"Our supplier base is stronger now, and that's a big plus," Connie Bocchieri, senior manager of global meeting management at Pfizer in New York told travel managers and buyers attending an educational session at the National Business Travel Association (NBTA) 2007 International Conference and Exposition in Boston recently.

Bocchieri, who works in procurement, was explaining how she and her team source the pharmaceutical company's strategic meeting management program (SMMP) spend during a session called "The convergence of SMMP, travel management and procurement."

To fully cover that convergence, Purchasing has added this new section to the magazine.

Bocchieri recalled for the group her experience at selecting suppliers. Earlier this year, she put together a cross-divisional team that first identified as much of the company's meetings spend as possible using data from accounts payable, meeting cards and incumbent suppliers, of which there were about 100. The team worked to understand the company's requirements, issued RFPs (request for proposal) and went through a seven-step strategic sourcing process, ultimately selecting a small group of preferred suppliers for use throughout Pfizer. "We all really came together and had a dynamic dialogue," she said, of the team effort.

Also on the panel at the NBTA event were Cindi L. Ghormley, group manager of travel services at Frito Lay in Dallas, and Rhonda Kirk, manager of travel and meetings at Tyson Foods in Springdale, Ark. These women also work in the procurement operation at their companies. Moderating the discussion was Connie Cirillo Freeman, vice president of Management Alternatives, a business travel consulting firm in Norwalk, Conn. She too has procurement experience; she was responsible for the meetings spend while working in a previous position at Pitney Bowes.

Freeman began the session with the question, "Are we there yet?" She was referring to the converging of the three disciplines: meeting planning, travel and procurement. While the answer is no, Freeman says purchasing is much more involved in the spend today than in the past and that all three functions must come together to meet the goals of the corporation.

The panel discussed challenges attendees might be up against as they take on new responsibility for the SMMP spend. Among them: Alleviating a sense of loss of control among meeting planners. "We don't want to take over meeting planning," said Ghormley at Frito Lay. "We want to help negotiate contracts and present those planning the meetings with the tools to do their jobs." Her advice: "It's really all about educating internal customers—and suppliers—about the right thing to do for the company."

Connie Cirillo Freeman moderates a panel of purchasing pros representing Pfizer, Frito Lay and Tyson Foods during an educational session on the convergence of meeting planning, travel management and procurement at the NBTA conference recently in Boston.

At the session, travel management consultants presented attendees with a top 10 list of must-do actions for a world-class travel program. Among them:

1. Get senior management support.
2. Understand and clearly define objectives.
3. Align buying goals with the company's overall strategy.
4. Negotiate price, but buy for value.
5. Measure and live up to commitments in contracts with suppliers.
6. Weigh savings gain vs. change pain in negotiations with suppliers.
7. Consolidate spend data to leverage buying power.
8. Understand peer performance. Benchmark.
9. Keep decisions objective.
10. Respect supplier protocol, but challenge where needed.

In the exhibition hall at the event, more than 250 suppliers—travel management companies, airlines, hotels, car rental companies and technology providers—talked with attendees of ways to better manage the travel buy to help reduce costs and streamline processes:

• Carlson Wagonlit Travel added ground transportation to its program optimization services, a consulting arm that helps customers evaluate existing spend, contracts and practices and negotiations.
• American Express Business Travel unveiled a Web-based management information data reporting system, American Express AXIS @ Work, and introduced a management information practice within its Advisory Services group. American Express AXIS @ Work presents corporate travel purchasers with centralized online access to data on company expenditures.
• Orbitz Worldwide announced an alliance with StarCite, the on-demand global meetings management company. Integrating the technology of the two companies is expected to provide those responsible for corporate meetings with a tool to plan and book travel.
• Expedia Corporate Travel introduced a reporting tool that allows travel managers to create and run customized reports that aggregate travel data across countries and subsidiaries.
• Visa announced a strategic alliance with Arcaneo to help companies integrate payment cards with meetings management technologies. The two are working to provide businesses with information they need to manage meeting expenses and assess return on investment.
• Travelocity Business introduced an online ticket exchange that encourages travelers to make exchanges online rather than calling an agent.
• Rearden Commerce demonstrated the Rearden Commerce Personal Assistant, a corporate booking tool that allows employees to book conferencing services from the same website they use to book travel, dining, package shipping and other services.

More than 6,000 travel managers, buyers and suppliers attended the event in Boston.