Our Board Elections are down to the final stretch. By now, all Regular and Affiliate members should have received their SWPA Board Election Ballot. For the first time, we are using an electronic survey site for voting. Please pass along any comments concerning this method of voting, good or bad. There are four board positions that will be ending this year. Each member can select four candidates from the ballot, one vote per person listed. Voting closes on December 1, 2006, and the results will be announced in the December newsletter. If you have not received your ballot, or deleted the link, contact tad.mcdowell@unlv.edu or call 702-895-5797.

With the holiday season upon us, we are reminded that, in addition to work, we all have family, school, and other focuses that are important to us. Take the time to tell those that you work with how much you appreciate them, not only now, but throughout the year.

I want to thank all of our members for their support and participation in our training sessions, annual conference and other programs throughout the year. The energy you provide to our organization is essential and helps keep the Southwest Parking Association strong and growing.

Finally, I want to thank Dennis Burns of Carl Walker for all of his hard work as our newsletter editor. Dennis has worked in that capacity from the start of our organization, but he now needs to pass the responsibility on to another member. So, we are looking for a member who would like to become our new newsletter editor. Please contact me if you can step forward and help us out.

Ray

Raymond J. Humbert
swpa1@southwestparking.org

Reserving Your Parking Space Becoming More Popular

FORT WORTH, Texas - It seems getting to the airport is always a race against the clock, as somewhere between packing luggage and catching a flight, passengers also need to find a place to park. But that’s no problem for frequent flier Veronica Garcia.

"It's a guaranteed spot and it's usually a better rate than at the airport," Garcia said.

Garcia reserves her space online with ParknFlyNetwork.com.

"I just like the ease of being able to reserve it online, basically."

Simply go to the Web site, select the city and dates when traveling, and a list of participating parking lots will appear.

PCA Parking in North Texas is one of those lots.

"Just knowing that they're going to have a place to park when they get in, they don't have to run in and run out there and miss their flight. They know when they come here they're going to have a place to park.” PCA Parking spokesman Ken Holland said.

Like door-to-door service, a shuttle does the work from there.

"These are much more convenient. They pick you up, they deliver you, they make it real simple, and they take credit cards’, frequent flier Fritz Range said.

Customers even get to choose between covered and uncovered spaces.

It's one way to have a lot less turbulence before ever getting off the ground.

My Last SWPA Newsletter

Since our first E-Newsletter in January 2004, it has been my privilege to be the SWPA newsletter editor. It was a small contribution to our organization that I was happy to provide. The Newsletter served to fill a couple of important needs identified by the SWPA Board at the time – we needed a mechanism to effectively communicate with the membership, as well as a tool to enhance the value of membership. We also wanted the newsletter to tie into another of our organization’s key goals – education. I believe we accomplished these goals and more.

Many people have contributed articles, stories and ideas in the past couple of years and we can be proud that in almost three full years we have never missed publishing and distributing our monthly newsletter by the end of the month. Our friends at “Firedrum” Internet Marketing have been a joy to work with. They have always been responsive and reliable in ensuring that our newsletter goes out on-time.

Professional commitments require that I hand off this assignment at this time, but more than that, it is time for some fresh ideas and new blood. As we look forward, we have discussed a new look and format for the newsletter, but we will leave these decisions to the new editor/team. I have volunteered to stay on in an advisory capacity.

Anyone interested in filling the role of Newsletter Editor should contact Ray Humbert at swpa1@southwestparking.org. Once you have your system in place, the time commitment per month is very reasonable – something less than 2 hours per month.

Thank you for the privilege of allowing me to be your SWPA Newsletter Editor. It has been a personally rewarding and educational experience!

Best regards,

Dennis Burns

Career Opportunity

Carl Walker, Inc., is a national engineering and consulting firm specializing in the planning, design and restoration of parking structures. We have an entry level consultant/planner position open in our Tempe, AZ office.

The Parking Consultant/Planner role is actively involved in the development of a variety of parking study projects. The position also involves limited marketing activities including the development of proposals and engaging in public speaking and publishing that promotes the studies group and Carl Walker, Inc. overall. The position involves approximately 20% travel.

Preferred candidates will have BA/BS with a minimum of five years experience in parking management. The ideal candidate will have previous parking consulting experience, an MBA degree and/or AICP or CAPP certifications. All candidates must have strong writing, analytical, computer and communication skills.

We offer a competitive benefits package. Please forward a cover letter and resume with salary history to: dburns@carlwalker.com. E.O.E. www.carlwalker.com

*** Be sure to Check our website for the new photo caption contest! ***

Visit us at www.southwestparking.org to submit your caption.

The Florida Parking Association will host their 27th Annual Conference and Trade Show Conference at the Sanibel Harbour Resort and Spa on December 4th -6th.  This year’s theme will be “Managing Changing Technology.”

The conference will also host an IPI CAPP seminar on “Design, Rehabilitation and Maintenance.”

One of the hottest areas in new parking technologies has to do with the application of wireless sensor technology. One of the leaders in this Technology Revolution is a San Francisco based firm called Spark Parking.

Combining proven technology with superior customer service, Spark Parking offers innovative approaches to parking management and monitoring – making it easy for drivers to find and pay for their parking. Through their flexible parking management system, Spark Parking provides a variety of services:

Managing Off-Street Parking
Spark Parking operates parking lots and garages. By eliminating cash transactions, they can offer the safest and most convenient parking experience.

Managing On-Street Parking
Spark Parking makes on-street parking a snap. Their easy payment system, unobtrusive design and low maintenance costs appeal to drivers, neighborhoods, and city officials alike.

Parking Surveys
Spark Parking can give you the data to make decisions about your parking operations. Their robust, flexible monitoring service ensures comprehensive, real-time information about parking capacity utilization.

Space Counting & Parking Guidance
Spark Parking directs drivers quickly and easily to available parking. This lets drivers spend less time searching for a space and more time at their destination.

Enforcement Optimization
Spark Parking increases enforcement efficiency. Their wireless sensors improve efficiency by monitoring time limits and restricted parking areas and getting enforcement personnel to the right place at the right time.

Utilizing Unsold Parking
Spark Parking alleviates traffic and parking congestion in dense urban areas. Their parking system lets owners easily sell parking during off-hours, maximizing the amount of parking available in the community.

Check them out at www.sparkparking.com