Contact: Steve Loucks, CTC
763-744-3797
sloucks@travelleaders.com
Kathy Gerhardt
763-744-3710
kgerhardt@travelleaders.com
Wisconsin’s Annette Youngbauer elected during 2011 National Meeting in Las Vegas
Plymouth, MN (November 11, 2011) — Today, Travel Leaders Franchise Group (http://www.travelleaders.com) is publicly announcing the results of its most recent Franchisee Advisory Board (FAB) elections, which were conducted last week during the 2011 Travel Leaders National Meeting in Las Vegas. Six Travel Leaders Associates (franchisees), including Wisconsin’s Annette Youngbauer, CTC, were elected to the 13-member body, with five elected on a regional basis and the sixth elected to represent the interests of Travel Leaders’ largest agency members.
As an integral conduit for ensuring that the voices of Travel Leaders franchisees are heard, the Franchise Advisory Board effectively serves as a primary sounding board for Travel Leaders’ strategic planning, including for all of the major initiatives launched throughout the year and particularly during Travel Leaders’ annual conference. FAB members are required to attend regular meetings with key leadership from Travel Leaders Franchise Group headquarters. A total of 13 representatives serve on Travel Leaders’ FAB, including two members for each of the five regional districts, one at-large member and two Leaders Group representatives. Half of the members are elected in even-numbered years, while the other half are elected in odd-numbered years.
The new FAB representatives – voted onto the Franchise Advisory Board by their colleagues from a slate of candidates for each respective region – include:
* Judy Clappin (Travel Leaders – East Greenwich, Rhode Island) – Elected to represent Travel Leaders’ Northeast/Northern District, which includes Connecticut, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont. Clappin owns two Travel Leaders franchised locations in East Greenwich and Woonsocket.
* Mike King (Travel Leaders – Fredericksburg, Virginia) – Elected to represent Travel Leaders’ Southeast/Mid-Atlantic District, which includes Alabama, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.
* David Lovick, Jr. (Travel Leaders – Maple Grove, Minnesota) – Elected to represent Travel Leaders’ Mid-Northwest District, which includes Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin.
* Max Nelson (Travel Leaders – San Jose, California) – Elected to represent Travel Leaders’ Western District, which includes Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Washington and Wyoming.
* Gary S. Spears (Travel Leaders – Bartlesville, Oklahoma) – Reelected to represent Travel Leaders’ South Central District, which includes Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.
* Annette Youngbauer, CTC (Travel Leaders – Delafield, Wisconsin) – Elected to represent Travel Leaders’ Leaders Group. Youngbauer owns Travel Leaders locations in Delafield, Menomonee Falls, Oconomowoc and Sun Prairie.
The seven other members of Travel Leaders’ FAB include:
* Terry Denton (Travel Leaders – Fort Worth, Texas) – Travel Leaders’ Leaders Group.
* Julie Harrington, CTC (Travel Leaders – Richland, Washington) – Travel Leaders’ Western District.
* Bruce Horner (Travel Leaders – Virginia Beach, Virginia) – Travel Leaders’ Southeast/Mid-Atlantic District.
* Denise Petricka (Travel Leaders – Eau Claire, Wisconsin) – Travel Leaders’ Mid-Northwest District.
* Christy Prescott (Travel Leaders – San Antonio, Texas) – Travel Leaders’ At-Large Member.
* Robbert van Bloemendaal, CTC (Travel Leaders – Rowlett, Texas) – Travel Leaders’ South Central District.
* Ann Waters (Travel Leaders – Fort Wayne, Indiana) – Travel Leaders’ Northeast/Northern District.
“We’re very pleased to congratulate Annette and our other new members of Travel Leaders Franchise Advisory Board, and we salute them for already demonstrating a desire to help us stake out Travel Leaders’ place as the undisputed leader in travel,” stated Roger E. Block, CTC, President of Travel Leaders Franchise Group. “Through their contributions, we are confident that we’ll be able to further distinguish Travel Leaders through industry-leading programs and initiatives that, in turn, will only further accelerate the growth of our network nationally.”
Travel Leaders Franchise Group management actively consults with its FAB members on a wide variety of topics, including the network’s strategic direction, technology issues, education and training needs, regional and national meeting agendas, marketing and public relations strategies, and more.
Travel Leaders – when your journey includes us, you travel better. To find the Travel Leaders location nearest you, go to http://www.travelleaders.com or call 888-206-TRIP (8747).
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Travel Leaders is transforming travel with a new name that boldly embodies our commitment to our vacation and business travel clients via a progressive approach toward each unique travel experience. As one of America’s top ten-ranked travel companies, Travel Leaders has assisted millions of travelers through our strong roots – the former Carlson Wagonlit Travel Associates, TraveLeaders and Tzell Travel Group joined together in 2008 to form one of the industry’s fastest-growing and robust networks of travel agents. Travel Leaders Franchise Group can trace its beginnings to 1984 as the Carlson franchise system “Ask Mr. Foster Travel,” which itself was North America’s first travel agency chain established in 1888.
