NBTA's groups and meeting committee co-chair, Debi Scholar, CTE will speak on Strategic Meetings Management Programs. She will shed light on strategic meetings management strategies and practices in areas such as Program Scope and Reporting Structure; Meeting Policy; and Sourcing and Negotiations.

Strategic meetings management is the practice of applying enterprise-wide policies and procedures to the procurement of meetings services in order to drive savings, minimize risk, maximize efficiency and enhance value. The concept was pioneered by the NBTA Groups & Meetings Committee, which continues to develop resources on the practice.

A Travel Manager/ Direct Member only round table will also be held prior to the lunch at 11am.  This is a buyers only round table.  Please register for this free event separately.

**Hotel offers transportation to and from Dunn Loring Metro station.

Speaker Information:

Debi Scholar, GLP, CMM, CMP, CTE, CTT’s Summary

Debi Scholar consults with Fortune 1000 and mid-size companies on supply chain and expense management categories such as airlines, hotels, meetings, ground transportation, corporate card programs, travel management companies, and entertainment assets such as venue suites, boxes and tickets. Debi has led numerous projects for global organizations, entertainment venues, and government agencies as she was the PricewaterhouseCoopers’ (PwC) Lead for Travel and Entertainment Expenses (T&E) strategic management and worked for the leading consulting firm for 13 years. Debi has a unique advantage as a consultant because she started as a practitioner by leading PwC’s internal group travel and meetings departments.

Acknowledged nationally for groundbreaking efforts in shaping the Strategic Meetings and Events industry and integrating Travel and Meetings teams with Procurement.

Developed one of the first combined virtual meeting/face-to-face meeting management teams, in 2002, to increase usage of technology to reduce costs and lost productivity while enhancing synchronous teaming abilities. Began using virtual meeting technologies in delivery in 1998. Have over 23 years in training & development experience in instructional design, development, facilitation and change management with 16 years of experience and success driving strategic design, operational growth, business development, leading full scale start-up and turnaround efforts, spearheading change initiatives, optimizing resources, and building best-in-class service models.

Expert facilitator, speaker and writer with name recognition in the hospitality procurement consulting market.

Wharton/NBTA Global Leadership Professional (GLP)
Certificate in Meeting Management (CMM)
Certified Meeting Professional (CMP)
Corporate Travel Expert (CTE)
Certified Technical Trainer (CTT)
PwC Six Sigma Green Belt

Debi Scholar, GLP, CMM, CMP, CTE, CTT’s Specialties:

T&E Cost Reduction ~ Strategic Meetings Management ~ Travel ~ Business Development ~ Setting Strategy ~ Linking Strategy to Operations ~ Consulting ~ Virtual Meetings ~ Virtual Teams ~ Executive Training and Development

Many thanks to our Meeting Sponsor

Enterprise Holdings

Northern Virginia

Business Travelers Association

NVBTA Charity Committee introduces Joe’s House

Joe’s House is a non-profit organization that provides discounted lodging for cancer patients and their families when they travel for treatment. For those members who know someone who is fighting cancer, Joe’s House services may be very helpful. For those members who represent hotels, Joe’s House can provide another distribution channel for your company while providing the opportunity for civic contribution.

Joe’s House currently provides discounted lodging at over 1,500 hotels near 200 cancer treatment centers serving 100 markets in the U.S. including the following in the Northern Virginia area:

• Alexandria Inova Hospital
• Fairfax Inova Hospital
• Virginia Hospital Center (Arlington Hospital)
• George Washington University Hospital
• Med Star Georgetown University Medical Center
• Washington Hospital Center
• Howard University Hospital
• Sibley Memorial

To learn more about Joe’s House, please review the information below or visit their website at www.joeshouse.org.  If you represent a hotel that may want to participate with Joe’s House, please contact the President, Ann Calahan at ann.calahan@joeshouse.org.

Q. What is Joe’s House?

A. Facing a difficult series of cancer treatments in a distance city, one of many decisions that must be made is finding a place to stay while undergoing those treatments. Joe’s House was established as a nonprofit, free resource for patients, family members, caregivers, social workers or anyone else searching for lodging while in treatment.

Joe’s House is a single source directory of housing options, complied just for patients and their loved ones. Available either via the Internet at or by telephone, Joe’s House offers details on a wide variety of lodging options such as private homes, hotels, apartments, hospital housing, communal living, motels and more.

Q. How does Joe’s House work?

A. Joe’s House is a nation-wide online housing guide and can be found at www.joeshouse.org.  At this website, users may search for places to stay by city or hospital. Details for each lodging facility include amenities, rate information, how to make a reservation, location and more. When calling our toll free line, agents have the same access to all of the lodging facility information.

Every lodging facility in Joe’s House database offers some type of discounted rate. Some rates are based on availability and fluctuate during the year. Others are negotiated hospital rates and in some cases are free or close to free.

The staff at treatment centers can also access the Joe’s House website. That enables them to find the most appropriate place to stay when the staff – rather than the patient– is making the lodging decision.

screen shot Joe’s House website

Q. Who can use Joe’s House?

A. Joe’s House website is free to use and anyone looking for lodging for patients and family members that are traveling for treatment is welcome to use the site. Additionally, patients of the hospitals listed on the site who have a diagnosis other than cancer are welcome to search for discounted lodging on www.joeshouse.org.

Information available on the site includes:

• How far is it from the treatment center?
• Is it affordable?
• Will it accommodate my spouse (or other caregiver?)
• Is it handicap accessible?
• What are the amenities? (such as kitchens for long stays)

Joe’s House is an online database of lodging facilities compiled solely for patients who need to travel for treatment. It answers the questions listed above and more and can be used by patients, family members, caregivers, social workers and any other case management or hospital personnel.

Q. How does the process work?

A. Joe’s House website is easy to use. Just go to www.joeshouse.org and select the state where the patient is having treatment. Easy drop down boxes help narrow the choices. Or, call 877-JOESHOU (877-563-7468), agents there have the same database of information. Remember it’s free to use.

Q. Why Joe’s House was started

A. The “Joe” in Joe’s House is Joseph Warnecke, a good and brave man who died of cancer at the age of 42 after battling the disease for more than six years.

 The need for Joe’s House became apparent when Joe and his wife Ann traveled to New York and Texas for his treatments. Finding lodging that met the needs of Joe’ and his family turned out to be more of a problem than it should have been. As a hospitality industry executive, Ann knew there had to be a better way to find suitable and affordable housing.

After Joe’s death Ann conceived the idea of a nonprofit corporation that would specialize in accommodations for traveling cancer patients, their families, and their caregivers. Today she is President of the organization. 

Hospitals and treatment centers in the Northern Virginia and Washington, DC area:

• Alexandria Inova Hospital
• Fairfax Inova Hospital
• Virginia Hospital Center (Arlington Hospital)
• George Washington University Hospital
• Med Star Georgetown University Medical Center
• Washington Hospital Center
• Howard University Hospital
• Sibley Memorial