Concur Kicks Off Fusion 2014 - Inspires Customers and Partners to Collaborate via Fast Growing Open Platform

NEW ORLEANS, May 7, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Concur (Nasdaq: CNQR), the leading provider of spend management solutions and services in the world, today kicks off Fusion, its premier client event of the year, at The New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. A special opening day keynote by the company's founders showcased the future of integrated business travel and expenses and urged the entire industry to think about their own perfect trip and the evolving ecosystem required to support it.

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"At Fusion, we have the unique opportunity to imagine and envision how the world should work and then focus the collective efforts of our community to make that vision a reality," said Steve Singh, CEO and chairman of Concur. "Over the course of the week, we want our customers, partners and attendees to focus on one main theme – to connect. Whether this is your first time or your tenth time attending Fusion, I hope that it's a place where you feel empowered to collaborate with your colleagues on building an even more transparent, connected and effortless experience for us all."

With more than 2,000 attendees this year, Concur marks the 11th annual Fusion event by bringing together clients, partners and product staff to connect, collaborate and learn. Over the course of the four-day event, Concur will unveil exciting new innovations to inspire the future of integrated business travel spend management, as well as enable each member of the corporate travel ecosystem to participate and reach that future on their own timetable, perfecting their own perfect trip. 

"My vision of the perfect trip is irrelevant. What is relevant is how our customers envision their own perfect trips. I want to be in the position to deliver the range and options of what that perfect trip is," said Ron Nelson, chairman and CEO of Avis Budget. "Fusion is the place where those ideas are formed."

"When it comes to creating the perfect trip, we put the guest first and foremost, ensuring that each and every one of them feels special and recognized at every touch point along the way," said Frits van Paasschen, CEO of Starwood Hotels "Attending Fusion allows us to connect and collaborate with other companies and experts on creating the perfect trip while thinking critically about how technologies and the travel world should work."  

In addition to networking with other Concur clients, attendees can participate in the following:

• Special opening day keynote by Steve Singh, chairman and CEO of Concur, to take place on Wednesday, May 7 from 8:30-10:00 a.m. The keynote will focus on the business travel revolution and creating an open ecosystem that enables transparency and delivers better value to customers.
• Expo hall is set to have 70 booths and will boast more than 80 break-out sessions including educational seminars and panels, in-depth product training sessions and a new government track. The full list is included here.
• Motivational keynote from singer-songwriter, Jewel, will take place on the final day of Fusion, Friday, May 9. Jewel will share her personal story on growing up in Alaska, traveling the world and other globetrotting stories.
• Attendees will receive continuous access to Concur's technologies, such as TripLink, a suite of Concur solutions for corporate customers and travel management companies, as well as other solutions that tackle travel and expense issues.

The event's Titanium sponsor is American Express and Platinum Sponsor is World Travel, Inc. Gold sponsors include Acquis Consulting Group, BMO Financial Group, Christopherson Business Travel, Cornerstone Information Systems, Corporate Travel Management, Meridian Global Services, Okta, Travel and Transport, Travel Incorporated, Ultramar Travel and World Travel Services, Inc.

Join the conversation that's already started! Tell the world what the Perfect Trip would mean to you on Twitter and use #PerfectTrip. Help us build a vision of business travel and spend management that works the way it should so that you can focus on what matters most to you.  

About Concur
Concur is a the leading provider of spend management solutions and services  in the world, helping companies of all sizes transform the way they manage spend so they can focus on what matters most. Concur's easy-to-use Web-based and mobile solutions help companies and their employees control costs and save time. Concur Connect is the platform that enables the entire travel and expense ecosystem of customers, suppliers, and developers to access and extend Concur's T&E cloud. Concur's systems adapt to individual employee preferences and scale to meet the needs of companies from small to large. Learn more at http://www.concur.com or the Concur blog.

Press Contact:
Ali Kramer, Grayling
Ali.kramer@grayling.com
(206) 349-6672

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SOURCE Concur Technologies