First up Alex Zoghlin…”Myth Vs. Reality” What exactly is the “new” distribution model?”Alex began with Sam Gilliland quote saying the GNEs are a solution looking for a market, comparing it to H.M. Warner Bros. comment regarding talkies. He went on to compare quotes from Worldspan and Amex with comments about the birth of telephone or other “new” technology at the time. Alex believes that the “fracturalization” of supply is increasing not decreasing (I agree!). You need to what you need to do today and what is needed tomorrow. Tools today don’t have all access to content. G2’s “Super PNR” provides a single customer record to consolidate disparate content. Alex doesn’t believe that there is a one stop solution. One monolithic company as a solution no longer works. Partnerships with TRX, universal client (green screen terminal) The key is to move to “touchless’ transactions.
John Stowe from Sabre – countered saying that the “universal translator” is old technology. Alex then quoted lots of functionality that doesn’t exist. John then said Getthere has automated refunds and exchanges. Cheryl Weldon form Worldspan chimed in characterizing G2 as another layer another component with additional costs. “Thank you for telling me what I offer”. This has nothing to do with technology. The idea of a queue rejecting an e-ticket is foreign to G2.

Comments: This was a great start to the conference. Fireworks between G2, Sabre and Worldspan. Interesting positioning by Worldspan characterizing G2 as another layer that adds cost. Alex was light on specifics but gave the audience the impression there was a lot more functionality coming…