The Association of Corporate Travel Executives' annual global conference opened last night at the InterContinental in Berlin.
And its president Chris Crowley - BCD Travel's senior vice president for its global client team in Europe the Middle East and Africa - told the 800-strong audience that the organisation had to embrace "a changing world".
In his opening remarks to delegates, Crowley made it clear that ACTE was attempting to differentiate itself from any other corporate travel group in Europe.
He asked the audience: "How tired are you of listening to the same old topics at the same old conferences with the same old speakers?"
True to his word, Italian designer Fabio Sergio, the executive creative director of globally recognised firm Frog Design, gave the first keynote.
His speech was not directly relevant to the procurement or management of corporate travel, but it did encourage delegates, through the medium of design, to exercise that well-versed business mantra "thinking outside the box".
The decision to invite Sergio to speak was implicit in ACTE's new motto, revealed by Crowley during his speech: "Be Smart, Be Hip, Be Seen."
He emphasised the importance of "community spirit" and "volunteerism", both of which had made ACTE "the group it is today".
In what could have been interpreted as a snipe at NBTA Europe - another US-based corporate travel group which recently launched a European division and conference - Crowley rubbished claims that any group should be "buyer-led", asking: "Do you really want to be known as a buyer, a supplier or an intermediary? Or would you rather be known as an executive?"
He said the days of the "vested interest practitioner" were over, and insisted the only way the corporate travel sector would succeed was through collaborating and the sharing of knowledge.
The conference sessions get underway this morning and run until tomorrow afternoon.
www.acte.org