Predictions for 2010

You have to be kidding. I have looked back over my predictions in the past and even those that I personally have absolute control over have not come to pass. Predictions are great, because in the end, no one ever goes back and checks out what you said a year ago and then holds you to account.

I went back a few years to see if I had made any predictions that could come back to haunt and find that in fact, I did not, at least in the last seven years. I must have learned my lesson early on. Sometimes folks in this industry can be a tad sensitive and take my attempts at prognostication and humor the wrong way and immediately call me and their lawyers so I must have felt that it might be best to leave well enough alone.

I will make some predictions that I can be fairly sure will come to pass, since I am in control, at least partial control.

2010 will see Parking Today, Parking World, and our parent Bricepac moving into an actual bricks and mortar office. We are renovating the space as we speak and will be disrupting the lives of our “virtual” staff in the next month or so. I believe that all change is good. We shall see.

2010 will see more travel for our senior staff. Andy and I will be on the road around the world. I leave Tuesday for DC and then on to the UK, then back to Atlanta and then home. We have three shows in March – Birmingham, UK, Amsterdam and our own PIE in Chicago. May is the IPI in Vegas, then of course the NPA in Boston, and symposiums in the Middle East, China, Canada, Brazil, the Philippines, and Australia. If that’s not enough – We will be in attendance at local and regional meets in New York, Florida, Texas, California, and others across the fruited plain.

2010 will see a new dog and cat or two at our manse in Los Angeles. I’m lonely. R tells me that I have to stay at home more before I get a dog, they need training and companionship. I agree but that Shepherd/Dobie mix puppy I saw last week at the Amanda Foundation in Beverly Hills grabbed my heart and didn’t want to let go.

Content will be king in 2010 as far as PT and PW and our blogs are concerned. We have new writers for Parking World and you can see a lot of their blogging and articles up at the PW web site. I am tasking them with input into PT, plus we are reaching out to knowledgeable folks in our industry. Just this past month (January) we had a story penned by a member of the Reason Foundation, and I considered that a coup for our little rag. Look for more in the months to come.

That’s enough for now – you have a peek into the future of our world.

All the best for 2010 – It will be a fantastic year, if you make it so.

JVH