Andy Hoskins and BTN Group editorial director Elizabeth West all join host and BTN executive editor Michael Baker to answer those questions and more.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

HRS SVP and Managing Director for the Americas talks with BTN Executive Editor Michael B. Baker about attribute based selling for hotels and why the retailing and personalization revolution won't be limited to the airline industry. How will distribution channels respond? What about booking tools? And can the industry keep up with the demands of business travelers?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Fox World Travel VP of business travel George Kalka encourages travel managers to keep a redefined NDC in mind for 2024—nourish, delight and choice—as travelers' expectations for traveler care and wellness are evolving. Join BTN podcast host and executive editor Michael Baker to consider how "policy elasticity" can help travel managers keep up with those expectations, which can help promote retention and efficiency, without giving up the ghost on controlling costs. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you measure sustainability of your business travel program solely by your carbon footprint, you're not getting the whole picture. Hear from BCD Travel VP of sustainability Olivia Ruggles-Brise on the importance of biodiversity in combating climate change, the efforts to measure it and where the business travel industry can make the biggest impact. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Social capital—or, as Festive Road managing partner Paul Tilstone describes it, "stuff that impacts your brain and your heart"—can be a valuable return from business travel, whether it's building a relationship that eventually results in a sale or driving collaboration that produces better end results for a company. How can you measure it, how can you maximize and how can you ensure its value is considered when travel budgets are under discussion?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Special guest Flight Centre chief experience officer John Morhous kicks off our What to Watch series with and existential crisis. Do we still know what corporate travel is? Compliance? Policy? Podcast host and BTN executive editor Michael B. Baker jumps into the abyss with Morhous for 27 minutes. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Yvonne Moya joined Randstad as its global travel manager just prior to the Covid-19 pandemic. She was tasked with globalizing the program. And she did it, but how she negotiated contracts and forged partnerships was unconventional to say the least. She spoke to BTN about how the pandemic changed her processes but not her goals. She sees innovation as the path forward, but also is pragmatic about what innovation can happen now and what travel managers will have to wait for. She spoke to BTN about her experiences, about her reaction to her new global TMC Egencia announcing it would be acquired by American Express Global Business Travel and about how Randstad is getting its core business travelers back on the road.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Path Back to Business Travel is BTN's newest podcast miniseries. Listen to crack-shot travel managers talk about how they are handling their organization's return-to-travel strategies, what has changed about their travel program or policy, how their travelers are responding and when they expect travel volume to ramp up. Episode 1: Takeda Pharmaceutical Elevates the Travel Experience Global head of travel, meetings and events, aviation and fleet Michelle De Costa globalized Takeda's travel program during the pandemic, while maintaining about 20 percent of the global pharmaceutical company's 2019 travel volume. She used the experiences of the traveling few to inform Takeda's return-to-travel strategy and education programs. Realizing that managing the travel experience will be more important than ever, De Costa invested in new technologies to keep Takeda travelers informed and confident as they get back on the road.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Path Back to Business Travel is BTN's newest podcast miniseries. Listen to crack-shot travel managers talk about how they are handling their organization's return-to-travel strategies, what has changed about their travel program or policy, how their travelers are responding and when they expect travel volume to ramp up. Episode 2: Willis Towers Watson Defines New Ways of Thinking About Travel Business travel at risk management, insurance and advisory firm Willis Towers Watson slowed to a trickle during the pandemic. Global procurement director Emma Jones took the moment to reassess the purpose of business travel for the company and to work with a strategic group to shape the strategic future for Willis Towers Watson travelers, taking into account the critical need for in-person interactions to support the business but also traveler well-being and a commitment to sustainability. She spoke with BTN editorial director Elizabeth West about how she put structure around travel decision-making and why. [Editor's note: Jones has stepped away from her role at Willis Towers Watson in the weeks since BTN interviewed her. This was a planned departure, and she continues her Board of Directors role at the Institute of Travel Management.]See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

BTN’s first series of podcasts, The Influencers, gets up close with the innovators and envelope pushers who most influenced the business travel sector in 2020. What are they doing now and what is their outlook as the industry recovers? BTN Editorial Director Elizabeth West interviews industry leaders who made big moves during the pandemic. Episode 1: Jamie Pherous, Managing Director, Corporate Travel Management Australia-based TMC Corporate Travel Management stretched its reach in 2020, making a big move into North America with the acquisition of Milwaukee-based TMC Travel and Transport. He talks with BTN Editorial Director, Elizabeth West on how travel demand recovery in the Asia-Pacific bodes well for the rest of the world.    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

BTN’s first podcast series The Influencers gets up close with innovators and envelope pushers who most influenced the business travel sector in 2020. What are they doing now and what is their outlook as the industry recovers? BTN Editorial Director Elizabeth West interviews industry leaders who made big moves during the pandemic. Episode 2: Emmanuelle Gailland, VP Distribution, Air France-KLM Air France-KLM distribution VP forged a new model for Airline-TMC-GDS agreements that motivates the TMC to make choices about the value of airline content per channel. The airline continues to be aggressive in how it pushes content into the managed travel market, and it’s doing so on its own terms. Gailland speaks to BTN Editorial Director Elizabeth West.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

BTN’s first podcast series, The Influencers, gets up close with innovators and envelope pushers who most influenced the business travel sector in 2020. What are they doing now and what is their outlook as the industry recovers? BTN Editorial Director Elizabeth West interviews industry leaders who made big moves during the pandemic. Episode 3: Ralph Kaiser, CEO, UATP Airline-owned payment platform UATP stepped into the gap when corporates and airlines needed solutions to deal with the unused tickets/cancellation refunds that proliferated in the Covid-19 pandemic. UATP has done more than that, and is facilitating innovation in global markets for both consumer and corporate payment. CEO Ralph Kaiser talks with BTN Editorial Director Elizabeth West.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.