AWTE kicked off the festive season for members and guests in a room filled to full capacity at the Royal Garden Hotel, Kensington. Sponsors included Bicester Village, NCL, Teletext Holidays, Pinpoint Communications and Jebsens Travel. This year’s charity was ChildLine and guest speaker was TV presenter, author and explorer, Benedict Allen. The audience was captured by his energy and emotion as tales of loneliness and survival in remote, hostile environments touched everyone’s heart.

Auction and silent auction activity helped raise £8,711 for ChildLine, which allows 2,071 extra calls to be received from children in urgent need of help and support.

The Raffle for the AWTE Benevolent Trust raised another £2,019 which will help us to help our friends in AWTE, especially in these challenging times - a huge 'Thank You' to everybody who contributed so generously!

Click HERE to see the full story and pictures of this highlight of the AWTE year and the festive season.

Next year? Watch this space!!

Almost 60 members and their guests enjoyed the Chairman's Awards Lunch at the Royal Garden Hotel, sponsored by The Network.

Chairman Tricia Handley (centre) with (l) Sally Morgan and (r) Jane Dyson, The Network

Jane gave a great speech, describing the process she went through last year when she successfully negotiated the sale of her company.

Jane then gave out the two Chairman's Awards:

Jane Dyson handing this year's AWTE Business Impact Award to Sarah Smalley,
Managing Director of GfK Ascent-MI Ltd



The AWTE Chairman's Award in memory of Joan Richardson went to Monika Warburton,
Director, Working Websites, and AWTE Secretary / Website & Communications

Click for the story in Travel Weekly and in Travelmole.

A gruelling triathlon course and pouring rain did not stop AWTE members completing the challenge in just 2.5 hours. Drinks were well-deserved after a swim of 750m, followed by 20km cycle ride and finishing with a 5km run - raising over £2,000 to fight leukaemia.

(l - r): Proudly showing off their medals are Carol Dray, Sarah Johnson and Gail Kenny.

Congratulations Ian Taplin, Rex Resorts !

AWTE sponsored Ian Taplin from Rex Resorts, long term sponsor of the AWTE Christmas Lunch, in his Swim for Africa challenge which he completed in just 3hrs 45mins. Swimming through the Gibraltar Strait to Morocco after 15 months of training, he raised £5,000 for travel charity, Just A Drop.

(l - r): Chair Tricia Handley handing the AWTE cheque to Ian Taplin and Nikki Davis, Just A Drop.

A prestigious boardroom, overlooking the Thames, seemed a perfect fit for the first official Boardroom Ready session hosted by TTG and moderated by new AWTE supporter Gita Patel, Stargate Capital. Guest presenters included Director Liz Smith and Partner Sarah Holmes from Price Waterhouse Coopers; both work closely with the boards of FTS350.

High level presentations gave us a full understanding of the roles and responsibilities of the non-executive director, ideal board composition, practicalities and legal obligations. Liz Smith was an initiator of “The Test” – a book aimed at NED applicants and top listed companies to help the appointment process. All AWTE members were issued with a free copy to enable them to question their decision to further pursue an NED role. The interactive round table Q&A was followed by complimentary drinks, courtesy of TTG.

This session made us think very carefully about the expectations and impact on both our lives and the lives of the companies we choose to serve. Food for thought and seriously thought-provoking!

Following this successful session, the next one is confirmed for 26th October and will cover Board/Gender dynamics and managing Board colleagues and remains free for members only. Please check the site for confirmation of venue next week.

Tracy Cheffey, Category Director - Travel, hosted a seminar for AWTE at the Yahoo! offices and gave a super presentation on 'Living Life Online'.

