2016-02 - 22 Ballroom 14:00-19:00 Agenda TIME SESSION SPEAKER 14:00 Welcome Dawn Repoli, Program Director, WINiT Vivek Thadhani, VP Sales & Marketing, Luxury Hotels Group 14:20-15:05 Dealing with Challenging People Session, Panel and Q and A 15:05-15:45 Key Note: Negotiating in Business Managing Your Career Q and A 15:45-16:00 Coffee Break 16:00-16:45 Negotiation Skills Panel Discussion followed by Q and A Facilitator: Kalwant Gill, Founder, PatchworkQuilt Panelists: Emma Davey, EMEA Regional Travel Manager, AIG Patricia Gardiner, Head of Global Marketing, Tristar Worldwide Scott Gillespie, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, tclara Craig Kreeger, CEO, Virgin Atlantic Airways Facilitator: Jennifer Charlton, VP, Head of Supplier Relations, EMEA, Amex GBT Panelists: Anja Turner, Head of Corporate Marketing, HRS Sam Cande, Commercial Director, Centaur Media (Business Travel Show) 16:45 Closing Remarks Dawn Repoli, Program Director, WINiT 17:00-19:00 Networking Cocktail Reception (Ballroom and Foyer) WINiT is a network of women and men serving as a catalyst to drive change, provide support and educate the public about the benefits of career development, visibility and mobility of women in the travel, meeting, event and exhibition industries. www.womenintravel.org 1 of 11
Speakers Bio Sam Cande Commercial Director, Centaur Media Sam Cande is the Commercial Director for the travel portfolio of Centaur Live, directing the exhibition side of the Business Travel Show which takes place each year in London. This is the largest event in Europe, bringing together over 7500 corporate travel professionals. She also oversees the Travel Technology Europe event and is responsible for the new corporate travel knowledge platform Business Travel iq. Now in her 3rd year directing the events, Sam has been instrumental in growing the size of the event, bringing new brands and well over 275 exhibitors taking up over 3800sqm. She works closely with the Business Travel Show advisory board, a group of global travel managers that ensures each event produced is right for the audience. The show has been a finalist in the Exhibition News Awards for the last two years for Best Trade Show and received a special commendation in 2014 highlighting its growth and development in recent years. With more than 15 years of experience in the exhibition, conference and media sector, Sam brings people together and ensures they network as creatively as possibly to benefit both suppliers and buyers. Prior to joining Centaur, Sam worked in the bathroom, kitchen and housing industries. By focusing on and understanding the needs of each specific industry, she increased the size of a previous event from three halls to seven halls. Sam was also solely responsible for launching two shows in two different markets during challenging financial times. Sam sits on her company development board, she won sales leader of the year at her companies awards December 2015 and has been invited to sit as a non-exec board member to a start-up company in the events industry. www.womenintravel.org 2 of 11
Speakers Bio Jennifer Charlton Vice President, Head of Supplier Relations, EMEA Amex GBT Jennifer Charlton is Vice President/ Head of Supplier Relations for Europe, Middle East, and Africa at Amex GBT. Jennifer leads a supplier facing team of industry professionals across EMEA. The team is responsible for driving enhanced customer and supplier value and business results across EMEA and the global Meeting and Events portfolio within Amex GBT. Jennifer joined Amex GBT in January 2015 and brings with her 25 years of experience in Travel negotiations and procurement. Prior to joining GBT Jennifer spent 10 years working for Carlson Wagonlit Travel as Global VP Supplier Management where she has run Meeting and Events teams, managed the hotel proposition globally and ran Supplier Management in EMEA and APAC. Jennifer also spent 12 years with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines based in Italy and then the UK working with both customer and trade channels and two years as Global Director of Sales for Thistle and Guoman Hotels. www.womenintravel.org 3 of 11
Speakers Bio Emma Davey EMEA Regional Travel Manager, AIG Emma Davey joined AIG in May 2013, responsible for the Travel, Meetings & Events program across 47 countries in EMEA. With extensive international experience in Travel, Meetings & Events, Emma has lived and worked in the UK, Netherlands, Germany, Hong Kong and Singapore. Prior to joining AIG, Emma worked for 5 years across APAC and EMEA for Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT), both as a Global Sales Director and as a Regional Program Manager. Emma has also held international sales roles in medical tourism exhibitions and C-Level corporate hospitality at prestigious sporting events, such as the Olympics, Formula 1 and Rugby World Cup. Emma speaks German as a second language and studied a Bsc in International Management with German at Bath University, UK. www.womenintravel.org 4 of 11
Speakers Bio Patricia Gardiner Head of Global Marketing, Tristar Worldwide Patricia Gardiner joined Tristar Worldwide Chauffeur Services in 2012 as Head of Global Marketing. Based in London, UK. In the relatively short time that Patricia has been with the company she has launched a global brand refresh, a bespoke mobile app in the UK, a new online booking tool and overhauled the marketing strategy and breathed new life into social media marketing with great effect. Patricia is a passionate and creative marketer who has over 12 years B2B marketing and management experience across a broad range of industries. The experience of working both client side and agency has given her a great insight into a number of different markets, techniques, tools and mediums to market effectively in the B2B world and deliver a return on marketing investment. Following the global brand refresh in 2013 Patricia secured a UK industry award for marketing as well as working to help Tristar Worldwide receive a number of awards including QSi Large Chauffeur Operator, QSi Chauffeur of 2013, ROSPA Management of Road Risk and ROSPA Health and Safety to name a few. Prior to joining Tristar Worldwide Patricia was Marketing Operations Director of a marketing agency consulting for a number of clients across a range of sectors including Travel, Legal, Financial, Technology and Not for Profit. Patricia received her Master s in Marketing in 2002 and a 2:1 honours degree in Marketing in 2001 from the University of Hertfordshire. www.womenintravel.org 5 of 11
