“After the first two seminars at PIE 2023, people were standing in the halls in deep discussion, sometimes arguing over what was said….”
I got this comment along with similar ones from PIE 2023 attendees. To that I say “Right on.” It was exactly what we were looking for as we planned the seminars. Our goal was to stimulate and provoke thinking about our industry. It seems we succeeded at that.
We had presentations from senior members of the industry, and from those who were deep in a start up mode. Sometimes they agreed, sometimes they did not. That’s how things work in the real world and how new ideas are born.
I was particularly impressed with two presentations I attended.
One had to do with EV Charging. We were fortunate enough to have presenters from a major airport, one large and one small city, and a developer of parking garages. These folks pulled no punches. They told of their real world experiences, the good, the bad, and the ugly. A data collection company told of the concerns about charging stations that were not well supported, and a supplier of charging stations told his side of the story. They all agreed that this was a very new industry and needed to mature.
The other was the “World Parking Council”. Nine CEOs of organizations that supply and use parking technology told of their concerns about what was coming down the pike or as I put it, ‘what kept them awake at night.’ They then discussed their vision of what the next decade will bring for our industry. This was a group that spoke with indepth knowledge and candor. Their wisdom permeated the room and carried on with discussion afterwards.
The majority of the seminars were originated and supervised by Astrid and she tells me that she already has ideas for PIE 2024. Frankly this year’s group will be hard to top. Thanks to Astrid for her hard work and diligence.
JVH
2 Responses
PIE 2023 was a great show with good food, good friends, and intriguing presentations. The new venue is quite nice, and they worked hard to provide us with a comfortable environment. The largest complaint was difficulty in deciding which presentations o attend due to the high quality and timeliness of the topics.
Couldn’t make it there but look forward to seeing the articles in Parking Today that recap the discussions. EV feels oversold and underdelivered so far; hope we figure out a more cost effective system.