PIE 2020 Breaks Records in San Diego..

PIE 2020 opened this morning to a beautiful day in San Diego. Blue skies and white puffy clouds welcomed nearly 1200 to the city’s convention center for three days of parking excitement, learning, discussions, and tech.

Julie Dixon’s Parking Resource Forum hosted over 150 people who entered into free wheeling discussions of on and off street parking, mostly from the point of view of cities and universities. Vendors were present to find out just how these customers felt about their products and services. No blood was let.

Seminars were everywhere with Kevin Uhlenhaker leading a panel on LPR, Scott L. Weiland, PE holding forth on Parking Structure Maintenance, Bill Smith and Craig Wilson filling the attendees in on how to use good public relations to promote their organizations, and Smarking’s Wen Sang leading a group of downtown business owners in a discussion of rate setting. Attendees jammed into seminar rooms on the convention center’s fourth level after the longest escalator ride on the west coast. They were happy to see that the presentations were live, interactive and not ‘death by powerpoint.’

Breakfast followed with PIE’s keynote presenter, Harvard’s David Zipper. His keynote focused on FOMO, the fear of missing out, and on how that interrelated with PIE’s theme, The Parking Experience. Zipper was followed by PIE’s management boot camp led by Chad Gamble with his own special take on management’s relationship with staff and customers.

The seminar filled afternoon included David Lieb and his take on whether you need to build your way out of parking problems on campus, Chris Schepperman hosting a panel on Electric Car Charging, Jeff Pinyot and Farid Ibrahim holding forth on high tech parking technologies, Todd Pierce on understanding the parking experience and a panel hosted by Spot Angels on how to put the customer at the center of the Parking Experience.

The day was rounded out by PIE’s famous speed networking where over 200 people got the change to meet each other face to face in an atmosphere warmed by Marcy Sparrow and Astrid Ambroziak and a little adult beverage.

Veterans from the USS Midway were honored at the “Top Gun” party Monday Evening. A very wild DJ, expensive gifts, and even an appearance by Tom Cruise, at least most people said it was Tom Cruise made for a memorial evening.

If only…

If only the world hadn’t turned on its head. We would all be in San Diego celebrating the parking industry and each other. Don’t worry, we are working with the speakers and setting up webinars for each of the presentations. You will be seeing them on line in mid April.

We know its not the same as in person – we will be doing that next year in Chicago. More about PIE  2020 tomorrow.