Travelocity Business won a Stevie® Award for Best Marketing Campaign in The 2007 International Business Awards.

What book are you currently reading?
It’s a good thing my work involves traveling a lot because that’s when I get to do my reading!  I just finished Tracy Chevalier’s novel Burning Bright, and I’m half way through Becoming a Resonant Leader: Develop Your Emotional Intelligence, Renew Your Relationships, Sustain Your Effectivenessby Richard Boyatzis and Annie McKee.

What was the last movie you saw, and would you recommend it?
Before joining Netflix last winter, I was so out of date it was embarrassing.  My family just rented Enchanted and we all liked it enough that I went out and bought the DVD.   I guess I’m kind of a pushover for a good, sappy movie.

What is your favorite sport or hobby?
I’m a scrap-booking maven.  It’s the perfect hobby for me because I can get together with my girlfriends after the kids are in bed.  We stay up and chat and relive our favorite memories as we get our pictures organized. 

Who is your favorite historical figure?
It’s hard for me to pick a favorite as I really like to read biographies.   I recently read Martha Washington: An American Life by Patricia Brady and then took my family to Mt. Vernon when we were visiting Washington, DC in May.   I was impressed by what a strong figure she was and how involved she was with the politics of the era.

Who is your favorite living person?
I was glued to the US Open a couple of weeks ago.  How can you not be impressed with Tiger Woods’ incredible ability to focus, his tenacity, and his utter brilliance when playing golf?

If you could choose another profession, what would it be?
I would love to run a not-for-profit company. I love business plans that don't add up when you just look at the figures and require heart to make it all come together in the end.

What do you think is the worst bad habit to have at work?
Whining.  I give people one chance to tell me how awful something is.  The next time I hear about it, they’d better be doing something about making the situation better. 

What quality or qualities do you most value in your business associates?
Dependability on delivering what they say they’ll do.  If I’m told I’ll get it by Tuesday, then I’m banking on it for Tuesday.  I need to know I can rely on them.

Is there anything you'd like to improve about your own work practices?
Finding that perfect balance of work and home is a constant challenge.  I make a real effort to be home with my family in the evenings, but that often means I work late into the night once they’re asleep.  It doesn’t always work out that way, so I know my children sometimes wish I didn’t have to work so much.

As someone at the top of your profession, what keeps you inspired or makes you hit the ground running in the morning?
I love the great people I work with.  I enjoy meeting new customers and getting to know more about them and their businesses.  I have a terrific team at Travelocity Business, and the company of Travelocity and Sabre as a whole is just a really energizing place to work.

What do you consider has been your greatest achievement in business?
The May 2005 launch of Travelocity’s Championship program—a promise to our customers to make things right if the trip doesn't meet their expectations.  The program was immediately successful, but at the time we didn't know if it would be, so it was a risk.

What advice or useful tip would you give to someone who is just starting out in business?
Make sure you feel good about your work at the end of each day.  If you can tie your efforts to the larger objectives and goals of your company—even if your contribution is small—it will help you to become an integral part of your company.

About Lesley Harris:
Appointed as president of Travelocity Business (TBiz®) in April 2007, Lesley Harris has a diverse background that exemplifies the convergence of business and leisure travel in the online age. Having worked for Travelocity and Sabre Travel Network, Harris has a particular affinity for enhancing traveler experience and delivering superior customer service—strengths that serve her well as she leads one of the fastest-growing travel management companies in North America. From its origin in 2003 serving unmanaged business travelers, Travelocity Business now has more than $800 million in travel spend under management, primarily from mid-size and large corporate travel programs.

Harris started her career with Sabre in 1995 and held various positions in finance, operations, and sales at Sabre Travel Network before transitioning to Travelocity in the summer of 2005.  She earned a master's degree in business administration from the University of Oregon and a bachelor's degree in international studies from Miami University in Ohio. She also received a diploma from Kansai University of Foreign Studies in Japan.

About Travelocity Business:
Southlake, Texas-based Travelocity Business is a full-service corporate travel management company. TBiz® is one of the business travel industry’s fastest-growing agencies with more than $800 million in annual travel spend under management. Travelocity Business combines the expertise, service and travel choices of Travelocity with corporate experience gained from serving more than half of the Fortune 200 companies. For more information, companies can visit www.travelocitybusiness.com.

Sabre Holdings Corporation is a world leader in travel commerce, retailing travel products and providing distribution and technology solutions for the travel industry. More information about Sabre Holdings is available at http://www.sabre-holdings.com.

John Hancock Funds Creative Services team has been the winner of the Stevie Award for Best Creative Team two years in a row, in the 2007 and 2008 American Business Awards. Here we look more closely at what sets them apart from the competition.

The John Hancock Funds Creative Services team helped make 2007 the greatest sales year in the company’s history by absorbing the company’s vision and coming up with the most effective solutions to market its suite of products, according to Dan Rollins, assistant vice president.

Says Rollins, who leads Creative Services team: “What sets our team apart from the competition is an unparalleled enthusiasm and passion for excellence in every part of the business. The team keeps on proving how an internal creative group can play a major role in a company’s success.” Made up of forward-thinking, creative individuals, Rollins’ team continues to perform at an exceptionally high level in all the creative divisions, including Financial Publishing, Print Procurement, Literature Fulfillment, and the Document Center.

