Thank you for your guidance.  You are the coolest bunch of people we have ever worked with. Your analytical approach was a bit foreign for our freestyle company, but the results soon convinced us that you were right all along.  Thank you.

Jonah Mylit
COO
Franklin PR&I


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At Merchants Bank we have always prided ourselves on the quality of the service we provide to our customers.  In an effort to continually enhance our customer experience we daily use many of the service enhancement techniques that Jim taught us, including the recognition that we have internal and external customers; that we should always be looking at a transaction from the customer’s perspective as well as our own; and that the most critical part of making a sale is just “showing up”. 

Anthony Biondi
Chief Executive Officer
Merchants Bank

Jim Palmeri is truly an amazing person.  He gets things done!  He has vision and manages the process to completion.  He is an asset to any organization or company."  

Sue Arko
Dreamweaver
Free Spirit Vacations

GroupConnect.com Managing Director Completes Successful Transition  & Integration of Product Offerings


Washington, DC - May 28, 2011

GroupConnect.com was conceived and originally established by the Ontario Motor Coach Association (OMCA) and the American Bus Association (ABA), it was initially envisioned only as a tool that would help connect the group travel industry together in one place through technology. In the time since joining GroupConnect, Jim Palmeri, GroupConnect’s Managing Director oversaw the successful launch and implementation of GroupConnect, with many new enhancements for travel members and trip planning tools for bus and tour operators and the traveling public.  After that initial assignment, Palmeri expanded the company’s scope and direction so that it now has offerings for every segment of the industry.  These tools now include the successful CharterBusConnect, an affordable referral tool for motorcoach operators that is generating thousands of leads a month and bringing new business to motorcoach companies from tour operators, schools and the public.  In developing another tool to further expand the visibility for members of the travel industry, Palmeri oversaw the creation of GroupTravelConnect, a public facing site that gives more visibility to all travel members of both OMCA and ABA. 

It was announced last week that Jim Palmeri will end his term of service at GroupConnect.com, a joint venture of ABA and OMCA, at the end of June having successfully accomplished and exceeded his goals in successfully launching various components of GroupConnect and helping it to gain traction in a short time, both within the industry as a business to business itinerary creation tool as also with the public looking to fulfill their travel needs. As was planned during the creation of GroupConnect.com, during the next phase of its development and implementation, the current staff will manage and promote the growing services as an integrated part of the membership benefit of the two associations and continue to operate as a separate stand-alone company.

GroupConnect.com, was initially launched in 2009, as an online travel tool that expedites lead generation; consolidates staff research efforts during itinerary development; increases low-cost business-to-business exposure and aids in regional tourism tracking.

Under the leadership of Jim Palmeri, GroupConnect.com launched, thrived and expanded.  Jim was the driving force behind creating CharterBusConnect.com and GroupTravelConnect.com, sub-sites of GroupConnect.com, in order to reach other markets and engage member segments important to both ABA and OMCA

“We hired Jim to take GroupConnect.com from its development stage to its operating stage. We were so pleased with his work that we extended his contract once to launch CharterBusConnect.com and then again to help us successfully integrate GroupConnect.com into ABA and OMCA as a membership benefit,” said OMCA President and CEO Brian Crow. “I could not be prouder of Jim for the job he’s done for us.” 

“GroupConnect.com would not be the success it is today without Jim Palmeri,” said ABA President and CEO Peter J. Pantuso. “Jim’s leadership allowed this venture to get off the ground, and it was his vision to build CharterBusConnect.com and GroupTravelConnect.com sites and get them ready for the integration in to the Associations’ membership services segments of the  our respective associations. We wish him all the best in the future and thank Jim for positioning the company to move to the next phase.”

You skillfully navigated our group through a process that most were unfamiliar with, and everyone left the room feeling more enthused than when they entered.  I, for one, am very enthused about thinking differently.  We have a business that can be fun, we tend to forget that at times.
I cannot say enough thank-you's.

Shelley Brown
President
StateTheatre
Center for the Arts



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Just a short note to acknowledge the wonderful job you are doing  for me and my fellow Travel Alliance Partners.  It is such a pleasure to have a director on board who shares our enthusiam and drive to succeed.  Your direction in our formative years has been just what we needed.  Keep up the great work. 

Thank you, 
Richard Durgan
President
Durgan Travel Service

We have a new company!  The people here are smiling.  Things are going in the right direction.  AND WE ARE MAKING MONEY!  This is how we always envisioned our company.

Nicholas J. Alfero
Chief Executive Officer
Alfero Company, Inc.


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We have used the services of the James J. Palmeri Company to assist in training front line hospitality staff.  Jim’s presentation was excellently prepared and delivered.  His style provided a memorable experience for all involved.  The best part - it worked!