Welcome to Fort Worth, Texas .... where Cowboys and Culture go hand in hand. You are cordially invited to join us for the 30th Annual Conference & Tradeshow in Fort Worth, Texas! We have an exciting conference planned for you. Click here to see the conference summary and register today.
SOLD OUT
Please look for information for the next Roundtable.
Check your email! Registration info for the Spring Roundtable is out - and this one is going to fill up fast!
Join TPTA on Feb 21-22 at the UT Health Science Center for networking with colleagues and some fantastic education sessions.
IPI Senior Training and Development Specialist, Cindy Campbell, is back to follow up on her successful Roundtable visit in 2015. Tactical Communications will provide attendees with ideas and concepts to help defuse customer conflict. And we know there is no shortage of conflict in parking!
The second session will be lead by Karen Moody, the Executive Director of Research and Administrative Facilities at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Once you register, you will receive a code via email for a Strength Finder Test - take this test before attending the Roundtable. Moody will lead us on a discussion of identifying talent and focusing on talents to improve productivity. Basically - get people to do what they do best.
I look forward to seeing you all in Houston for this rewarding, beneficial event. What are you waiting for - go register now! Details regarding the mixer on Feb 21 will be announced soon.
While you are online - keep your eye on our Twitter feed or like us on Facebook!
Mail once was a magical thing. I had international pen pals and my bestie and I used to routinely send letters to each other arguing the merits of Prince versus Michael Jackson (I was all about Prince). Over time, mail has devolved to uncountable credit card offers, store flyers, election pieces (October was BRUTAL!) and tree-destroying junk mail.
It's just not magical anymore.
Until today! I received my TPTA 2017 Conference Save the Date! I hope you received it too! If you did not, please make sure you are on our mailing list. When you opt-out - we cannot contact you. And we want to make sure you are kept in the loop.
My calendar is marked for Ft Worth, April 3-6, 2017. We will soon be launching the Conference website where you can register and decide on sponsorship opportunities.
Remember you must be a member in good standing to register for the conference. So while you wait for the Conference website launch - ensure you are a registered member today!
Special thanks to Toledo Ticket for sponsoring the 2017 Save the Date! Looking forward to seeing you all in Ft Worth!
TPTA is now accepting nominations for the 2017 Distinguished Service Award which recognizes parking professionals who have contributed to the education, professional development, creative solutions, and standards of customer service in the parking and transportation industry.
Your nomination must include the items below and cannot be longer than 800 words.
Name of nominee:
Title:
Organization:
Name of person nominating:
Title:
Organization:
Please provide a statement (800 words or less) that entails the individual’s accomplishments and why they are deserving of the Distinguished Service Award.
Criteria for selecting the Distinguished Service Award recipient include:
1. Professional reputation
2. Contribution to the parking industry/organization
3. Creative solutions and innovations (include outcomes)
4. Public Relations and Customer Service
5. Peer Interaction
Please include items that will address the criteria in your nomination statement.
Email all nominations to Maria Irshad: maria.irshad@houstontx.gov.
All nominations need to be submitted no later than 5:00 p.m. on March 1, 2017.
Happy New Year! Is this the year your organization will install new technology? Or will you collaborate with transportation partners to reduce SOV? Maybe you are working with local artists to dress up a garage? What cool projects does 2017 have in store for you?
Tell us about it! Write about it for the blog or in a series of posts. Your colleagues will benefit from your lessons learned - not to mention that successful projects are always fun to talk about!
In case you missed it - it's time to renew your membership. We'll be announcing the winner of the membership renewal contest for those who renewed before Dec 31, 2016. If you still need to renew - fear not, you can still take advantage of the new member referral program. Refer a new member and if they join, you will receive a $50 discount on your conference registration. Good deal!!
The Spring Roundtable will be held In late February 2017. Stay tuned for details!
Here is to a prosperous and awesome 2017 for you all!
The TPTA Board of Directors thank you for being a TPTA member and supporting parking & transportation professionals throughout the state of Texas. May you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
It's that time of the year! Hopefully, you have finished your Christmas shopping, but are still in a giving state of mind. Because TPTA has an ask of you.
Yes, we are looking at you, ALL OF YOU!
TPTA has put out a call for presentations for the 2017 Annual Conference & Tradeshow, Are you up to the challenge? The Host Committee is working on two education tracks for the conference this year. Knowing my TPTA colleagues, there is no lack of interesting stories and projects to share. So submit your proposal today and good luck!! Deadline for submissions is February 12, 2017.
If you are interested in taking on a leadership role in TPTA - now is the time. There are six (6) positions on the ballot this year and the call for nominations is open until January 6, 2017.
Elections are run in accordance with the TPTA By-Laws.
We want to hear from you - so nominate yourself or submit a presentation for the Conference. This organization depends on you! Good luck!
If you haven't already, please check out the new job postings - The City of Austin and the University of North Texas are looking for parking professionals and you might fit the bill!
