Committees

Community Outreach

Mariaha Elizabeth Pedder

Community Outreach Committee Chair

Technip Energies

Education

Education is the foundation of the GBTA – Texas Chapter.  The Education Committee facilitates the organization of programs focusing on educating members on our evolving industry. Our main goal is to identify major topics within the travel industry that will be beneficial to existing members, both Direct and Allied, as well as enticing new members to want to be a part of our organization.

·         Select and recommend topics and speakers for monthly meetings and Direct Only sessions

·         Facilitate travel arrangements and payment for services for visiting speakers.

·         Develop the meeting topic overview for our website at least one month in advance of each educational session.

·         Recognize speakers with a donation to current charity on their behalf, and present onsite or mail with a personal thank you note.

·         Survey our membership annually to determine topics of educational interest

Sally Farrell

Education Committee Chair

McDermott

Gina Foti Torrens

Education Committee Member

Nomadic

Neil Hammond

Education Committee Member

GoldSpring Consulting

David Sanders

Education Committee Member

The San Luis Resort & Conference Center

John Vawter

Education Committee Member

BCD TRAVEL

Finance

Open for volunteers!

The finance committee helps support our treasurer, and also works to promote our chapter’s commitment to financial transparency and fiduciary responsibilities.  Tasks may include…

• Helping coordinate 50/50 drawings at monthly meetings

• Participating in quarterly audits with our quickbooks advisor.

• Recommending investment strategies

• Ensuring our budgeting strategies align with our chapter's goals and priorities.

Government Advocacy

PAC Donations for GBTA Members: 
CLICK HERE TO DONATE TO THE GOVERNMENT RELATIONS CHALLENGE  Scroll to the bottom of the page where is says "I'm a member - How do I donate".  Again, that you must be a GBTA member to use this link. 

PAC Donations for GBTA Texas Members: If you are not a GBTA member, no problem! If you are a member of the local GBTA Texas Chapter, simply log into the member only page HERE. PAC Rules prevent us from posting the donatino link to a public web page. Be sure to type “Houston” or “Texas” in the chapter affiliation box!

Get the latest GBTA Texas Chapter Challenge news HERE.

What We Do: 
Government Relations advocates policies that benefit the business travel industry. Along with GBTA & Chapter members across the country, we educate members of Congress, their staff, and agency officials about:

• How business travel stimulates economic and jobs growth
• Government policies that facilitate business travel
• Government policies and taxes that discourage or impede business travel
• Benefits of efficient travel buying and selling

How You Can Make a Difference:
Get involved! Government representatives need to hear from you - their constituents - about policies that facilitate rather than impede business travel. Unwise policies cost the business travel community time, money, and business opportunities. From increasing risk-based passenger screening to modernizing the air transportation system to expanding access to the U.S. through the Visa Waiver Program, your representatives need to know that their actions/voting decisions matter to you.

Annual Fundraising

The primary role of the Annual Fundraising Committee is to coordinate the Annual GBTA Texas Charity Golf Tournament and other fundraising activities as needed.  The golf tournament is one of our biggest fundraisers which helps to fund our scholarship programs and will lend financial support to a locally endorsed charity.  You can find more information about this year's events under the "events" tab on our website.

GOLF EVENT

• Organize/Chair planning including sponsorship, site selection, merchandise, silent auction, foursomes, registration, non-golfer event, safety, etc.
• Promote the golf tournament
• Review committee progress with membership at monthly meetings.
  All committee members are committed to consistently attending monthly GBTA Texas meetings and monthly GBTA Texas Networking events.

NON-GOLF EVENT

• Organize and decide on the specific activity
• Solicit and shop potential suppliers
• Work with golf chair on budgeting and pricing.
• All committee members are committed to consistently attending monthly GBTA Texas meetings and monthly GBTA Texas Networking events.
  
  

OTHER Fundraisers

• From time to time the chapter may host additional fundraising activities.  The committee will organize and plan all activities associated with the event including: budgeting, location RFP, communications & event promotion.  
• All committee members are committed to consistently attending monthly GBTA Texas meetings and monthly GBTA Texas Networking events.
  

Membership

• Committed to consistently attending monthly GBTA Texas meetings

• Work to develop and implements creative ideas for increasing membership, with a primary emphasis on increasing direct membership and therefore benefit all members.

• Coordinate a buddy program to mentor and introduce new members to current members and get them involved in the chapter.

• Coordinate new member orientation sessions to be facilitated by the GBTA Texas Secretary and attended by Officers.

• Work to insure retention of members and encourage renewals

• Coordinate with the Registration/Hospitality Committee to host a New Member table at each monthly event.

