Kevin Maguire, NBTA President & CEO, CCTE, said, "In an industry with constant changes, NBTA embraces cutting-edge technologies to benefit corporate travel professionals. This year, to complement our 2008 Convention, NBTA will offer online applications to further enhance its benefits to NBTA Members, Convention attendees, and the entire global corporate travel community. These innovations will allow travel buyers and suppliers to connect before and after the Convention and give those who are unfortunately unable to attend the opportunity to benefit from some Convention content and offerings."
NBTA Virtual Technology Pavilion
The Technology Pavilion, which has been a physical feature at the NBTA Annual Convention for the past nine years, has this year been moved online to become a 24/7 virtual exhibition hall with multiple interactive vendor booths and an online conference pavilion. Users can receive in-depth product and company information, including live demonstrations, from all participating vendors. Visitors can also communicate in real-time with exhibitors through instant messaging, chats, business card exchange and email. The Virtual Technology Pavilion is open now through early September.
NBTA Online Press Room
NBTA will again offer an Online Press Room, this year powered by Hsyndicate, to all corporate travel suppliers and members of the media. Exhibitor press releases posted to the Online Press Room will be displayed on the NBTA Convention website and sent via a daily email and RSS feed to all Convention attendees, NBTA Members unable to attend, all attending members of the media, and a special targeted list of industry reporters not in attendance. NBTA will also post Convention photos to the Online Press Room for daily access.
NBTA-TV
NBTA will this year produce a daily TV news program at the Convention to include stories featuring convention highlights, NBTA member and leadership interviews, new NBTA products and services, NBTA global affiliates and partnerships, and other new NBTA initiatives. On each day of the Convention, a freshly produced video will be streamed on the NBTA Convention webpage for daily access. The daily news programs will also be played at many of the Convention hotels, on the shuttle buses to and from hotels and Convention events, and on LCD screens around the Los Angeles Convention Center.
NBTA RADIO
NBTA RADIO will be launched at the 2008 Convention to give corporate travel professionals yet another way to connect with business travel experts who can provide industry insight to educate and motivate. Beginning July 27, the first day of the Convention, a half-hour NBTA RADIO segment hosted and produced by Sandy Dhuyvetter of TravelTalkMEDIA will be broadcast during regular TravelTalkMEDIA programming on Sundays at 2 p.m. EST. The TravelTalkMEDIA Team willalso broadcast live from the Convention on Sunday, July 27 from 9-11 a.m. All broadcasts are accessible via the NBTA RADIO website www.traveltalkmedia.com/nbtaradio.
NBTA Corporate Travel Marketplace
The NBTA Corporate Travel Marketplace (www.nbtamarketplace.org) is a 24-hour online resource through which corporate travel professionals can locate products and services within all segments of the industry. Using powerful search technology that continually indexes the content of participating supplier websites, the Marketplace offers users the option of performing keyword-driven searches or a category-specific search. Users can also download a free application that makes the directory accessible from their desktop. In addition, the directory has implemented Request For Information (RFI) functionality, allowing users to contact suppliers with the click of a button. NBTA will also distribute the Marketplace as a CD application at the Convention.
And More...
The Airline CEO Panel with Montie Brewer of Air Canada, Richard Anderson with Delta Air Lines, and Willie Walsh with British Airways, scheduled to take place at the Convention on Tuesday, July 29 at 9:30 a.m., will be also be available via the NBTA Convention website that afternoon. Convention attendees can access the full NBTA convention agenda, as well as information on the Exposition, via their personal digital assistant (PDA) at www.nbtaconvention.org/mobile.
For more information about the online applications offered at the 2008 NBTA International Convention & Exposition, please visit www.nbtaconvention.org or contact pr@nbta.org.
About NBTA
The National Business Travel Association (NBTA) is the world's premier business travel and corporate meetings organization. NBTA and its regional affiliates – NBTA Asia Pacific, NBTA Canada, NBTA Mexico and NBTA USA – serve a network of more than 15,000 business travel professionals around the globe with industry-leading events, networking, education & professional development, research, news & information, and advocacy. NBTA members, numbering more than 4,000 in 30 nations, are corporate and government travel and meetings managers, as well as travel service providers. They collectively manage and direct more than US$200 billion of global business travel and meetings expenditures annually on behalf of more than 10 million business travelers within their organizations. For more information, visit www.nbta.org.
