Posts Tagged ‘Globility Board’

Small Businesses and Global Travel

Monday, January 5th, 2015
Meeting at the Globility Board

Meeting at the Globility Board

Reflecting on the accomplishments of the past year, I have to include my service on the Globility Board as one of the highlights. The word “globility” was invented by Francis X. Gallagher, publisher and CEO of Global Traveler, to define the magazine’s mission as that of being open to new cultures and experiences. Gallagher formed the “Globility Board”, an elite group of highly experienced international business travelers, to offer feedback to both the editorial team and to the advertisers as to our preferences for airlines, hotels and other travel experiences. The article announcing the newly-formed board quotes me as saying that “As an entrepreneur, I recognize the importance of face-to-face meetings to build relationships, but I am also attentive to the costs associated with business travel; I seek to maximize value for dollar spent. I am willing to pay for amenities that enhance my travel experience and increase remote productivity, but I want to see the value for the spend. That’s a different approach from across-the-board cost-cutting that is often in place in larger corporations.” I was delighted to learn that more than one-half of my fellow subscribers to Global Traveler are small business owners, so it appears we share the same philosophy. One of my favorite features of the magazine is the series of articles on health and safety measures for business travelers, so we really do share a viewpoint on business travel!

At our first board meeting, we were welcomed to New York City’s Benjamin Hotel, part of the Denihan Hospitality Group. We met one another at a cocktail and dinner at Rothmann’s Steakhouse and then spent the following day reviewing ideas with in sessions with executives from the Denihan Hospitality Group, South African Airways and Lufthansa and then the editorial team responsible for the web and print editions of the magazine. We had our closing dinner at the National Restaurant, housed in the Benjamin Hotel, where we were impressed with the culinary talent of Chef Geoffrey Zakarian and his team. Our second meeting took place at the Westin La Paloma Resort in Arizona. I welcome your feedback on business travel experiences that I can share with my board members. It is a rare occasion when I meet people who have accumulated as many frequent flyer miles for business as I have done. I look forward to our next trip and to giving feedback to leading airlines and hotels as to the preferences of small business owners. I am also pleased that the magazine is the only one of which I am aware that provides safety and health tips for business travelers – as we need to be resilient no matter where we are working.