Grove Village, Ill.; and Jerry Premo, senior vice president, DMJM+Harris/AECOM, a full-service architectural, planning and engineering services firm located in Los Angeles, Calif.

As it did three years ago in Dallas, and as it has every three years since the first one in Chicago in 1981, this year’s International Public Transportation Expo will again underscore in dramatic fashion one consistent theme throughout them all — public transportation is back and growing vigorously.

We asked representatives of a few companies to share their expectations for the big show in San Diego later this year. As can be seen from their comments, the excitement is a two-way street, in both what they will show off as well as what they will see, learn and experience. Those interviewed include, Michael Melaniphy, vice president public sector at bus builder and driver simulator systems supplier MCI in Schaumburg, Ill.; Mike Setzer, vice president at operations and maintenance services provider Veolia Transportation, Cincinnati, Ohio; Jeffrey Wharton, executive vice president/general manager, traction power systems supplier IMPulse NC Inc., in Mount Olive, N.C.; Kim R. Green, president, GFI Genfare, a fare collection systems supplier headquartered in Elk Grove Village, Ill.; and Jerry Premo, senior vice president, DMJM+Harris/AECOM, a full-service architectural, planning and engineering services firm located in Los Angeles, Calif.

What types of professionals and management levels of your customers’ and prospects’ organizations do you hope to meet at your APTA Expo booth?
Michael Melaniphy: We will be targeting two primary demographic groups: one, key policy people such as transit agency board members and CEOs, who need to see concepts on what we will be presenting as to why MCI’s market, which is over-the-road motorcoaches, is growing in public transportation. Many agencies have not seen such coaches before and so it will be a chance to explain these advantages and applications to a very large set of potential customers as well as deepen our relationships with those from current customer organizations.

The other major demographic groups we hope to reach are technical types of professionals, such as maintenance and engineering managers, because we have found there is a huge demand for technical information by these folks. Related to that is the growing numbers of safety training professionals in the public transportation marketplace, which we hope to interest with new advanced driver simulators we now offer the market, a technology that is derived from avation simulators, and is quite sophisticated.

Jeffrey Wharton: We hope to see more purchasing and engineering type personnel that have a direct influence on product specifications and the purchasing process. We also anticipate a wide range attendance from all modes of public transit, including foreign countries that have an interest in our high-quality products.

Mike Setzer: I like to run into other general managers in particular, having been one much of my career. They tend to set the agenda or at least have a big impact on it when they get back home. So when you want to get some thinking outside the box going, they are often the best bet. I also keep an eye out for rookies in the business. I’ve sent many a new employee to an expo because of the immersion they can experience.

Kim Green: GFI is interested in seeing a cross section of transit agency management at Expo since our products have impacts on all functional areas of a transit operation. However, we are most interested in seeing mid-management level people who are the true users, specifiers and purchasers of our systems and equipment. These people are not always afforded an opportunity to attend APTA meetings other than Expo for budget and other reasons, so it is very important that agency decision makers make sure they include the maximum number of middle managers and try and include members of their staffs that may not normally go to APTA meetings.

Jerry Premo: From our company’s perspective we hope to use this huge event as a point of contact and interaction with both those with whom we already do business as well as those we do not, and my hope is that we can listen and talk with them, renewing and deepening contacts as well as broadening them. The Expo thus provides a framework for personal followup after the show as well. In this remarkable business called public transportation that we are in, so much what we do is linked to trust and personal relationships.

Our firm’s focus on the types of people we hope to see may also be a little different this time around. We hope there will be the opportunity to broaden beyond our core base of people we routinely interact with, i.e., transit agency leadership and technical experts that we typically service, but we, as well as other business members of APTA, hope to see more procurement and contract managers, as well as more in operational capacities. That’s what I am also hearing from my private sector colleagues as chair of the Business Members Programs Committee.

What does the show mean to your business (and why)?
Wharton: This is our most extensive and expensive marketing investment. This venue provides a captive transit audience to showcase our products, provide firsthand technical and sales information, enable customer hands-on experience and afford us the opportunity to learn about customer concerns, needs and expectations. Over the years the APTA Expo has brought together the best of the best in both suppliers and customers providing a worthwhile investment and beneficial three-day experience.

Green: I agree. Expo is the single biggest sales and marketing event that we participate in. The fact that it is held only once every three years makes it even more important to GFI and other transit business members. The event is our opportunity to see almost all of our customers and prospects at one time and in one place.

Melaniphy: If a company is offering something new, this Expo is your “coming out party,” particularly if you have export potential, as this show has a major contingent of international visitors. For us, then, it is a chance to showcase our technology not only to our primary market but new overseas markets as well in a single show.

Premo: These meetings only occur every three years, and it is an opportunity for all of us that are dealing with a rapidly changing marketplace to assess our progress and direction. It affords all of us the opportunity to think about what we are doing and how we’re doing and communicate the best of these approaches to our client base — and all of this can happen in a single place: at the Expo.

When I reflect on the pressures on agencies as well as those of us in the private sector for more technical “smarts” — for best technical practices — there is no better place to obtain this type of knowledge, whether we are operators, policy makers, bus or railcar builders or professional services providers, than at Expo.

Setzer: The show is a good environment to talk about changing things. It’s informal — people there have an appetite for new ideas and information or they wouldn’t be there.

What other aspects of the event do you look forward to?
Setzer: It’s an environment where you meet people you wouldn’t otherwise meet in many cases. It is so easy to start up a low-key conversation with somebody who just happens to be standing next to you.

Wharton: In addition to the opportunity to meet a vast array of customers, it is an excellent opportunity to see what the competition is up to and what new products and innovations have been developed. We are able to find new supply chains for our subcomponents that we might not otherwise locate on our own through traditional methods. We are also able to bring company personnel that would not otherwise be able to travel and meet our customer base and interact with the other companies in our industry.

We always learn something new at APTA Expo and usually come away with a new business lead or opportunity.

Green: The Expo itself is the No. 1 aspect of Expo. We like to spend the maximum amount of time in our booth seeing and talking to as many customers as we can. There really are no other aspects of

Expo that are even close to being as important.

Melaniphy: I am looking forward to three things other than what I have mentioned thus far. First, it is the best chance any of us will have during the next three years to learn about new products and services and almost compare them side by side, at the same place. No other event allows me to do that on this scale every three years. Second, it is a chance to meet our current and potential future sub-suppliers, and network with peers not only from North America but also from many other countries. It really gives us a chance to become exposed to our industry’s best practices, providing a chance to see how we and our U.S. industry compare with our peers around the world. And the final benefit? If anyone walks the entire show during those three days in October, you will get a lot of exercise, maybe lose weight and feel better.

Premo: Workforce development is a huge issue and growing challenge in all organizations throughout the industry. Good training can take many forms — seminars, workshops, conferences, Webinars, courses offered by the National Transit Institute, etc. — but Expo also represents a fabulous opportunity for understanding technology and management developments in a context that is a large showcase displaying those developments. Where else in our industry is there such an opportunity on such a broad scale? n

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