Season 2 kick off

We're back, baby! 

Season 2 of Connections with BCD Travel finds hosts Chad Lemon and Miriam Mosovici reconnecting after a few months off. The two introduce a new segment to the podcast, give a sneak peak into some topics that will be covered this season, and bring on some colleagues to talk about investments, strength and industry events. 

Connections with BCD Travel is a podcast designed for travel managers to move their program forward, but anyone in the industry can benefit from hearing the insights and advice discussed on each episode. Have a comment or suggestion? Connect with us by going to www.bcdtravel.com/podcast.

Learn more by visiting https://www.bcdtravel.com or https://www.linkedin.com/company/bcd-travel/

Transcript

Miriam Moscovici:

I'm on this matzo ball soup kick.

Chad Lemon:

Delicious.

Miriam Moscovici:

And I'm making it every week.

Chad Lemon:

Every week?

Miriam Moscovici:

And I feel like my budget works out to two and a half matzo balls a day. That's how I'm rationing out the week's worth of matzo balls. So anyway, I'm out of matzo meal.

Intro:

Welcome to Connections with BCD Travel, an ongoing conversation about the modern day travel program, the impact of technology, and how travel buyers can take control and drive change. What are we waiting for? Let's start connecting.

Chad Lemon:

Hello everyone. What's happening? Whoa. That was not me at all. Who was that? Hello, everyone. If you are new to the Connections with BCD Travel podcast, welcome. We're glad that you're here. And if you are a loyal listener from season one, welcome back. My name is Chad Lemon, I'm one of your hosts, and I work in Digital Strategy and Advancement at BCD.

Miriam Moscovici:

Hey everyone, I'm Miriam Moscovici. I lead the Partnerships and Intelligence team at BCD Travel. Can you believe we finally get to launch season two of the podcast, Chad?

Chad Lemon:

I mean, I must admit, not connecting and talking with you for almost two months has been a little sad for me, Miriam. So I am excited to get back to it, back to our normal routine and publish some new episodes. To all of our listeners, Connections is a podcast that focuses on the travel managers out there. Now we know other people in the business travel industry listen in, but we're really talking to all the programs out there. We bring on experts to discuss the topics that will help drive change for your travel program, and our goal is to always leave you with some tips or insight. Miriam, anything to add to that?

Miriam Moscovici:

Well, it's also important to note that while our focus is on travel technology, we're going to venture into topics that everyone in the travel industry should care about, things like sustainability, risk management, and DE&I. So how do we go about deciding on these topics? Well, in part from you, our listeners. So please go to bctravel.com/podcast to submit feedback directly to me and Chad. And who knows? Maybe one of your comments are even going to make their way onto this podcast.

Chad Lemon:

Yeah, we love getting those and we're excited to share some of them this season. So Miriam, this episode is to kick off our second season, and I thought it would be fun to tell our listeners about some new format changes we're making, talk about some of the topics we have planned for the year, and even bring on some of our colleagues.

Miriam Moscovici:

Don't worry. You'll still be hearing about some crazy stories and reactions, as always.

Chad Lemon:

Of course.

Miriam Moscovici:

It's Chad and I, and of course, a long story about monkeys crawling into your hotel room windows or celebrity sightings or other nutty things we get up to. Those things are going to come up all year.

Chad Lemon:

Well, one of the new segments we are adding this season is called The Quick 60 in Business Travel. And essentially, it will be me sharing some interesting findings that the BCD Research and Intelligence team that Miriam actually leads, some things that they publish, and probing her thoughts and opinions or additional context on those. So yeah, really excited about that one.

Miriam Moscovici:

Are we going to start with this episode?

Chad Lemon:

Yeah, why not? Okay, so let's not zero in maybe on specific content that we'll do, but I know that you and the team published a sustainability report recently. I loved it, but I'd love to hear your insight on it as well.

Miriam Moscovici:

Well, I think one of the things that makes this report so special is not only the topic, which is really important to most of the folks that are listening, most of the folks that we work with, but it's unique in that we worked with two cohorts we have. We've got a couple of panels we've been working with over the last several years in developing those panels. These are panels of business travelers around the world and business travel buyers around the world. And so for this study, we surveyed over 100 travel buyers and almost 2,000 business travelers to get these results. And what's fun about this study is that we compare what the travel buyer is saying is important to them around sustainability and what they're doing, and then fill in with some of the responses and what the travelers are actually experiencing or need relating to sustainability. So it's a really interesting study and we're proud to share it.

Chad Lemon:

Yeah, absolutely. So we are going to explore some of the findings and topics within that report over the course of these next three or four launch episodes. And then for all of our listeners, you can expect us to talk about a lot of the reports and findings that the Research and Intelligence team publishes throughout the season. So really looking forward to that. But let's give our listeners a quick preview of what we'll be talking about this season.