Here is an overview of some of the tasks completed by Dan Rollins’ team during 2006-7:

Re-branding
In 2006, John Hancock undertook a major re-branding initiative and reengineered the entire marketing collateral system. The creative team collaborated with various business units to establish design guidelines that would enable the entire company to leverage the revitalized brand. With a clear understanding of the John Hancock Funds brand attributes, the creative team crafted a design strategy that positioned the company as a top mutual fund player. The result: John Hancock Funds was awarded Best-In-Class in seven categories by the Mutual Fund Education Alliance’s Star Awards.

In addition to the collateral material redesign, the creative team launched an International Funds campaign, a website campaign, and a successful value-added program; and it created print and multimedia for a 37-city Road Show. The team also launched a successful literature-ordering web site, managed a profitable document center, and supported new products in the Financial Publishing department.

To reinforce John Hancock Funds’ strong brand, Creative Services developed a successful graphic system to streamline collateral for the company’s mutual fund launch. The benefits were two-fold: A consistently recognizable brand, and an efficient production cycle.

Multimedia Talents
Over the past two years, Creative Services has expanded its multimedia capabilities. The John Hancock Funds’ aggressive 2007 sales goal provided an excellent opportunity for the team to showcase its diverse range of new talents. One highlight was the company’s launch of the award-winning Proposal Builder system. Creative Services worked closely with the company’s E-Commerce team to design this web-based, data-driven system for producing printed proposals.

In conjunction with this effort, Creative Services created an integrated advertising campaign featuring direct mail, print collateral, web-site ads, and e-mail blasts.

Managing the System Online
One major technical advance in 2007 was the launch of a project tracking and reporting system called CreateOne. This web-based system was designed by Creative Services to manage and analyze 3,000-plus annual projects, as well as to assist John Hancock Funds in identifying opportunities for efficiencies.

Marcom Collaboration
The Creative Services and Marketing Communications departments collaborated during 2006-7 to produce marketing material for the John Hancock Closed-End Fund launch, the Investment Executive workshop, the Create Clients for Life kit, and the Large Cap flash.  These endeavors were recognized by the marketing profession when John Hancock Funds received the 2007 Association of Marketing & Communications Professionals’ Marcom Award for its IRA Rollover Campaign in the Marketing and Promotional Campaign category.

External Events
The team provided all design and execution for several major company events during 2007, including the “Rethink Reality” Roadshow, the Signature Board Top-Producers Meeting, the National Accounts Conference, the National Sales Meeting, and the Texas Sales Meeting.

College Savings Campaign
Creative Services manages all creative and production fulfillment for the John Hancock Funds College Savings division. During 2007, College Savings launched memorable campaigns to increase awareness of its product, including the Back to School kit, featuring a genuine lunch box, the 529 Gift Card Program, and a selection of children’s items such as a coloring book, a calendar, and a growth chart.

Assisting Non-profit Organizations
In the past year the Creative Services team has supported non-profit organizations such as Horizons for Homeless Children, the Pan-Mass Challenge, Boston Public Schools, and Rosie’s Place.

To see the results of all this creative effort, click here to access a PDF of John Hancock Funds Creative Services Portfolio.

About Dan Rollins
The John Hancock Funds Creative Services team is led by assistant vice president Dan Rollins. Before he joined John Hancock Funds in 1994, Dan worked as an art director and general manager at Creative Publishing Corporation. Dan began his career as a printing press operator and later received his degree in Advertising & Graphic Design. Dan is a member of AIGA and is on the advisory boards for the Boston Print Buyers and Print and Media Buyer Magazine.

About John Hancock Funds:
The Boston-based mutual fund business unit of John Hancock Financial Services, John Hancock Funds manages more than $54.1 billion in open-end funds, closed-end funds, private accounts, retirement plans and related party assets for individual and institutional investors as of March 31, 2008. John Hancock Funds are distributed by John Hancock Funds, LLC, member FINRA. For more information, please visit www.jhfunds.com.

John Hancock is a unit of Manulife Financial Corporation, a leading Canadian-based financial services group serving millions of customers in 19 countries and territories worldwide. Operating as Manulife Financial in Canada and Asia, and primarily as John Hancock in the United States, the company offers clients a diverse range of financial-protection products and wealth-management services through its extensive network of employees, agents, and distribution partners. Funds under management by Manulife Financial and its subsidiaries were Cdn$400 billion (US$389 billion) as of March 31, 2008. Manulife Financial Corporation trades as “MFC” on the TSX, NYSE, and PSE, and under “0945” on the SEHK. Manulife Financial can be found on the Internet at www.manulife.com.

The picture accompanying this article shows the following members of the John Hancock Funds Creative Services team (left to right): Rebecca Anderson, Director of Operations; Maureen Quaile, Director of Financial Publishing; and Daniel Rollins, Assistant Vice President, Creative Services.

Blogs, or web logs, are all the rage these days. Each month in this space we'll point you to several blogs that we think might be of interest to you.

Trusted Advisor : Trust integrates a great number of business issues—and this blog by author Charles Green aims to provide comprehensive skillsets in this field.
Bossablog : Free informational tidbits and resources as well as fresh angles on the issues facing service professionals today.
Fare Buzz : First Class and Business Class airline deals.
Re: Balance : Jim Peterson's blog on the collapse of large accounting firms and what it means to big business.