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Travelocity Founder and Branding Expert Terry Jones entered the travel industry in 1971, joined American Airlines in 1978, and served as Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer of Sabre, Inc. In 1996, he founded Travelocity.com as a division of Sabre, Inc., and later took the company public as President and CEO. Jones took an idea and created a business with 33 million members. It was one of the first profitable dot coms in existence.

Now devoting much of his time to speaking around the country, Terry shares his unique insights on the future of business through the new consulting firm - Essential Ideas. CNN recently called Terry Jones "a major web pioneer, who six years ago founded a dot com that would revolutionize how you bought airline tickets and vacations." It has been said about him that "he was one of the first to recognize the power of branding, marketing, and customer service on-line. He didn't just help people buy tickets on the internet, he helped them plan entire trips ... and he developed new products to do that."

Terry can bring your audience first hand knowledge of creating a national brand, thriving in rapidly changing markets, and using technology for competitive advantage. His programs are both informative and mind expanding, as he challenges audiences to think outside the box and envision the future. Jones has appeared on CNN, CNNfn, CBS's Early Show, CNBC, MSNBC, and many other programs.

Short Circuits
The 1990s promise that the internet would change the landscape of how products were bought and sold is finally coming true. In all industries buyers are 'short circuiting' the traditional buying process to save themselves time and money. Consumers today are internet empowered, time starved yet information rich. And as Terry has observed to audiences here and abroad, to achieve the speed and convenience today's busy world requires they are using the internet to bend traditional processes. In industries as diverse as financial services, heating and air conditioning and heavy equipment, web enabled buyers are changing the role of the middleman and causing manufacturers to reinvent marketing, distribution and sales. Eight of ten high end car buyers search the web before visiting a dealer. The sales floor is once again becoming a 'show room' to consumers who already know everything about the car, including exactly what they want to pay. In a similar fashion patients arrive at the doctor armed with in depth knowledge of their malady and the drug they want prescribed to fix it. For the Doctor, the travel agent, the stock broker, their stranglehold on information has been broken, and their value proposition has changed. Tomorrow's doctor may be more of a knowledge navigator than knowledge provider - surviving Travel Agents are back to giving advice not just information. Terry has been deeply involved in these changes through his work in venture capital and in his management role in internet companies like Travelocity, Kayak, Rearden, Overture and EarthLink.

Branding, Marketing, E-Commerce, Customer Relationship Management
The 21st Century demands new marketing techniques, new methods of creating brands, and new weapons to create technological advantage. Terry Jones knows these new techniques and can share them with your audience. As companies work to develop successful multi-channel strategies and capture the on-line generation as customers, Terry can provide real world examples that audiences can use in this complex new environment. From email marketing and customer relationship management to organizational structure, Terry can deliver a clear picture of how to thrive as the market evolves.