Piccardy. The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), the premier business travel organisation, announced final details of their speaker line-up for the Meetings Lab, their new event dedicated to the meetings and event sector being held just outside Paris on November 10-11, 2011 at the Principal Hayley Château Saint-Just.
The event is to be moderated by Chris Elmitt, Managing Director of Crystal Interactive with key speakers Torbjörn Erling, Meeting & Travel Manager from Ikea Group and Rob Leslie Jr, Global Technical Architect from Cisco Events being interviewed in the first session on the approach to effective meetings architecture and design. Subsequent sessions will see speakers Carole Poillerat, Global Category Leader for Meetings & Events from AstraZeneca and Kevin Iwamoto, Vice President for Enterprise Strategy at Starcite kick-start interactive sessions with unusual and innovative formats. 
Sessions include: The Collaborative Distraction, where delegates will work collaboratively on the creation of a model made from packaging waste whilst discussing the building blocks of a successful meetings programme. The Freudian Walk will have delegates divided into small groups to walk in the grounds of the Château to discuss contentious issues such as remuneration and transparency. The final session of the day, Pass the Problem will see delegates pass written issues on measuring the success of meetings programmes to other participants for them to contribute potential solutions, all to the sound of inspiring music.
The organisers have announced that a number of high level meetings and event professionals from companies such as Accenture, American Express, Coca-Cola, Lanyon, LEO Pharma, Logica, Philips and PwC have already committed to the event, which is being supported by Starcite, Crystal Interactive and Principal Hayley.
Paul Tilstone, Managing Director of GBTA Europe, said, “This experimental event is attracting individuals who have a real passion for innovation and enjoy the opportunity to try something new in the Meetings & Events space. This type of event is at the heart of GBTA’s approach to the sector, challenging and exploring the issues and methods of management we use.”

Full event details and registration can be found at http://www.gbtaeurope.org/go/events/meetings_lab.html