(l - r): Chairman Tricia Handley, Tracy Cheffey, Yahoo! and ViceChair Karen Ramírez

Some 30 AWTE members learned all about the great changes in people's - especially women's - online behaviour in the last few years. Yahoo! took the opportunity of unveiling their latest consumer online behaviour research. With women spending 25% of weekly media time online, 6 out of 10 said they would forgo their new wardrobe rather than lose their broadband! A staggering 80% now book flights and holidays online with the evening showing a peak between the hours of 7 – 8.30pm. 53% of women claimed their lifestyle balance had improved since the online boom, allowing them to search, shop and accomplish chores in their own time. Tracey Cheffey re-iterated the important disciplines of good user content and how Yahoo! maximise their SEO information for consumer targeting.

Tricia Handley said, “Women still remain the decision-maker for holidays in the majority of households and many AWTE members are in consumer-facing roles. This research re-enforced our perceptions with evidence that we must continue to keep abreast of online developments - and how vital the internet is for any travel company.”

The AWTE 'Boardroom Ready' project was launched on 20 July in association with Stargate Capital. This is a development programme to promote diversity in the boardroom by preparing women, who either aspire to Director level or currently hold senior roles, and is the first of its kind in the travel industry. It aims to produce a pool of talented, boardroom-ready women, who will either add value to their existing business, advise companies where skills are needed or progress to becoming non-executive directors themselves. This project is free for AWTE members only.

Chairman Tricia Handley and Gita Patel, Stargate Capital, launch the project.

Gita Patel, Director of Stargate Capital and Trapezia, gave a well-researched and very detailed presentation (< click), outlining the enormous hidden and so far mostly untapped potential among women. Using this pool of female talent would have much-needed positive impact on businesses, not only in the way they are run but also in the returns they can provide for their shareholders and stakeholders.

Gita's presentation was received with enthusiasm by the more than 20 members present and was followed with a lively discussion which lasted well over two hours.

An enthusiastic group of AWTE members gathered around Stargate's boardroom table,
ready to take up the challenge.

We held our annual Summer Lunch on Thursday, 9 July, at the Royal Suite of The Chesterfield Hotel, Mayfair. More than 40 members and guests came to this lively and informative event, sponsored by London Classified.

Jo Moncur (l) and Hilary Bodie (r), London Classified,
with Chairman Tricia Handley and speaker Rita Beckwith, City Cruises.

The champagne reception was greatly enjoyed by our members:

(l-r): Jenny Borglin, SAS, Jane Dyson, The Network, Gloria Harding, Purple Patch Marketing,
Mandy Nickerson, Bales Worldwide Ltd.

Two of our newest members: Jenny Borglin, SAS, and Karen Sequeira, Hurtigruten.

Amanda Taylor, Vertical Group, Julie Cooper, FAB! and Vice Chair Karen Ramírez, Lingo oms.

The highlight of the day was the excellent and inspirational presentation by


Rita Beckwith, Managing Director of City Cruises.

Chairman Tricia Handley, Gita Patel, Stargate Capital Management, and Rita Beckwith.

Our traditional (the 43rd!) Benevolent Summer Lunch took place once again on Saturday, 27 June, at
The Chesterfield Hotel, Mayfair. More than half of our Honorary and Associate Members came to catch
up with the their friends and the latest news from AWTE over a delicious lunch in the sunny Conservatory.

(l-r):Angela White Horan, Dita Boettcher, Chairman Tricia Handley, Benevolent Chairman Bella Rangel Callan, (back to camera) Benevolent Secretary Suzy Cooper, Founder Kay Holloway, Lisa Hallam, Phil Bocarro and (hidden) Janet Driver.

Benevolent Chair Bella Rangel Callan welcomed everybody and Chairman Tricia Handley then gave us an overview of what AWTE is planning in the next few months.

Chair Tricia Handley and Benevolent Chair Bella Rangel Callan

Honorary Member June Liddiard thanked Tricia and the AWTE Committee for taking the Association
forward in these difficult economic times with innovative ideas, thereby assuring the survival of AWTE.

