Every little helps!
Take our Travel Itinerary Test!
Are you keeping business on track?
Hotel booking online — the facts revealed!
10 steps to stress-free travel arranging
Organising travel for your managers? It's a real trip for the PA! (Not)
How to set up an Accommodation Portfolio
"You have to go to Paris via Singapore, but it's really cheap!"
New! DeskDemon Jobs
Day in the Life
Conference focus: Liverpool
File it!
New in WorkSmart
Organising events? No sweat!
Still to come on DeskDemon in June
Welcome to the June issue of DeskDemon Express, your monthly online magazine. This edition is packed with ideas and contacts to help with that important part of your role — organising business travel. In some ways, organising trips has become easier in the past few years, as technology brings speed and access to information to your desktop. But if you don't grasp the fundamentals, all the technology in the world won't help you. In this fact-filled issue, we look at both the new advances to keep your travelling executives on track, and also the key skills which will ensure your planning is spot on, every time. New business services come on-stream all the time, and we asked Peter Dunwell to take a look at what's on offer right now. He has pulled together the most useful new facilities for travelling executives, so don't miss his round-up. We also take a close-up look at how trains in the UK are expanding their services to suit business travellers. Norman Flack offers his thoughts on doing business on the railways.
Sally Longson, editor of DeskDemon.com's own Careers Strand, offers her thoughts on producing workable and effective itineraries for your managers. A former PA herself, she gives you the low-down on what to put in, and equally important, what to leave out.
Meanwhile, Sara Goodwins has been researching on your behalf again, and has reviewed some top hotel booking websites. If you book hotel nights online, check out Sara's article and see whether you agree with her impressions. The Institute of Travel Management also offers advice for travel bookers and organisers, while Graeme Payne, a long-time friend of DeskDemon.com, has some valuable guidance on choosing the right flights. His advice, given courtesy of the Business Travel Show, will help you make the right decisions for your executives.
Of course, the PA has a huge influence on a business trip, and the choices you make will greatly affect the success of the trip. Lee Morrissey, our resident PA guru, gives us the benefit of her experience of travel organising, and offers her thoughts on how to make a positive, rather than a negative, contribution.
I hope you enjoy this issue, and find some valuable information. We do love hearing your views, so do keep them coming — whether it's for the "Sound Off!" or just a comment to the team.
Best Wishes
