ReadWriteWeb

In January of this year, mobile travel management app TripIt was acquired for up to $120 million by Concur, a company founded in 1993 that provides "integrated expense and travel management solutions." TripIt, founded in late 2006, was one of my favorite 'web 2.0' apps. At the end of 2007, ReadWriteWeb named it one of 10 Semantic Apps to Watch. From the early days, TripIt had managed to pair its sophisticated technology with an easy to use interface. The back end was technological fairy dust, but for the user it was almost deceptively simple. As I described the app in 2007: "you forward incoming bookings to plans@tripit.com and the system manages the rest."

Last month in Seattle I met up with TripIt co-founder Scott Hintz and Concur co-founder Michael Hilton (currently Executive VP, Worldwide Marketing). I was most interested to find out how a trendy consumer-focused travel app found its way into the more rigid, paperwork ridden world of corporate travel management - and how it's faring.

The latest episode of RWW Live, today at 3.30pm PST, will be focused on online travel applications. We have executives from 4 great travel startups on the call: TripIt, Yapta, Dopplr and PlanetEye. In the show we'll be discussing how the Web is changing the way people travel for work and fun. It promises to be a fascinating discussion, so we hope you tune in to the show LIVE at 3.30pm PST Monday (6.30pm EST) on Calliflower or Facebook. You can also ask questions during the podcast, using the chat function.