Miriam Moscovici:

Okay. Of course, we don't have everything planned out, but I'm excited to connect on a bunch of topics. So I'll go through a few of them. We've got duty of care and risk management, some advances we're making in those areas coming up. Of course, we're going to invite Rossana Martin back for her super popular state of the industry episodes. Those are fun. She loves coming on and sharing what's new out there. And those were some of our most downloaded episodes in 2023, Chad, so glad to have her back. And then I got to be honest, I'm looking forward to a cute episode we've got planned for Valentine's Day. Won't give it all away, but we've got the BCD marketplace team coming on to play matchmaker.

Chad Lemon:

Yeah, that one's going to be really fun too. So I'm looking forward to that one, of course. But also things like we're going to do a neurodiversity in business travel and what TMC's air/hotel suppliers, what they're all doing to make things more inclusive. We also have our BCD consulting arm at Advito back on a few episodes to share some they've been making. And I know you'll be excited about this one too, but we have our traveler experience team coming on to talk about rail travel. And if you listened in year one of the podcast, you know that Miriam and I are both big fans of rail travel. So I'm looking forward to that episode.

Miriam Moscovici:

Well, and I think, not coincidentally, the research team is actually working on some new rail research as we speak. So there's no coincidences going on behind the scenes.

Chad Lemon:

Oh. Well, I'll be looking forward to that report. And it's no secret. Like I said, I'd rather sit on a train than drive or fly or just about anything, really.

Miriam Moscovici:

So to all of our listeners, we hope that you enjoy the content we have planned for you. And if you don't, suggest something. Like I said, we'd love to hear from you.

Chad Lemon:

Okay. So what do you say? We talk to some of our colleagues who are waiting in the wings?

Miriam Moscovici:

Yeah, let's do it.

Chad Lemon:

So we want to bring back Jorge Cruz, our EVP of Sales and Marketing, back onto the podcast. First, welcome back to Connections. You joined us for one of our final episodes of season one and talked about the state of the industry as well as some insight into 2024. So now that we're a few weeks into 2024, do you still have that same vision? Is your outlook still the same or are you noticing any surprises on the horizon?

Jorge Cruz:

We are very, very excited about 2024. When I spoke about 2024, we were optimistic and eager, but just really sunsetting 2023. Now that we're in 2024, things are crystal clear for us. We've had outstanding movement in a lot of different areas like investments in tech. We're in the process of closing out a very, very successful revenue year, a great sales year, and a great retention year. So we're super excited. So for us, it's been crystallized, and now we're really putting those plans to action. People came back energized and ready to go, and we're eager about what 2024 stands for and looks like for us.

Miriam Moscovici:

Jorge, can you talk briefly about BCD? And by that I mean, how would you describe things like strength, stability, and vision to our current clients and our prospects who are listening?

Jorge Cruz:

Very similar to like others describe it, but with a little couple add-ons. Obviously you know that we have great, strong financial acumen and financial strength. That really allows us a couple of things. I think I've spoken about this in the past. Driving a good EBITDA year is important not because of what it does to the company in terms of profitability, but what that EBITDA allows us to do is to make investments back into the organization that strengthen our employee base with tools and technology, and more importantly, allows us to continue to make investments into research, development of new products and tools that ultimately will impact not only our existing clients but our real prospects as well. So that strong financial sense is really about really being able to drive the future and affords us, pun intended, the opportunity to do that.

Chad Lemon:

Well, it's always great insights from you as usual, and I'm sure we'll have you back onto the podcast soon. But always great hearing and seeing from you.

Jorge Cruz:

Oh, great. Thanks for having me, and I look forward to seeing many of you out and about at the various events this year. I think we have Anja queued up next to talk about some of those events, but you'll see us being proud and present in many events throughout 2024. So we look forward to seeing you there this year.

Chad Lemon:

We also have Anja Turner joining us today. She's based in Germany and is our VP of Marketing.

Anja Turner:

Hi. Hi, everyone. Thanks for having me, Chad and Miriam. It's I think my first podcast with you. I'm quite excited.

Chad Lemon:

I know.

Miriam Moscovici:

You and your team are heavily involved in BCD's presence at events all over the world. We wanted to have you on to give some insight into why it's important that we're at these events.

Anja Turner:

Sure. Happy to tell you. I personally think it's really important because it's a lot what I do and my team does. So there's that argument.

Chad Lemon:

Of course.

Anja Turner:

Clearly. We manage business travel, and a big focus of that is certainly B2B. But the travel industry as a whole, I would say, is really driven by human connections, and events really help us make those human connections. And it's a perfect platform for us to foster those old relationships as much as making a few new ones. The personal networking, I think is really essential, especially in our industry where we rely heavily on business partners and collaboration. I think we really can get out from under human connections, and having the events is a great platform. But I can give you at least 10 more good benefits. Let me distill it down to three or four more.

