Skip to site content
The Group Travel Leader Small Market Meetings Going on Faith

STC 2016 Speakers Give Top Seminars

The Select Traveler Conference always has outstanding motivational speakers who aim to inspire delegates and encourage them to imagine things beyond the ordinary. Two such speakers graced the stage in the theater area of the 2016 Select Traveler Conference.

Dean Lindsey is a humorous business speaker, author and coach. He wanted the conference attendees to understand his blueprint for forward “progress-based movement.” He said the best leaders help others progress in their careers, even in this age of mind-spinning change. Meeting this challenge makes for better leaders, team members and human beings.

His “Six P’s of Progress” are pleasure, peace of mind, power, prestige, pain and avoidance, and power. “A lot of people say they want change,” Lindsey told the audience. “But do they really want change, or do they want progress? There is a big difference between progress and change.”

Meagan Johnson, who calls herself a generational humorist, talked to the delegates about the hilarious differences between the generations as well as the frustrating ones that can affect business transactions.

Johnson discussed such groups as baby boomers, Generation X and millennials. Although there may be a lot of years between a baby boomer and a millennial, Johnson asked those who run travel businesses to consider the younger person’s point of view.

“If you’ve got a millennial-generation person on your team and they have a new idea, ask yourself this: Will it negatively impact cost, quality, safety or service?” said Johnson “If not, then take a look at the idea they’re proposing. The new millennial generation wants to make a difference in the workplace.”

Many travel groups use motorcoaches, minibuses, school buses, passenger vans, private passenger vehicles and limousines, but do the owners of those vehicles have the proper authority to operate them? Are those vehicles safe? Have they been inspected and maintained according to federal standards? Does the fleet have the full and correct amount of insurance? These are just a few of the vital questions tour group leaders should be asking themselves before they book a vehicle that will carry passengers for whose safety they must be responsible. Greg Nahmens of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration told delegates there is an easy way to get all the background on a particular vehicle operator by visiting www.fmcsa.dot.gov.

Before the buyer breakout sessions, Leo Liu, owner of Citslinc International, made a generous offer to delegates regarding his company’s trips to China. Liu told attendees they could enjoy a free inspection trip to China if their schedule permitted later in the year.

“For you, it’s zero dollars,” said Liu. “Every year, we have two free inspection trips. The first is in April, and it is full. You can still sign up for the next one with our departure in October.”