Alexandria, VA – The GBTA Foundation, the research and education arm of the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) today announced the creation of a new RFP Guide to Strategic Meetings Management (SMM). This guide will represent a standard set of topics for an organization to ask vendors to address when soliciting vendor bids for an SMM program and to help guide internal communication or successful development or expansion of an SMM program.

Daphne Bryant, executive director, GBTA Foundation, said, “Strategic meetings management programs are a proven way for companies to make the most of their investment in meetings. This RFP tool will serve as a step by step guide for planners to improve their meetings programs and evaluate the vendors that will best match their company’s goals, needs and budgets.”

The new guide will work well in conjunction with the Strategic Meetings Management Maturity Index, launched in February 2012. Once a company completes the assessment, their organization will have more meaningful discussions regarding its needs from an SMM vendor. The new guide will allow them to complete the final step in selecting their vendor.

The RFP guide was created in large part by the SMM RFP Taskforce. The taskforce was comprised of individuals from the following companies, Active Network|Starcite; American Express Meetings and Events ; Key Bank; GlaxoSmithKline; Hewlett-Packard; Bondurant Consulting; Accenture; Cisco Systems, Inc.; BCD Meetings & Incentives; and, Experient, A Maritz Travel Company.

The GBTA Guide to Strategic Meetings Management RFI or RFP is available free to members worldwide and is available in the Resources section of the Hub at hub.gbta.org.

About the GBTA Foundation

The GBTA Foundation is the education and research foundation of the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), the world’s premier business travel and corporate meetings organization.

Collectively, GBTA’s 5,000-plus members manage over $340 billion of global business travel and meetings expenditures annually. GBTA provides its network of 21,000 business and government travel and meetings managers, as well as travel service providers, with networking events, news, education & professional development, research, and advocacy. The foundation was established in 1997 to support GBTA’s members and the industry as a whole. As the leading education and research foundation in the business travel industry, the GBTA Foundation seeks to fund initiatives to advance the business travel profession. The GBTA Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. For more information, see and .

Meghan Henning
+1 571 309 3961
GBTA