Meeting/Event Information

Approved for 6 GTP Credits

Education Day 2023 Sponsor: 

Speaker Information:

Katie Virtue, Principal, Festive Road

Katie is a builder and connector of ideas and is relentless in her pursuit of excellence!  She is energized by moving organizations forward by connecting purpose to execution, deeper engagement and continual business process improvement.

 At Festive Road, Katie is the Client Solutions Lead working with companies to craft the right approaches to help them create better. She also leads strategy reviews, tmc and car rental sourcing processes and provides thought leadership solutions to industry suppliers bringing a vision of macro trends and how they will shape future of business travel and meetings.

 Katie is a frequent speaker on different business travel topics and involved with numerous industry groups such as GBTA Ladders and the GBTA Technology Committee. She has a goal to #runtheworld and complete a half marathon on every continent. When not traveling or running, you can find her playing ice hockey and coaching her sons.

Chris Ely, Director of GBTA Research

Chris Ely directs the research division at GBTA. Chris has over 15 years of professional experience conducting both qualitative and quantitative research. Prior to joining GBTA, Chris was the research director at BDS Marketing where he conducted quantitative research studies for clients seeking to increase their market share and sales. He also worked at the Consumer Technology Association for ten years where he conducted qualitative and quantitative research studies on a host of technology topics. Chris is a seasoned speaker having presented research findings and trends at numerous industry events across the country.

Chris received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Earlham College and a Master of Arts degree from the University of Denver.

Cindy Fisher, SVP, Strategic Business Development GoldSpring Consulting

Cindy Fisher is senior vice president of strategic business development with GoldSpring Consulting.  She is a global executive leader with over thirty years’ experience and extensive knowledge in business travel, meetings and events.

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Cindy has a deep understanding of the value of an end-to-end approach for business travel and meetings.  At GoldSpring, Cindy brings to the table her expertise on meetings & events, integrated approach, along with organizational leadership, operational and technology execution, and business growth strategies.

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Prior to GoldSpring, Cindy was with CWT where she led the meetings and events business unit and team globally in over 65 countries. The business comprised of meetings and events services, from strategic meetings management to large live events, along with a consulting division. 

Justin Morris, Regional Director of Sales, Traxo

Justin Morris has been in corporate travel for a little over a decade. He spent four years with Avis Budget Group, where he led the mid-market team and advanced to be one of the first business development leaders with a 14-state territory. After his time with Avis Budget Group, he spent four years at CWT, contributing to their small, small-to-medium, and mid-market sectors in the Midwest before joining Direct Travel for a year. Now, Justin works as the Director of Sales for Traxo, leads the organization’s TMC partnership initiative, and hosts the Traxo Office Hours webinar series. Justin is very involved in GBTA. He’s currently a member of five BTA chapters, is the VP of Education for the Wisconsin BTA chapter, a member of Ladders, is taking the Global Leadership Professional course, and sits on the Technology Committee. Outside of corporate travel, Justin spends most of his time with his wife and children in their foster care ministry, and when he has downtime, he enjoys a good game of tennis.