Flexible parking for the future

How do we build better parking for the estimated 10 million people who will call North Texas home in 2040?  If cars drive themselves, will they even need to park? What is the latest research and innovative practices in parking management? How is parking evolving in response to changing market demands, urban form, and technology?

Join the North Central Texas Council of Governments to hear experts discuss “Flexible Parking for the Future: Responding to Market Demands and Transportation Choices”

When: August 2, 2017, 7:30 am to 3:30 pm

Where: Hilton Arlington, 2401 East Lamar Blvd., Arlington, TX 76006

Register now!

Women in Parking - Lunch & Learn

Join Women in Parking for a Lunch and Learn session. 

When:
11:00 AM CT Thursday, July 27, 2017
through 2:00 PM CT Thursday, July 27, 2017

Where:
Brookfield Property Partners, Two Allen Center
1200 Smith Street, Suite 1200, Houston, TX

Women are finally well represented in supervisory and management positions in most organizations across the country. Yet, despite these visible signs of success, many are finding the road to leadership success rocky. This Lunch and Learn is a rare opportunity to acquire important leadership skills and use those newfound skills to gain the respect of co-workers and those you supervise. It’s filled with insights into the special and often-overlooked talents women leaders can bring to the table and cutting-edge tactics successful women leaders are using right now to make things happen in their organizations.

Fee: WIP members are FREE, $10 for non-WIP members (registration includes lunch and sessions)

Register now!

Take 3 minutes to respond to our survey!

As we plan for content for the 2018 Tradeshow and Conference, we’re keen to hear your thoughts on what you like about conferences as well as ways we could make it better for you.

We’d love it if you could answer these 6 simple survey questions and give us your thoughts.

Houston Host Committee #TPTA2018

Houston is ready to Host! We are inspired! We are hip! And there is no shortage of savvy. Mark your calendars for March 26-28, 2018 and plan on being at #TPTA2018 being held in the Marriott Marquis in Downtown Houston.

If you have any ideas for subjects that you would like to see covered or just to provide feedback in general - keep an eye out for our survey which will be hitting your inbox in the next week. 

The Host Committee is working at a feverish pace to put this show on for you. If you run into any of the following volunteers - please thank them for their hard work! This is a volunteer-run organization and we are so appreciative of all that they do!

Bob Browand, University of Houston
Nicole Chinea, WinPark
Britney Cooper, Walter P. Moore
Melonie Curry, ParkHouston
Jennifer D'Amico, ParkHouston
Julio Deleon, Associated Time & Parking
Kelly Frazier, ParkHouston
Jacob Gonzalez
Walt Gray, Houston Airport System
Eric Holamon, University of Houston
Maria Irshad, ParkHouston
Cynthia Jimenez, ParkHouston
Jay Layden, SP+
Brian Lozano, Walter P. Moore
Liliana Rambo, WinPark
Reggie Randolph, HoustonFirst
Anthony Shipp, Houston Airport System
Jaime Snyder, Walker Parking
Jane Wilcox, SP+
Vernon Williams, Midtown Management District

Roundtable recap

You missed a great roundtable, but fear not - we have some takeaways from attendees to share! How do you use social media and do you think about how to actively engage your followers? Information is great, but engagement is just as important. 

Social media is a vital tool for parking/transportation professionals and we should have clear strategies for its use as it relates to our organizations and our own personal branding. 

Tad Fifer, Transportation Services, Texas A&M, said "You need to vary content and tailor the content to your audience and the platform. It doesn't necessarily need to be informational, but it needs to be engaging."

"You need to have a media strategy," said Michael Civitelli of NuPark. Michael Uldrich of McCarthy appreciated the 30-60-10 rule discussed by Kathleen Laney - 30% of your content should be curated, 60% is informational and 10% is self-promotion. This mix of content both engages and informs followers.

Many of the attendees including Jaime Snyder of Walker Parking, Paul Stresow of the City of El Paso and Bill Donavan of MD Anderson Cancer Center felt that personal branding in social media only adds to your organization.

If you missed the Summer Roundtable - get ready to join us in October for the Fall Roundtable in San Antonio! Stay tuned for details...

News links from our members

Seems like a lot of stuff is going on in the Lone Star state!

San Antonio is rolling out a virtual valet app to improve parking in downtown.

Uber and Lyft return to Austin after Texas Legislature passes bill to regulate at the State level.

And, other transportation providers leave Austin in the wake of Uber and Lyft's return. 

Baylor University Medical Center selects Associated Time & Control and Amano McGann to replace the parking revenue/access control system.

Transportation Services at Texas A&M and ParkHouston cited as Parking Matters Best Of 2017 award in the latest issue of the Parking Professional. Also recognized for their marketing programs are Texas Tech and University of Texas-San Antonio.

Skidata moves to consolidate Texas offices to better serve customers.

San Antonio Airport selects a parking guidance system. 

The new ParkHouston app powered by Parkmobile was launched on May 24.

Transportation Services at Texas A&M selects parking guidance system for new facility.

Finally, the City of Portland may not be in our region, but they launched Parking Kitty backed by Passport Parking. Wonder if the app meows when your time expires!

It's not too late to register for the Social Media #Roundtable!

Put together the social media puzzle pieces when you join TPTA in Waco next week - learn all you need to know about managing social media. 

