THE SOCIETY OF INCENTIVE & TRAVEL EXECUTIVES PROVIDES UPDATE TO THE MEMBERSHIP DURING THE 2006 INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE CHICAGO - The Society of Incentive & Travel Executives held its Annual General Meeting for the membership during the SITE International Conference 2006 held at the Hotel Rey Juan Carlos I, Barcelona , Spain. SITE President Lex Granaada and SITE CEO Brenda Anderson delivered an update on SITE's strategic plan, provided the audience with an update on the organization's membership, introduced the International Site Foundation, released new survey data, and provided updates on initiatives such as the Young Leaders Program. Opening with focus on the volunteers who donate tremendous time, talents and dedication to the organization, SITE leadership honored all the 2006 committee members and brought the committee chairs up on stage for recognition. Of particular note was the recognition for Kitzia Morales, International Conference Chair and Airy Garrigosa, Host Committee Chair, for their diligent work to bring the conference to the SITE membership. In 2006, SITE retained 88% of its members and welcomed more than 466 new members. The current SITE membership is the highest in the organization's history, representing 2,109 incentive and travel executives from 87 countries. Chapters have also extended in the last year with 34 full status chapters worldwide including the 2006 addition of China, Greece, New England, and New Zealand. SITE President Lex Granaada provided an update on SITE's financial standing. The message to attendees was SITE is delivering at record levels. Lex again reviewed growth of membership and chapters and the delivery of member value in new program offerings of 2006. For 2006 SITE is forecasting maintaining a break even budget while continue expansion of member benefits. SITE has dramatically strengthened its financial position in the past few years and new in 2007 the Finance Committee will expand financial guidance already provided for in Policies & Procedures. The AGM continued with an update to membership on proposed SITE Bylaws revisions and the voting procedure. An interactive discussion was held on the topic during the AGM with a hour long follow up session available to members later on the same day. The bylaws vote will be open to membership on-line or via fax submission through the morning of 22 December. At noon on 22 December a special meeting will be held where results of the vote will be reported via a proxy, a method where a member validates and announces the record of the vote submitted by all other members. SITE also announced the formation of the International Site Foundation (see separate release). The members were introduced to the Board of Trustees and International SITE Foundation President, Jerry McGee, President of Ambassadors International addressed the audience and shared the vision of the organization including it's inaugural fundraising event: the Incentive Classic, a golf and lifestyle event benefiting the incentive and travel community. The Incentive Classic will be held in advance of the next SITE International Conference in Monterey , California , USA . The event will take place 4 – 6 December 2007 at the Pebble Beach Resort courses of Spanish Bay and Del Monte. Further initiatives by the International SITE Foundation include a memorial scholarship to honor Marriott Executive and SITE Past President David Riddell. Also shared were first glimpse results from a survey sponsored by the International SITE Foundation and funded by Intercontinental Hotels Group on current industry trends as experienced by SITE members. While the full survey will be released in 2007, data was shared on trends related to size, duration and spend of incentive travel programs. Respondents indicated their most significant source of business is derived from companies in the pharmaceutical and financial sectors. Making the list of the new “Top” destinations were Costa Rica, Dubai, Prague, Dubrovnik, Barcelona, and Budapest . Continuing focus on industry trends and professional experiences, during the meeting, members had the opportunity to participate in Digivote, an electronic-research tool that captures information from a live audience. Members were asked questions related to association membership and industry trends. Results of this survey will be published at www.site-intl.org. In other SITE news, the second annual SITE Academy for Young Leaders will be held in London, UK 22-25 July 2007. SITE Academy is an education and networking program offering generation-specific education for young professionals (under 35) and those new to the profession who are employed by an organization or company in the performance improvement industry. Over 90 conference attendees were a part of SITE 's Young Leader Program and participated in special focused break out sessions. YLP was a program initiated under Future SITE and is partially sponsored through the support of the Intercontinental Hotels Group. # # # About SITE Founded in 1973, SITE is the only international, not-for-profit, professional association devoted to the pursuit of excellence in incentives, a multi-billion dollar global industry. SITE provides educational seminars and information services to those who design, develop, promote, sell, administer, and operate motivational programs as an incentive to increase productivity in business. Currently SITE has over 2,100 members in 87 countries, with 34 local and regional chapters. Members represent airlines, cruise lines, corporate users, destination management companies, ground transportation companies, hotels and resorts, incentive houses, official tourist organizations, trade publications, travel agencies and supporting organizations such as restaurants and visitors attractions. |