March 12-14, 2012
Sheraton Downtown
Nashville, Tennessee
Hosted by the Vandebilt University and
Standard Parking

2012 Attendee List (PDF)

With over 160 attendees, our 2012 was tied for our largest conference yet! Whether you need a refresher or are just finding out more about MSTPA, enjoy our conference presenations and the chance to learn from some of the industry's best below.

Strategic Program Development, Integrated Access Management & the Evolution of the Parking Professional
This is a call to us as parking professionals to expand our vision of what we do and the need for us to think more strategically. There are many advantages of broadening our perspective and to expanding our roles into the realm of "access management" through the creative integration of parking and transportation elements. By expanding our vision and scope, we are introduced to other exciting disciplines that will make our jobs more interesting, more varied, more relevant and more valuable. Some of these related disciplines include economic development, urban or campus planning and marketing and brand development to name just a few.

Economic Development: The New Chattanooga: A 40-Year Perspective
In October 1969 on an evening news broadcast, Walter Cronkite announced to his national audience that Chattanooga, Tennessee had been named the "Dirtiest City in America". Over 40 years later, the city’s bustling downtown and sparkling waterfront receive kudos for their clean environment and quality of life. How did citizens and public and private leaders plan, fund and implement an impressive string of improvements to effectively change the course of this mid-sized southern city? How did Chattanooga become one of the most livable and vibrant cities in the country? What lessons might be transferable to other communities? This session will take you on a short journey through the planning and subsequent developments that spawned this unique urban renaissance

Get Emotional! Giving Your Customers Service They Can Feel
When it comes to customer service, the focus is placed upon demonstrating professional behaviors. Therefore, you focus your time and efforts to identify what professional behavior looks like in order to emulate it in an attempt to provide quality customer service. Today, professionalism alone is not enough. In this session, Dr. Tracy Lendi will discuss tactical methods to infuse your customer service practices with concepts of emotional intelligence so you not only demonstrate professional behavior but can give your clientele customer service they can feel.

Successful Integration of Municipal and University Transit Services
The City of Oxford MS. and the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) have successfully designed, developed, and funded a mass transit service for both residents of Oxford and students, faculty and staff at Ole Miss. In this presentation, learn how this town and gown collaboration developed quality, award winning mass transit services from scratch. What were the challenges they overcame? What was crucial for success? What lessons did they learn along the way?

Town & Gown Relationships - Making it work
Panel Discussion - In many instances, universities are nestled within cities. The large influx of students on an annual basis often has a tremendous impact on population size, traffic congestion, and, sometimes, conflict between the university and city. At the same time, universities are often one of the largest employers in the city, and economic activity associated with the university contributes greatly to the local economy. Maintaining good "Town and Gown"relations allows the both university and the city to prosper. Learn what it takes to maintain positive town and gown relations from two seasoned veterans!

Transportation - Enabling Growth and Empowering Decision Makers
Often transportation systems are viewed as no more than a necessary part of municipal or institutional planning. However, if approached properly your transportation system can literally be the vehicle that allows planners and decision makers to free themselves from the old constrains of limited on-street parking or costly parking structures. A robust, flexible, community focused transportation system will allow decision makers the freedom to explore projects in the right locations by providing convenient, comfortable and cost effective access options. First Transit will explore how your transportation system can become a true part of the community, not just an entity moving through the community.