Register now!

We will have a networking event on Monday, June 12 at George's Restaurant & Bar. Roundtable will start at 9:30 am on June 13. See here for details!

There are a few seats left and we would love to see you! 

Is social media puzzling you?

Social media allows us to put information at the fingertips of people worldwide. Whether you are an avid Facebook user or strictly Twitter, parking peeps have some type of parking information come across our feed at some point or another. While my facebook is a shrine to my kids, I can assure you that I am guilty of sharing any parking information hot off the press via social media. #sharetheparkinglove

Join us as at TPTA’s June Roundtable in Waco to learn the do’s and don’ts of effective social media tactics and how it can also increase engagement with your community. TPTA welcomes Kathleen Laney, President and Founder of Laney Solutions - she will discuss how social media can drive more business for your organization. Bob Browand, Director of Parking and Transportation Services at the University of Houston, will also be joining us and sharing UH’s success in engaging the student community using social media and Youtube.

Don’t miss out! Register today!

IPI Awards winners Part II

More good news from our members! Walker Parking won the 2016 International Parking Institute (IPI) Award of Excellence for the Capital Crescent Garage in Bethesda, MD. The 1,248 space garage won in the Awards of Excellence Category II: Best Design of a Parking Facility with 800 or More Spaces at the 2017 Conference & Expo in New Orleans, LA on May 24, 2017.

Congratulations to Walker Parking!

And the IPI Annual Awards winners are....

Once again, TPTA members have made us proud! The International Parking Institute (IPI) held it's Annual Awards ceremony at the 2017 Conference & Expo in New Orleans on May 24, 2017.

First up - Becky Cass of Winpark, took home IPI Supervisor of the Year! Since joining Winpark in 2014, Becky has demonstrated skills in leadership, entrepreneurship, and resourcefulness. Her management abilities have guided multiple projects, including five operations that collectively generate millions of dollars in annual revenue. Congratulations Becky!

Congratulations also go out to Debbie Hoffman, CAPP (Transportation Services, Texas A&M University) and Carlton Thomas, CAPP (City of Austin Aviation Department) for their hard-earned CAPP certification! Debbie and Carlton were two of 31 graduates who completed the CAPP curriculum which covers such topics as parking design; rehabilitation and maintenance; finance, revenue control, and auditing; on- and off-street parking enforcement and adjudication; leadership and management; and media relations.

Next up - the Parking Matters award. Twelve parking marketing campaigns were recognized at the event with TPTA members taking home two of the three Best of 2017 awards. Congratulations to Transportation Services, Texas A&M University (TAMU) and ParkHouston for receiving the Best of 2017 Parking Matters awards! Congratulations also go out to Texas Tech University and the University of Texas-San Antonio for recognition of their marketing campaigns.

But it doesn't end there! Both TAMU and Dallas-Fort Worth Airport, earned the Accredited Parking Organization with Distinction (APO) recognition. APO, developed by the IPI, is a certification for parking organizations that have achieved a comprehensive standard of excellence. TPTA members are making our region shine!

There you have it. Six member organizations recognized at the IPI and 3 individual team members receiving great recognition for their achievements and accomplishments! Go Texas!

When did you last invest in yourself? Here's an opportunity...

Throughout my career, I have said, “if you're not willing to invest in yourself, how can you expect someone else to invest in you?” A mentor from one of my management courses said it to me and it stuck. I realized that not only did I need to look for ways to learn and improve myself, I needed to also put the time into making myself marketable and worthy of someone else’s time to basically “invest” in me whether through a job, networking or friendship.

Mary Mabry, CAPP
Product Manager/Project Manager-Parking Solutions
Cardinal Tracking, Inc.

In parking, we are always faced with investment relationships and what I term as “resolution issues” so having resources is key to survival as we need answers and solutions right here, right now. All of you have resources, it is just knowing where to find them and the Texas Parking and Transportation Association (TPTA) is a great one to have on hand. As a member, you have access to professionals in the University, City, Airport, Hospital and Service side of the business.

TPTA not only offers the networking and educational classes at their annual conference but they also offer quarterly Roundtable and Networking Sessions. The next one will be at Baylor University in Waco, Texas on June 13, 2017, from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. This session will feature topics on Social Media with speakers, Kathleen Laney with Laney Solutions and Robert Broward with University of Houston Parking and Transportation Services. So why not take the time to attend because it is a “FREE” session which includes breakfast, lunch and parking.

Why not invest in yourself or your staff and attend the next Roundtable, because you never know if you may have something you can share that allows another professional to invest in themselves.  

Have you recovered? Well, ready or not - it's almost Roundtable time!

The annual conference was a smashing success! Thank you to our vendors, members and sponsors for helping us make this a premier parking event! If you haven't already, check out your pics on the social gallery.

Summer is around the corner and our colleagues at the universities are going to get a minute to catch their breath. We thought TPTA should take advantage of that! We are pleased to announce that Baylor University has agreed to host the June 2017 Roundtable & Networking Event.

The details are online and registration will soon open - so keep an eye out for the email and make sure you land one of the coveted 40 spaces. This is a great opportunity to network with colleagues and learn from industry leaders - FOR FREE! Also, a great chance to check out Baylor University!

Hope to see you in Waco from June 12-13!