Earlier this year Booking Boss applied to demonstrate at the Travel Innovation Summit, we thought we had an awesome product BUT did the analyst team at PhoCusWright think so?
The answer in May was YES and we all celebrated here at Booking Boss HQ – the most prestigious travel technology conference had also validated our own thoughts.
The PhoCusWright Travel Innovation Summit
For those of you who don’t know The PhoCusWright Travel Innovation Summit brings together the most innovative companies in travel, showcasing the next wave of innovation in travel. Delegates include the travel industry’s most influential leaders from around the world.
I’ll be honest; if it weren’t for some key mentors I have in my life, we would never have applied. They are huge supporters, wonderful sounding boards and true believers in what we are working to achieve. If you are a new start-up or emerging company in the travel industry, you need to find yourself some mentors.
Now that we had been selected, I was getting nervous. This conference commanded up to 2000 delegates and numerous people watching on demand from around the globe. I kept checking in with the growing list of global innovators I would be speaking along side and they all sounded amazing! It was also awesome to see a couple of other Australian companies being represented including Tripbooka and Going Somewhere.
A total of 32 Travel Innovators were selected for the 2014 Travel Innovation Summit and were separated into three categories; start-up, emerging and established. Booking Boss was part of the emerging category, defined as being between 18 months and 3 years old.
The preparation
Luckily, we had plenty of time to prepare and prepare we did. I watched TED talks and past Travel Innovation Summit presentations. I spoke to people who had gone before me to ask about their experience and how they prepared their presentations, I called in an expert team to help pull together the visual presentation and some industry experts to listen to me practice.
The preparation that goes into a conference such as PhoCusWright is nothing short of astounding; the analysts work with you to ensure you are slick and well prepared for the event, no stone is left unturned and we personally went through more than 8 revisions of our presentation.
I practiced in front of my children, the mirror! And colleagues until I was reciting this presentation in my sleep! (And I was!) I had NEVER spoken in front of 2000 odd people before. It had to be good.
Why did I do this?
- People were paying good money to be at this conference
- After this, everyone who’s anyone in travel will know about Booking Boss
- Our whole team was behind us and excited
- I wanted to prove to myself that I CAN step out of my comfort zone and nail it.
This was after all, a big deal and I was not going to stuff it up!
The lead up to PhoCusWright was intense for our entire team. We were so busy with the day to day running of Booking Boss as well as the pressures of preparing for the PhoCusWright Conference that time flew by and before I knew it – it was the final countdown – 1 week to go!
The night before the big day we had a speakers briefing and this was the first opportunity I had had to see the stage – wow – I was speechless – it was HUGE and there were a sea of empty chairs waiting for delegates the very next day. It was overwhelming to think we were here and we’re going to essentially launch Booking Boss to the best of the travel technology world!
The big day
I was third up that morning, Tuesday the 11th of November at 9.35am – I was expecting a wave of panic and extreme nerves but none of these arrived, I was surprisingly calm.
I arrived in the green room for roll call and was mic’ed up and ready for my 9.5 minutes on the PhoCusWright stage. Let’s do this! I CAN DO THIS!
I hear the conference introduction and welcome and in that moment I also hear that they expect around 7500 people (both there and watching on demand) to tune in! That is awesome; never in my wildest dreams did I think I would ever be capable or get the opportunity to speak for that many people.
I walk back stage, hear my name being announced and then before I know it I am up there on stage in front of what feels like the world and my 9.5 minutes is counting down.
One thing I promised myself when I was there on stage was to be in the moment and take it all in and I really did – at times during my talk I looked around at a sea of faces all listening to me and it was quite overwhelming and exhilarating.
I walked off that stage and was greeted by Andy (my business partner and husband) who was with me the entire way and so wonderful to be able to share this moment together.
We walked down the corridor and I had complete strangers coming up congratulating us and giving us their business cards, this continued on for the entire 3 days and it felt wonderful, people got it – they understood Booking Boss and the opportunity – we had done our job.
You can do anything you set your mind to, the opportunities after the conference closes are endless but please give it the time and attention it deserves.