President's Report

Welcome to the MBTA Quarterly Newsletter  

From MBTA President, Lisa M. Hoehn – December 2011

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Hooray I am finally getting the MBTA Quarterly Newsletter out on time!

Thanks to all of our members for your support in 2011.  It’s my pleasure and an honor to be re-elected as Chapter President this year.  You have my commitment that I will do my very best to grow our chapter and obtain our goals.   With the outstanding board that is in place for 2012, I am confident that this will happen.

Updates

Our December 7^th Holiday meeting of 2011 -  It was a great success with over 80 in attendance and we raised $10,000 in donations and silent auction proceeds for our two charities Grace Centers of Hope & Angels of Hope

Additional Highlights of the meeting:

• MBTA raised $500 in PAC dollars at our holiday meeting putting us well on our way to qualifying for chapter challenge.
• Jack Reynaert was honored for his 25 years of involvement and his great leadership and support as a board member of MBTA
• Our current membership is 127; we hope to reach 150 in 2012.
• 2011 MBTA meetings had an average of 78 attendees in 2011 with 30% direct attendees 
• MBTA Webinars launched this year are experiencing average attendance of 29 attendees
• 13 of the MBTA board members attended GBTA Leadership Summit this year – We came back with great ideas and best practices that we shared with our membership at our year end meeting December 7^th.

The headliner of our charity auction was a Sheraton Sleep Bed!  Our live Auction raised $1,300.00!  Other big items were a BTE ad going for $300 and a gourmet dinner for 4 for over $400.  Pastor Kent Clark and Dr. Pam Clark attended from Grace Centers of Hope and Steve York of Angels of Hope with his team attended.  Members and guest brought donations from a list of needs from Grace Center – daily needs such as diapers, paper towels, cleaning supplies, etc.

For a bio on both charities go to www.michiganbta.org.  Click on the Meetings tab, then previous meetings.  Bios are listed there as well as the items needed for Grace Center of Hope.  To learn more about these charities please go to:

www.gracecentersofhope.org   &  www.angelsofhope.org

Since our event was on December 7^th, Pearl Harbor Day, we honored our fallen War Hero’s with a reading by George McMullen and a moment of silence.

Thank you to our Annual Sponsors for their support throughout 2011!

GBTA PAC - Is off and running with $500 raised at the December Holiday Meeting!  Stay tuned for more information regarding PAC And Government Affairs from chair Mike Hoff and his committee.  Our goal is to reach at least $1,000 in PAC donations by GBTA convention.

MBTA Elections were passed during the December Meeting for Lisa Hoehn – MBTA President & Rennie VanRosmalen – MBTA Secretary.

As a result of a job promotion, Jackie Bales notified the Board that she will be vacating her Vice President position as of December 7^th, 2011.  Debbie Graves will step in as vice President for the remainder of the term.  A fond farewell and thank you to Jackie Bales – past MBTA Vice President. 

Congratulations to Jack Reynaert who will reach the 25 year milestone with MBTA.  Jack has been a leader and inspiration for MBTA serving several terms as President and always on the board in some capacity.

Thank you to George McMullen for your many years of service as MBTA Government Relations Committee Chair.  We are so pleased that you will remain on the Government Affair Committee.

2012 MBTA Board of Directors

I am happy to report that many of our members have joined committees for 2012 – Thank you so much; we really appreciate the help and will recognize all of you at the first 2012 Meeting.

MBTA 2012 Goals - Our goals for 2012 are to continue to grow and to be consistent with GBTA’s Goals and Vision & to keep true to our mission statement:

Mission Statement

MBTA is dedicated to enhancing the role of the business travel professional. MBTA has recognized that providing value to its members is one of the strongest tools we have as a chapter to maintain and strengthen our membership. We continuously monitor our effectiveness as an organization thorough survey, interactive dialogue at our regularly scheduled meetings, and are openly receptive to member comments and suggestions. We are implementing many of the suggested changes and the meeting formats have now taken on a new look, to include direct member round table discussions and speakers with a greater educational focus.

Formed in 1967 as one of the first affiliate chapters of the national organization. We currently have over 125 members, of which nearly 45 are Direct members (Travel, and/or Purchasing Managers).

MBTA has a dedicated group of committee chairpersons who support many of the common interests of our membership. Our newly formed Education Committee monitors industry trends to ensure future meetings provide the greatest amount of timely and valuable information to our membership. Our Charity Committee coordinates a sizable contribution to local charities each year through our December holiday event and at other business meeting throughout the year.  And our Technology Committee works to make sure we receive updates on technology changes in the travel industry. The key to our chapter's success lies in the dedicated efforts of our membership. We are positioned as an organization to proactively address the issues that affect our industry.

Vision Statement - “MBTA – “It’s Your Organization”

Reminders

Membership Renewal - If you have not yet renewed your annual MBTA membership now is the time! We are happy to report that membership fees remain the same. The best value is a full membership for $250 ($200 with GBTA membership). This membership covers all annual meetings including Education Day and our annual Golf Outing and Holiday Meeting including lunch or dinner. Meeting Dates & Education Topics and Membership information can be found at www.michiganbta.org or contact committee chair Tawnya Johnson at membership@michiganbta.org

2012 Annual Sponsorship Opportunities are Available - Annual Sponsors benefit all of us as MBTA Members. Due to our generous sponsors we were able to offer $ 6,500 in sponsorships in 2011 and our entire board had the opportunity to attend GBTA Leadership Summit.

We hope to continue to offer these educational scholarship opportunities.  Please consider an annual sponsorship for 2012.   Additional information can be found at www.michiganbta.org or contact committee chair:  Ann Ammons at sponsorships@michiganbta.org

2012 Scholarships Opportunities will be announced at the first 2012 MBTA Meeting.

Save the Dates                                                                                                       2012 MBTA Meeting Dates

Feb 15, 2012 - Social Media (LinkedIn) / MBTA-GBTA Committee (Greater Detroit Area)

Mar 14, 2012 - Web Meeting

Apr 18, 2012 - Global Etiquette/Governmental Travel Documents (West or Mid-Michigan)

May 16,  2012 - Web Meeting

June 24, 2012 - Leadership Development  (TBD)

Jul 24th, 2012 - GBTA, Boston – Visit www.gbta.org for more information

Aug 15, 2012 - Web Meeting

Sept 19, 2012 - Hotel Sourcing/Meeting Planning (Greater Detroit Area)

Oct, 2012 - OVBTA /MBTA - Education Day - (Ohio Area)

Nov 14, 2012 - Web Meeting

Dec 5, 2012 - 5th Meeting, Holiday Charity Auction "Game Show"

(Our goal is to have meetings locations set by first quarter 2012)

Thank you for your participation as a member of MBTA.                          Remember……It’s your organization!

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays & Happy New Year!

Lisa M. Hoehn

MBTA President

president@michiganbta.org

248-735-7426