Nikki Watson - Principal Consultant
Nikki Watson, the owner and principal consultant of Visten Putnam, got her professional start co-managing the sales efforts of a $50 million lawnmower manufacturer over a network of 400 total dealers. She then "grew up" professionally at the National Collegiate Athletic Association and was a valued staffer for 15 years in finance, operations and championships. During her time managing travel, she was critical to the successful transition of the NCAA travel program to a new travel management company in 2003 (after 20 years with the previous partner). Nikki was the NCAA liaison onsite at the new travel company's call center their first year managing NCAA "March Madness" travel with the charge of “no team has ever not made it to an NCAA championship”.
Nikki lead the operational assessment in 2008 of the Association’s meetings and lodging program and determined that the Association had siloed spend between committee meetings, staff travel and championship hotel blocks (secured by host institutions at non pre-determined sites). Visiting teams had been reporting for years being over charged for hotel rooms, not being able to find rooms close to championship sites and spending far more than the allowable per diem. It is this assessment and the subsequent survey data collection added to the NCAA’s championship travel reimbursement system that ultimately resulted in their current centralized championship hotel program. In 2009 after the economic decline, the NCAA saw travel expenses spike 20% in one year. Subsequently, Nikki co-founded the now internationally recognized Sports Travel Committee within the Global Business Travel Association's (GBTA) structure. Nikki invited a member from each NCAA division as well as the NFL, NHL, NBA, NFLPA, NASCAR and MLB to collaboratively share best practices, have a unified voice in the travel industry and consider consortia buying opportunities. Nikki served as chair of the committee in it’s first 2 years.
Nikki also worked in championships on the Division I baseball and football staff, managing the College World Series, Division I-A (now FCS) football championship and the football bowl partnerships. During her time at the Association, Nikki pitched, sold and lead multiple critical data driven process improvement initiatives for the NCAA that vastly improved process time, reporting capabilities and service to the membership, which in the business world is called "customer service". To see Nikki's full resume, click here or on the picture above.
Nikki lead the operational assessment in 2008 of the Association’s meetings and lodging program and determined that the Association had siloed spend between committee meetings, staff travel and championship hotel blocks (secured by host institutions at non pre-determined sites). Visiting teams had been reporting for years being over charged for hotel rooms, not being able to find rooms close to championship sites and spending far more than the allowable per diem. It is this assessment and the subsequent survey data collection added to the NCAA’s championship travel reimbursement system that ultimately resulted in their current centralized championship hotel program. In 2009 after the economic decline, the NCAA saw travel expenses spike 20% in one year. Subsequently, Nikki co-founded the now internationally recognized Sports Travel Committee within the Global Business Travel Association's (GBTA) structure. Nikki invited a member from each NCAA division as well as the NFL, NHL, NBA, NFLPA, NASCAR and MLB to collaboratively share best practices, have a unified voice in the travel industry and consider consortia buying opportunities. Nikki served as chair of the committee in it’s first 2 years.
Nikki also worked in championships on the Division I baseball and football staff, managing the College World Series, Division I-A (now FCS) football championship and the football bowl partnerships. During her time at the Association, Nikki pitched, sold and lead multiple critical data driven process improvement initiatives for the NCAA that vastly improved process time, reporting capabilities and service to the membership, which in the business world is called "customer service". To see Nikki's full resume, click here or on the picture above.