FESTIVE ROAD

Happy International Dog Day! 🐶 As a purpose-led and people-first company, we want our Roaders to live their best lives and this includes their pets! So the team has brought out the dogs and the other animals important in our lives (yes, the horse) to celebrate this International Dog Day! Give your furry friend an extra ear scratch, walk or bone today and we'd love for you to share a picture of your pooch or pet in the comments! #internationaldogday

Making the business case for budget for travel and meetings tech A poll of buyers by GBTA | Global Business Travel Association showed that 36% expected to spend more on tech this year than last. Not surprising given there are more tech solutions available and its rising importance in managing a travel and meetings program. However, many buyers can struggle to get approved budget, with some programs having no central budget to utilize. The Company Dime lays out 6 steps to build the business case and Festive Road's Caroline Strachan provides recommendations based on her experience managing leading travel and meetings program. - See if there is a company template for business cases - Seek out peers who have done it before - Try a “finance for non-finance managers” training program - Present three options: nothing, something wild and something in between that you prefer (they always pick the middle option) - Consider the Judgement, Drive and Influence components of your organization The article also includes recommendations from buyers Carey Pascoe, CCTE and Kimberly Meck, MBA. Caroline states: “Every company is like a game of chess. Which strategic game of chess will you be playing on that day within that company?” How else have you been successful in making the case for budget for technology? #createbetter #traveltechnology #businesscase

FESTIVE ROAD ADDS FOUR NEW ROADERS TO ITS OUTSOURCE SERVICE PRACTISE! In response to increasing client needs across a variety of execution areas, we’re excited to welcome these four exceptional Roaders to the hive mind. Meet Our New Roaders: Kelly Schimke - Regional Operations Manager, Americas, with a strong background in operations and leadership. Recently celebrated as GBTA Ladders’ ‘Mentee of the Year’! Cori Prasifka, MBA - Enhancing Traveler Communications and Engagement, Cori’s robust marketing background is already making a difference in our Dallas hub. Haripriya Ramesh - Joining our Tech & Data team as a Technical Program Manager, Hari is leveraging generative AI to innovate travel programs. Cat Maxwell Smith, MSMR - Strengthening our Customer Insights team, Cat’s expertise in Corporate Strategy is invaluable for travel program management. Our Head of Outsourcing, Louise Kilgannon, shared, “It has been fantastic to bring on new outsourcing Roaders with such a diverse and exciting range of skills and experiences. We are seeing the huge benefits in introducing new people to the industry and it is helping us to see travel quite differently, something which our clients are really taking advantage of. Our approach to resource management extends beyond the more ‘traditional’ travel roles and we are excited to see where this leads!” Join us in welcoming Kelly, Cori, Hari, and Cat to our hive mind! Click here https://lnkd.in/eK9pesEX to read more. At FESTIVE ROAD, we’re committed to being a people-first, people-led consultancy. Our mission? To create better programs for our clients, a supportive workplace for our people, and drive thought leadership across the industry. #createbetter #outsourcedtravel #TeamFESTIVEROAD

The Macroscope Trends Impacting Business Travel and Meetings We have now shared podcasts on each of the 9 trends that we believe are impacting travel and meetings from our Macroscope Report 2.0. In this final podcast of the series, Roaders Mike Orchard, Lora Ellis, Louise Kilgannon and Katie Virtue share a summarized view of all the trends and what we are working on with our buyer clients in response. Take a listen here: https://lnkd.in/gCEEy7NG We'd love to know - which trend is currently impacting your program the most? Are there any key trends not covered? All the series podcasts are located here: https://lnkd.in/gxes4eES And the full Macroscope Report 2.0 can be found here: https://lnkd.in/g9JSs9fS #createbetter #traveltrends

Where can you find our Roaders in August? It's a quieter month as many holidays and vacations take place, but we still have a few Roaders sharing their insights on webinars in August. Catch Sally Higgs talking about sustainable travel policies on the Clarasight webinar today. Then hear Louise Kilgannon moderate a buyer knowledge exchange for ITM | Institute of Travel Management on Accessible travel on August 14. #createbetter

Have you seen this Lego?! 🚨 We are sad to report that the IIP (Immortalized in Plastic) Lego of Caroline Strachan has gone missing. She was last seen with her to-do list on Stand 3322 at GBTA Convention in Atlanta alongside the other IIP Lego Roaders and their pets. If you have any information on her whereabouts, we are offering a mentoring session as a reward for the return. Please don’t attempt any copycats, we know the detailed characteristics of the Caroline Strachan Lego. If you do find her, please be careful not to step on her, as is often the case with Legos and her to-do list is sharp. (If you do happen to find her by stepping on her, we will happily provide you with a purple band-aid). We appreciate any information and leads as the Roaders of Festive Road search for their Lego leader. #findlegoCaroline

Our Roaders had a great time at GBTA | Global Business Travel Association Convention in Atlanta last week! Here were just some of the highlights: Hosting our annual Brunch where attendees could Play, Thrive and Be Well  Spending time together as a team with abundant laughter  Letting attendees create Lego people, aligned to our mission to Create Better. And let’s not forget the insights shared: Lora Ellis talking about the TMC Dating Game and the Different Travel Program Models  Barbara A. Arena discussing the Annual Hotel RFP and Sustainability  Katie Virtue sharing her 70% solution to achieve Bold Balance  Caroline Strachan inspiring the GBTA Committees on making the greatest impact in your career    Thank you to all our clients, industry friends and new connections for a wonderful event and we hope your Lego person is a reminder that you can Create Better. 💜

Kickstarting GBTA | Global Business Travel Association Convention! Yesterday we hosted our annual brunch with our clients and friends and focused on helping everyone charge up to thrive for the week. We had fun at our Thrive, Be Well and Play stations featuring stretching, care kits and some special lego characters. Thank you to all those who attended (our avocados as we like to call them) and we know you will Create Better this week. Feeling some lego FOMO? Stop by booth 3322 where we’ve got more legos and you can create and accessorize your own plastic person!

Future Proof Friday 🔉 We are excited to share the next episode in our Future Proof Friday series to provide insights that will help you to future proof your #businesstravel and #meetings program. In episode two, Katie Virtue interviews Louise Kilgannon on Resource Planning to answer questions we often get asked such as: - How many resources does my travel and meetings program need? - What should the operating model look like considering both my team and supplier resources? - How should regions, categories and other responsibilities be split? If you are trying to tackle these areas, then take a listen. And let us know - how do you approach resource planning? #createbetter #resourceplanning #futureproof

How are Travel Management KPI's Changing? Mike Orchard, Head of Performance at FESTIVE ROAD, shared several ways to monitor traveler satisfaction, which can reflect employee productivity and impact retention in the The Company Dime article below. We love working with our clients to Create Better KPIs that will drive value for their program and enable a high performing partnership with the supplier. What KPIs are proving most successful for your program? #travelersatisfaction #createbetter