Last week I attended the British Airways Face-to-Face conference. The conference was a day-long meeting that welcomed all 250 winners of the most recent Face-to-Face campaign contest. Winners were small businesses and entrepreneurs who submitted their entries of why flying on BA and meeting potential partners face-to-face will help their businesses. They were chosen to win a trip on BA to London and then to any destination in the world BA flies. The conference in NY was a new addition to the contest that entailed a day of networking, as well as various 45-minute sessions with guest speakers and experts. They gave the winners advice on some critical tools that will help them build business relationships abroad. The day rounded up with a “face-off” of the top three entries who pitched a 3-minute presentation about why they deserved the grand prize of 10 free business-class trips on BA.  The winner was Adam Braun, founder and executive director of Pencils of Promise. Having followed the campaign from its beginning in 2009, I enjoyed seeing the second year of winners all in one room. I experienced a high level of positive energy that I have not seen for a long time.  I met several small-business owners and entrepreneurs from companies such as  Languatica, Criteria for Success and Solarek Studio. They were traveling all over the world, from Frankfurt to Shanghai. I look forward to hearing the success stories of these companies upon their return home. You can see some of the BA advertising campaign in the pages of GT, and go to their website as well to get further information at ba.com/facetoface. I believe BA created a very successful campaign. It is helping to create brand loyalty with potential customers while stimulating economic growth through the power of face-to-face interaction, all at the same time.   The power of face-to-face meetings is certainly something the readers of GT know very well, who average 16 international trips a year. It is flyers like these and small-business owners, like the ones I met last week, who keep the cabins in the sky full. I look forward to seeing what BA comes up with next to attract important fliers like the readers of GT. – Alex Young, vice president and associate publisher