Honorary Member June Liddiard

The highlight of the day was the performance of a traditional Indian dance by sisters Sejal and Sonakshi Hirani. Their mother had choreographed a story expressing the friendship between the two girls.

     
Sejal and Sonakshi dazzled us with their talent, enthusiasm and joie-de-vivre.
For more pictures of their dance click HERE.

The Benevolent Committee, with Chair Tricia Handley, our performers and choreographer.
(l-r, back row): Jackie Steadman, Suzy Cooper, Teresa Brain, Bella Rangel Callan, Tricia Handley
(l-r, front row): Maggie Dobson, Sonakshi, Sejal, Aphrodite Burton, Mrs. Hirani

Altogether a lovely day, enjoyed by all,
especially the new Chairman of Honoraries and Associates Aileen Sweeney.

'Azzurro-Waterloo' proved a useful new home for informal AWTE drinks and last night's gathering demonstrated it’s not about size! The intimacy allowed us to share information and ideas in detail. Products were discussed, challenges and concerns raised, followed by recommendations for potential solutions and referrals.

It was AWTE support at its best and we achieved this in just 2 hours. We welcome Ann Walton, Tradewind Travel Ltd, who travelled up from Bournemouth for her first taste of AWTE membership.

Advantage Travel Centres and AWTE announced their commercial partnership today, enabling both parties to benefit from mutual proactive activity.

Advantage members will have access to AWTE benefits, including the Entrepreneurs Forum and Director Development Progression seminars, and will be able to attend AWTE networking events at member rates. AWTE will have its first presence at the Advantage Conference in September.

Advantage Managing Director, John McEwan says, "We wish to be seen to be offering our members every opportunity possible to sustain or develop their business, especially in this economic climate. The focus on personal development by AWTE allows participation without pressure or intimidation, and with the added value of getting members used to networking in senior circles."

AWTE Chair, Tricia Handley, concludes, "This is a win-win situation; it supports the ethos of AWTE by providing opportunities for women in business through access to new initiatives. I also believe that many of our members in senior roles can learn from travel agents and the challenges they face at shop floor level, creating empathy on both sides."

AWTE started in 1954 to provide a platform for women to discuss business in the travel industry at a time when they were denied access to senior roles. Today, the association positions itself differently to other networking organisations by hands-on support, advice and delivery of key information to women in business, specifically in the travel industry and related areas.

A welcome drink and delicious Norwegian canapés were followed by Director Heidi Dahl's excellent presentation entitled "Survival of the Fittest" (< click for the slides).

The topic is particularly relevant in these difficult times and Heidi encouraged us to be creative, innovative and not afraid to challenge all the old assumptions and established ways of doing things. She gave us a few examples of innovation that resulted in significant advantages for their initiators, including some spectacular failures which were turned into amazing successes - 'Post It' Notes and the famous 'little blue pills' being two of the best known.

Heidi's presentation was followed by a very lively Q & A session, facilitated by Travel Weekly's senior reporter, Juliet Dennis. It was very encouraging to see so many AWTE members are already using the recession to try out new ideas and to apply their considerable talents to launching lasting changes in their businesses.

This was the first Entrepreneurs' Forum conducted in the new format. After much deliberation the Committee had decided at the last meeting to open the Entrepreneurs' Club to any AWTE member who is a senior decision maker in her company, whether as a shareholder or not, and who has signed the confidentiality agreement - a necessary pre-condition in view of the sensitive issues which are discussed there in an open and supportive atmosphere. To signal the new arrangement it was also decided to change the name of the event from 'Club' to 'Forum.'

Some 20 members came to the Royal Garden Hotel where drinks and nibbles paved the way for the interesting discussions which took place at the new time, i.e. after the close of the business day to allow maximum time at the office.

The topics had been submitted ahead of time and anonymously to Chairman Tricia Handley who acted as moderator for the lively discussions which followed.

An interesting event in a successful new format which will be repeated in the next few months.