Newsletter
OVBTA Newsletter 
President's Report
Hello Everyone!
Welcome to October!
Our sincere support goes out to all our Members, Friends and Travel Partners during this difficult time. Lets hope for better times in the near future.
Membership Extensions:
In an effort to support our members and keep everyone engaged, OVBTA will be offering a 6 month extension to members who have lost their jobs or who were laid off through this crisis.
2. Email [email protected] and request the 6 month extension, be strategic and wait until you receive your renewal notice.
Our hope is of course that this will carry members through to a time when OVBTA membership will once again be reimbursable
GBTA is offering similar extensions please visit the GBTA website for more details.
Take care & be safe
Renee Huff, OVBTA President
Membership Minute
GBTA Updates – Stay on top the latest Covid News
Visit the OVBTA Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook pages and post your thoughts during this Pandemic crisis. We would love to hear the positive stories to motivate others.
GBTA News
September 25, 2020
As you know, GBTA had to cancel its annual convention, scheduled originally for July, and then moved to November. Unfortunately, the Colorado Convention Center will not be available to us during our scheduled dates because the Convention Center will be utilized as a temporary medical facility, through December 31, 2020 due to COVID-19.
We will transfer GBTA Convention 2020 registrations to GBTA Convention 2021, taking place July 17-21 in Orlando, FL. However, if you would like to request a refund for your registration, please click here and fill out the form by October 1, 2020, if you have not already done so. Once received, we will start the refund process. Please note the following:
- Allow up to 90 days for your refund to process.
- Annual memberships, donations to charity, and service fees are nonrefundable.
- Refunds will be issued to your original form of payment. If there is a specific reason why that is not possible, we ask you to provide the reason on the form. We will do our best to accommodate your request.
- We ask you to provide a secondary point of contact within your company to confirm the refund payment method, this is necessary for audit purposes.
You may request a registration refund through October 1, 2020. All registrants who do not request a refund by this deadline will automatically be transferred to GBTA Convention 2021. No exceptions can made to this deadline, so please contact us as soon as possible. Thank you.
Should you have any further questions related to your registration refund, please email [email protected].
We thank you for your support of GBTA and the business travel community. Please stay safe and healthy during these extraordinary times.
Thank you,
GBTA Registration Team
OVBTA wants to make sure you don’t miss any important updates or information so please take a moment to ensure that your OVBTA profile is current and also includes a secondary e-mail address.
Calendar of Events
OVBTA Virtual Education Day - September 30th 10A-12N
Speakers:
Scott Gillespie & Shane Downy
Registration Opens September 4th
Sponsor Presentations Kathy Bedell, SVP BCD Travel
United Airlines - TBD
GBTA Collaboratory Events
OVBTA Members Promo Code EQPH67G2
Click here for GBTA series registration
Classified Job Listing
OVBTA: Click here to view or post positions
GBTA: Click here to view or post positions
Legislative Action
October 1, 2020
GBTA has joined a coalition of large and diverse organizations, from across the business spectrum, that are strongly pushing Congress to pass legislation that would prevent catastrophic economic harm to U.S. businesses and employees. We are asking Congress to quickly pass additional emergency relief that will aid furloughed or laid off employees in our industry before Congress adjourns for the November election.
How You Can Help: Congress needs to hear from real people who would benefit from this relief. Click Here to tell Congress they must ACT NOW to save the travel industry.
This is a pivotal moment. Congress needs to rise to the occasion and provide a lifeline to businesses and citizens to get through this pandemic.
Thank you for doing your part to hold our leaders accountable.
Shane Downey
Vice President, Government and Community Relations
GBTA
Hot off the press September 25. 2020!
The GBTA Advocacy Committee, GBTA staff, and our partners continue to work hard for you.
There are some last minute efforts we are pushing on Capitol Hill. We started circulating the attached late last week. We have been pushing for action on the airline PSP issue. We had a call yesterday with several groups and House Republican Leadership to discuss pushing a procedural move and force a House floor vote on legislation that releases remaining PPP funding. Republican Whip Scalise’s office called out GBTA along with the Independent Franchise Association, AHLA and USTA for helping to fuel these last minute pushes by Congress to act.
It is all still a long shot – but I feel like we need to do it for the sake of the travel industry.
I have created a link for people to send an email to their Senators and Representatives asking them to provide support on the PSP and PPP issue. The email is editable and does require the sender to add their own story to the email. I would ask that you take a look and if you agree – to please send it to your chapter members. Also, if you think the call to add your own information is too confusing then please let me know and I will consider changing that part.
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GBTA Calls On Congress To Act
Don’t adjourn to campaign for your re-election, until you have addressed issues that impact the travel industry.
Please follow this link to send a message to Congress to act on funding for airline employees and to release additional PPP funds for the industry.
The actual link - https://p2a.co/zkrknof
Volunteer with OVBTA
Ohio Valley BTA Volunteer Opportunities
During this time of COVID-19 many members roles have changed with their companies and because of this OVBTA is looking for members who want to get involved in chapter activates as travel begins start up again and the Executive Board begins to plan for the future. This a great way to become more engaged in our local OVBTA Chapter and a great way to maximize your OVBTA membership opportunities. Many volunteers often grow into the Committee Chairman and even eventually have the great opportunity to serve on Chapter Board of Directors.
The Committees listed below need several members to join their committee. If you are interested in volunteering complete the information below and designate the committee(s) in which you are interested. The form will be shared with the Executive Board and the Committee Chair, and they will reach out to discuss and provide additional information about responsibilities and time commitment.
Email form to Wini Cloran, OVBTA Past President and Board Chairman to [email protected]
Name: ___________________________________________________________________________
Email Address: ____________________________________________________________________
Business Phone #: __________________________________________________________________
Mobile Phone #: ___________________________________________________________________
Are you a Direct Member (Buyer) _____________
Allied Member (Supplier) ___________________
Indicate with (X) Committee/Committees where you have interest:
Meeting Planning Committee: __________________
Program Committee: _______________________
Sponsorship/Fundraising Committee: ___________
Scholarship Committee: _____________________
Communication Committee: ___________________
Social Media: ______________________________
Website Management: _______________________
Registration: _______________________________