Speakers Bio Kalwant Gill Founder, PatchworkQuilt Ltd. Having spent 18 years in senior sales leadership positions both in the corporate banking and IT sector, Kalwant Gill (realising the significant gaps in the market place) now runs her own company offering inclusion, diversity and collaborative working solutions. Working with senior management in large global corporations, her clients describe her work as unique, impactful, multi pronged, inspirational and authentic. Harvard Business School employed her to help with their Future of Inclusion strategy. Kalwant has a MsC in Economics, sits on several local sustainability and environmental committees, is the Founding Director of PatchworkQuilt, works with senior management in global organisations, is a volunteer writer for the farming and food supplier community, writes and speaks about the importance of eating well and being well, certified NLP practitioner, Life Coach as well as being a strong proponent of mindfulness in business. www.womenintravel.org 6 of 11
Speakers Bio Scott Gillespie Co-Founder and Managing Director, tclara Scott often breaks new ground and a bit of glass in the corporate travel industry. Scott is a leading authority on travel procurement, travel friction and the total cost of travel. As Managing Director of tclara, he is developing the next generation of benchmarking for airfares and traveler friction. He is the author of a U.S. patent, has been named one of Business Travel News Top 25 Executives, and a Thought Leader by Buying Business Travel. Scott writes the popular blog Gillespie s Guide to Travel + Procurement, and speaks at travel industry conferences around the world. Scott holds an MBA from the University of Chicago. He and his family reside near Cleveland. www.womenintravel.org 7 of 11
Speakers Bio Craig Kreeger CEO, Virgin Atlantic Airways Craig Kreeger was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Virgin Atlantic Airways on 1 February 2013 which has a fleet of 40 long haul aircraft, flying six million passengers a year all over the world. He joined from American Airlines (AA), where he had a 27-year career spanning commercial, financial and strategic roles in the US and around the globe. During the last two years at Virgin Atlantic, Craig has led his team in its recovery plan, returning the business to profit, improving customer experience and employee engagement with the aim to achieve Virgin s ambition to be the best airline to serve long haul customers wherever we fly. Craig holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the University of California at San Diego, and a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of California at Los Angeles. www.womenintravel.org 8 of 11
Speakers Bio Dawn Repoli Program Director, Mentor Program Facilitator, WINiT WomenInTravel Dawn Repoli is the WINiT Program Administrator responsible for the coordination and facilitation of the 9 committees and over 100 volunteers in the WINiT organization. Dawn also manages the WINiT vendor relationships and billing. Furthermore, she is responsible for the 2014/2015 Mentor Program management in partnership with the Mentor and Coaching Committee and fund development in partnership with the Sponsorship and Fund Development Committee. Dawn is a certified grant writer and an experienced fund raising event coordinator and she has extensive experience working with 501c(3) non-profit start-up organizations. As a former small business owner, her experiences range from preparing a business plan and securing financing, to the implementation of expansion strategies. She has procured federal, state and local licenses and permits and has collaborated with several committees and executive boards modifying by-law structure and computer program development. www.womenintravel.org 9 of 11
Speakers Bio Vivek Thadhani VP Sales and Marketing, Luxury Hotels Group Vivek Thadhani has 15 years of experience in luxury sales and marketing. In his previous role he was the Regional Director of Sales and Marketing in the UK and Europe for Leela Palaces Hotels and Resorts India. Prior to The Leela he spent six years with the Edwardian Group in London as Director of Sales of the iconic May Fair Hotel. He joined The May Fair from Jajja Communications in Stockholm, Sweden. In addition, his international experience has allowed roles in the Middle East, India and Europe. Under his leadership, Vivek and his team drive revenue into the network of hotels globally that are part of the LHG portfolio. He has been instrumental in creating Luxurist Events for the group which has been designed to drive incremental revenue into the member hotels. Vivek also overlooks the brand creative team and ensures that all the companies communications are consistent with the brand guidelines. Vivek has a Dual Honours Degree in Business Administration and Environmental Management from Keele University in Staffordshire, UK. www.womenintravel.org 10 of 11
Speakers Bio Anja Turner Head of Corporate Marketing, HRS Anja Turner has an extensive background in B2B Marketing spending most of her career in the corporate travel sector. Currently she leads an international team of marketers at HRS a global hotel solution provider and challenger of today s business travel ecosystem. HRS has been around for over 40 years and is headquartered in Cologne, Germany. Anja is charged expanding the HRS corporate brand globally, growing share of wallet in established markets and supporting Sales in acquisition and retention activities worldwide. Before HRS, Anja worked at BCD Travel in various positions. In her last role she lead EMEA s Marketing and Communications team and build the bridge between global and local while balancing business needs and country nuances. She s been coming up with effective ways to messages value and solutions to all industry stakeholders and lure them into engagement through their general need for savings, productivity, duty of care or employee retention opportunities. Before joining the corporate world, Anja received her Bachelor degree in business and international marketing at the DePaul University in Chicago. When she isn t in front of her multiple devices or travelling for business, she spends time with her husband, their 10-year old daughter and 5-year old son in Germany. www.womenintravel.org 11 of 11