Amex Biz Travel & Industry Experts to Deliver Meetings Insight

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. July 23, 2009

JULY 23, 2009 - American Express business travel taps industry experts to Deliver meetings insight on Business Travel ConneXion during 'Meetings month'; On July 29th, Online Community Will Host Live Interactive Chat 'To Meet or Not to Meet - ROI is the Question'

American Express Business Travel, a global leader in business travel management, today announced 'Meetings Month', a month-long online event profiling discussion forums, white papers, community blogs and a Green Meetings Group aimed at providing insight and advice on managing meetings programs and delivering return-on-investment in meetings spend. The initiative is hosted on businesstravelconneXion.com (btX), the online corporate travel community powered by American Express Business Travel. btX harnesses the collective intelligence of individuals across the industry in offering a variety of perspectives, best practices, current research and industry news. All topics are available in an interactive format where people can follow other members, or subscribe to a blog or content posts.

'Meetings continue to be a vast area of savings opportunities,' said Issa Jouaneh, vice president, Strategic Meetings Management, American Express Business Travel. 'Meetings Month on btX provides access to knowledgeable strategic meetings management experts who can offer advice on effectively managing this area of spend, as well as provide resources that unveil new opportunities to drive substantial cost-savings.'

On July 29th, btX will host a live interactive chat entitled "To Meet or Not to Meet - ROI is the Question" with Chris Gaia, vice president of marketing with Maritz, John Arenas, chairman and CEO from Worktopia, and Ron Naples an Adjunct Professor at New York's University's Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism, and Sports Management to discuss the ROI of meetings. Tamara Gordon, global travel and meetings director with UnitedHealth Group will also join the panel to give the corporate perspective.

Other highlights include a white paper published by the National Business Travel Association (NBTA) detailing how to develop a strategic meeting management program. A grassroots initiative created by American Express Business Travel's Green Meetings Group offers a best practices forum where people can share insider tips, solutions, ideas, and interesting facts.

Lastly, community blogs serve as an open forum for participants to discuss meetings trends. Kim Boriin, vice president of education, Financial and Insurance Conference Planners Association posted a blog which offers her perspective on the evolution and importance of meetings stating, 'Adults learn best in peer to peer learning environments, not simply reading a textbook or memorizing a manual. A major reason we meet still is to keep risk at bay, keep productivity up, further our business goals and objectives, and keep 'our competitors' from compromising our business' goals.' Bob Bennett, COO of i-Meet.com, and former SVP of Business Development for StarCite is a key participant in this initiative, posting a piece on the pros and cons of social media's influence on meetings.

To participate in the discussions and access more information, please visit and join: www.BusinessTravelConneXion.com