Shurrie Potts

Membership Committee Chair

Hotel Granduca

Adrienne Williams

Membership Committee Chair

Nabors Drilling

Officer Nominating

Texas Chapter Board members serve a 2 years term.  The Officer Nominating committee helps support the Past President, who leads this initiative.  The committee not only helps manage nominations, but also assist in our September meeting when candidates give their platform speeches.

Tasks include:

Registration/Hospitality

Primary role is to assist with onsite registration for our GBTA Texas Monthly Meetings, Networking and other chapter special events.  The commintee will maintain registration and waitlists, as well as welcoming our new members onsite. This committee works with the membership committee to host new member meetings.

• Committed to consistently attending monthly GBTA Texas meetings.

• Perform the registration process at monthly meetings and events as needed.

• Arrive to assist with registration preparation 45 minutes prior to the opening of registration.

• Assist in distribution of name badges and facilitating registration process.

• Assist in greeting & directing attendees as they arrive at the registration desk and/or entrance to meeting

• Assist in collection of name badges at the close of the monthly meeting.

• Meet & assist New Members onsite

• Responsible for taking photos an uploading these to our chapter resource pages.

Jessica Pruneda

Registration/Hospitality Committee Chair

Enterprise Mobility

Sophie Akers

Registration/Hospitality Committee Member

Moran Hotel - HEI HOTELS and RESORTS

Bruce Bacon

Registration/Hospitality Committee Member

MURPHY OIL CORPORATION

Tyler Sowell

Registration/Hospitality Committee Member

Enterprise Mobility

Scholarship

GBTA – Texas Chapter supports the pursuit of professional certifications in many area’s. The primary role of the Scholarship committee is to review and award annual and TED scholarships.  The committee is comprised of prior year award recipients and volunteers.

Scholarship Committee Activities:

• Develop meaningful scholarships for members
• Communicate scholarship opportunities to membership and establish requirements
• Review scholarship applications and recommend scholarship recipients.

Scholarship guidelines

• If I am awarded a scholarship, I agree to serve on the Scholarship Committee for a minimum of one-year and I understand that I will not be eligible to apply for the following two years for GBTA Texas Professional Development Scholarship programs,  but will be eligible for other named scholarships.

Approved opportunities for scholarship funds are as follows:

• GBTA continuing education programs (including Legislative Symposium, GTP, GLP, Master’s Program) 
• Global Congress on Risk Management 
• GBTA Texas Membership 
• GBTA Texas Education Day  
• GBTA Membership 
• GBTA Convention registration and attendance (including Airfare, Hotel room and tax and airport parking) 
• Professional development websites (i.e.: LinkedIn)
• Continuing education at an accredited College or University in a field that benefits a travel industry career goal
• Other (request approval from VP Direct)

Shurrie Potts

Scholarship Committee Chair

Hotel Granduca

Nicki L Leeds

Scholarship Committee Member

Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Ruth Oren

Scholarship Committee Member

E-technology LLC

Social Events

Primary role is to plan the "fun" social events for GBTA Texas and increase the ROI for our members with networking opportunities and community service events.

• This committee will plan social networking events, community service projects and holiday event parties. 

• This committee requires a time commitment of about 4 hours (maximum) each month, noting that prep for the holiday party will require slightly more commitment.

Responsibilities include (but are not limited to):

• Set up and registration at each networking event

• Adding value to the social events through additional ways to network, incentives, and promotions

• Liaising with the official GBTA Texas charities to offer community service projects

• Complete planning and execution of the holiday party event.

Toi Johnson

Social Events Committee Chair

Avion Hospitality

Marketing

The Marketing Committee is responsible for managing the organization’s social media presence to effectively communicate, engage, and build relationships with the target audience, while supporting the overall goals of the organization.

• Content Creation and Curation:

• Develop and share relevant, engaging, and brand-aligned content.

• Develop digital and print marketing collateral

• Research industry trends and curate content that adds value to the audience.

• Platform Management:

• Oversee daily activities on all social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook

• Community Engagement:

• Foster meaningful interactions with followers and communities.

• Respond promptly to messages, comments, and feedback.

• Strategy and Analytics:

• Plan and implement social media campaigns that align with organizational objectives.

• Track performance metrics and adjust strategies based on data insights.

• Collaboration:

• Coordinate with internal teams and external partners to promote events, initiatives, and campaigns.

Jennifer Johnston

Marketing Committee Chair

ATPI

Joselyn Reyes

Marketing Committee Chair

Element by Westin Katy

Sophie Akers

Marketing Committee Member

Moran Hotel - HEI HOTELS and RESORTS

Noor Alibraheemi

Marketing Committee Member

DoubleTree By Hilton Houston Greenway Pl

Michelle Hosey

Marketing Committee Member

The Whitehall Hotel

Dell Rosepink

Marketing Committee Member

Royal Sonesta Hotel - Houston