I would say every event where we have a positive presence, where we show up, we show our customers too, that we are there for them. They can count on us, and we are here to stay. There's a consistency. And we also show our future customers what we have in store for them. Often we get the opportunity to present new developments and innovation coming down the pipe. And as Jorge mentioned, a lot of new investments happening too. Events are a really good place, Chad, to see what's hot. You walk the expo floor, you listen to sessions, and you just stay in the know. It's like having your ear to the ground in the industry. Every time personally I go, I learn a ton of new stuff. And it's also a good place to learn what's not hot, I mean, if you want to say it that way.

Chad Lemon:

Absolutely. That's valid.

Anja Turner:

And lastly, we use events as a platform to really share intel and thought leadership with a lot of speakers on stage often. And you, Miriam, you and your team create a huge amount of research and intel, and it would be just a shame to keep it all to ourselves. So we spread the love at every event we go. So as much as it is an educational opportunity for us, it's certainly also an investment in our future growth.

Chad Lemon:

Give our listeners the inside scoop. Where can they expect to see us this year? What events are you and the team planning for?

Anja Turner:

Let's see. I have how many more minutes here? Let me start with the smaller events, because we are kicking off the events. We are kicking off the year with a few small ones. So the first one is going to be the BTN Entertainment Summit happening in London. You can also meet us in Switzerland, in Zurich, at the Swiss Travel Management Forum. That's happening later in February, I think 29th. And then a new event coming around the corner, the Travel and Meeting Society, also known as TAMS, is having their first event in Atlanta in April. And I will be very interested to see how that one is shaping up. And then there are the big ones, the ones that we all love because we all get together, one happy family, big reunion.

Chad Lemon:

Summer camp reunion.

Anja Turner:

Absolutely. So off to Las Vegas, baby, because there's SAP Concur Fusion happening March 19th through the 21st, and I heard they're expecting as many as 1,800 people.

Chad Lemon:

Wow, that's nice.

Anja Turner:

The ITM conference is happening in April in Brighton. And now I'm doing a special plug for a very special person because our president and CEO, Stephan Baars, has been invited to be a keynote guest speaker.

Chad Lemon:

Wow.

Anja Turner:

So we're still working out the details, but this is definitely the inside scoop. So if you're listening to this podcast, you will know first of anyone else. And then-

Chad Lemon:

So if you want to see him speak, get yourself to that conference. That's a really good inside tip. Love that. What else?

Anja Turner:

Absolutely. Brighton... And then there are two more. The BTN Business Travel Show in London, it's a highlight. It brings together so many people from so many different countries and just a really good event all the way around. That's happening in June. And then naturally there's the GBTA Convention, and that is happening in July. And how do you say it? Hotlanta?

Chad Lemon:

Oh, nobody says, Hotlanta.

Anja Turner:

I think I heard you say that at least once or twice.

Chad Lemon:

Okay. For everyone listening, if you are from or have ever lived in Atlanta, you know that nobody says Hotlanta. I have never. How dare you.

Anja Turner:

I must have gotten it wrong across the pond because obviously, I'm in Germany. So that's July 22nd to the 24th. And naturally, we're all delighted to see all of our friends, industry friends and customers and prospects and colleagues at this event. And I look forward to seeing Jorge there as well.

Miriam Moscovici:

And if anybody is listening happens to see me or Chad at an event this year, please come up and say hi. We'd love to meet you.

Chad Lemon:

Yeah, of course.

Anja Turner:

And then if you haven't gotten enough of this list, you can always check it out. Subscribe to our BCD Travel blog on our website, and then you get regular updates about our presence and appearances at events throughout the industry.

Chad Lemon:

That's a really good shout-out and tip. I love the blog, managed by one of our wonderful colleagues that we love working with. And super insightful not only for events, but just everything that's happening BCD or industry-wise.

Anja Turner:

Absolutely.

Chad Lemon:

Really great place and destination to check out. Well, Miriam, we wanted to keep this kickoff episode short and sweet, so I think we're just about out of time.

Miriam Moscovici:

But fear not, everyone. Along with this episode, we've also published three others to kickstart this season two. So be sure to go listen. We're connecting topics like virtual payment, the relaunch of tripsource.com, and looking into total trip insights and data.

Chad Lemon:

So until next time, be sure to download and review the Connections podcast wherever you're listening.

Outro:

Thank you for connecting with us. BCD Travel helps companies travel smart and achieve more. We drive program adoption, cost savings, and talent retention through digital experiences that simplify business travel. Learn more about the topics you heard on this episode by visiting bcdtravel.com/podcast.