TPTA held its Winter Roundtable in El Paso on Dec 7. Thanks to our speakers: Brad Magee with CivicSmart, Jeremy Rocha, PE, NCEES, of Walter P. Moore and Dennis Delaney and Linsey Duett of the University of Texas - Austin. Special thank you to Mitchell Time & Parking for sponsoring lunch and snack breaks.
Attendees networked the night before with Mexican food and libations and spent a day learning the intricacies of sensor technology, occupancy studies and how to do more with less. Be on the look out for the next Roundtable event, scheduled for Houston from February 21-22, 2017. Details will be landing in your inbox soon!
In other member news...
Houston City Council approved an agreement for an on-street car-share program. ParkHouston anticipates rolling out the program in early 2017.
Peter Lange, Texas A&M University
I was working for the Atlanta Regional Commission’s (Metropolitan Planning Organization for Atlanta) commute options program called Commute Connections as a systems analyst assisting with the regional ride matching program. One of the senior outreach coordinators left the program to work for Georgia Tech’s parking and transit department. I think it was the day after he arrived that he started to recruit me. A couple of interviews later and I became their first IT systems specialist in the spring of 1999.
How was I tricked? During my first week on the job the person that recruited me left. The week after that the director left and within two weeks, everyone I knew was gone. Fortunately for me the university brought in a great interim team. Each person was completely new to parking but had been at Georgia Tech for several years. To this day, they are still part of my parking family.
Peter Lange
Associate Vice President
Texas A&M University
Please join TPTA for our Winter Roundtable in El Paso on Dec 6-7, 2016. We still have space for this free networking event, but you need to register today!
Here are the details!
Roundtable Event
When: Wednesday, December 7, 2016 from 9:30 am to 2:30 pm
Where: Hawthorn Suites, El Paso Airport
6789 Boeing Dr, El Paso, TX 79925 (click to view map)
A light breakfast and lunch will be provided at no charge.
Agenda
9:30 - 10:00 AM: Welcome/Introductions and Continental Breakfast
10:00 - 11:00 AM: Presentation: Brad McGee, CivicSmart: Sensor Technology - The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
11:00 - 11:15 AM: Prize Drawing/Break
11:15 AM - 12:15 PM: Presentation: Linsey Duett, CAPP & Dennis Delaney, CAPP, UT Austin: Parking Challenges on a Landlocked Campus
12:15 - 1:00 PM: Lunch and Networking
1:00 - 2:15 PM: Presentation: Jeremy Rocha, PE, NCEES, Walter P. Moore: Why Parking Studies are a Good First Step
2:15 - 2:30 PM: Prize Drawing/Closing
Jacob Gonzalez, P.E.
My introduction to parking was the Texas Medical Center’s (TMC) parking facility condition assessment program in the summer of 1998. On a quarterly basis, I walked every garage and parking lot TMC operated. I was tasked to develop construction documents for repairs and provide oversight during construction. TMC is the largest medical center in the world with more than 69,000 parking spaces so it was a grand introduction.
During that summer I also worked on the TMC Parking Access and Revenue Control System (PARCS) technology replacement project. TMC was upgrading their parking equipment in the facilities by installing state of the art technology. The transition was from a Pay-at-Exit system to a Pay-on-Foot automated system with turn-out lanes. The project required a complete redesign of how the facilities functioned and an overhaul of the wayfinding/signage for operational alignment.
While these two projects were different they had two things in common, they were parking projects and we were the prime consultant leading the team. This experience has become the foundation of my career and has since led to leading four of the last five garages built in Texas Medical Center and hundreds of consulting projects nationally. My passion for parking is fueled through a team leadership approach and a project delivery process called Parking Integration. I am a proud Parking Professional.
Angie Blocher, Winpark
If you asked me four years ago what my career path was, it wasn’t parking! I worked for a community college in Nebraska with a very clear career path when my husband was offered a promotion. It was a difficult decision to leave as I loved my job. I was working on my MBA with clear intentions on my future growth with the college. I chose to support my husband and his professional growth and we moved to Texas. I felt lost and confused as to where I wanted to go and what I wanted to do. I put my MBA on hold and got a job for which I was over-qualified to bide my time.
That is when I had the distinct pleasure of meeting Michael Cramer during a window retrofit request. I have the habit of talking a lot, which was a useful skill for the small window replacement company I worked for and I was able to build relationships with our customers before the consultation appointment. It proved very successful for the company and gave me the opportunity to better know Mr. Cramer. He seemed impressed and we talked about my career path and the lack of direction I had at that time along with a million other things.
A few months passed and I was contacted for an interview with Winpark for a new position, Project Manager. At first, I couldn’t understand why a parking company needed a project manager but it was worth exploring. After meeting with the Vice President, I knew this was the position for me. I still couldn’t wrap my mind around going from the educational field to the parking industry but it felt right. The position seemed challenging enough for me and I was eager to learn all the various aspects of parking. I was shocked at all that went into managing parking. I came to Texas with no sense of direction for my career and I landed in an industry that couldn’t fit me better. It is challenging. You truly never know what kind of situation you will deal with next. The industry is full of wonderful and intelligent people but, most of all, I came here lost and found home.