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| Photo by Chad Baker/Thomas Northcut/Digitalvision/Getty Images |
The American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) honored its most active members for their advocacy participation at the 2016 ASTA Global Convention in Reno Tahoe.
Two Barbara O'Hara Advocacy Awards were given jointly by ASTA and the Travel Technology Association at the awards ceremony during the black-tie Advocacy Dinner, held at the Nevada Museum of Art.
The first was presented to Roger Hale, president and CEO of ADTRAV Travel Management in Birmingham, in recognition of his in-house PAC fundraising campaign that has raised over $2,500 from 46 employees this year. The second was given to ASTA's Midwest Chapter for its PAC fundraising and assistance to prevent an expansion of Illinois’ sales tax to travel agency services. The chapter raised over $41,000 year-to-date with a 99 percent chapter participation rate.
Two 2016 ASTA Consortia of the Year Awards were also presented: one to Signature Travel Network and the second to Virtuoso in recognition of consortiums, franchises, or coops that have displayed outstanding support for ASTA.
ASTA's Long Island Chapter won the Chapter Advocacy Award for exemplary PAC fundraising (raising $71 per member on average with an 89 percent chapter participation rate).
Lastly, ASTA presented the inaugural ASTA Paul M. Ruden Award to Marc Casto, president and CEO of Casto Travel in San Jose. Casto is the outgoing chair of ASTA’s Corporate Advisory Council. The award honors Paul Ruden, ASTA's former executive vice president, legal & industry affairs, who retired last year after more than 25 years on the ASTA staff.