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November 20, 2012 - Vol 4, Issue 24 |
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IPI Offers Consumers Holiday Parking Advice |
It's as traditional as Thanksgiving turkey. Each year, IPI distributes a news release to consumer media that provides stress-reducing and safety tips for holiday shoppers hungry for ways to park more easily during this busy season. Part of the message communicates that, yes, Virginia, parking professionals really do exist. Other messages highlight new technology and help consumers take safety precautions while parking, which benefits everyone.
Having positive articles in the press about parking is just one way IPI's Parking Matters® program continues to advance the parking profession. Read the release here, and don't hesitate to share with your local media contacts and suggest that they interview you for a local perspective. |
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Opportunity to Volunteer for IPI's new ITS & Parking Task Force |
Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) have gained widespread use, both domestically and internationally, to inform drivers, improve safety and efficiency, and better integrate transportation networks. ITS applications include systems that influence mode shift, navigate drivers to available parking spaces/garages (and away from full facilities), and influence driving behavior. They also encourage/increase transit usage (and associated parking) in some regions and minimize traffic and parking demand in other areas. There are many more ITS related changes taking place today now and in the near future that will affect our transportation systems.
IPI is forming an ITS Task Force to discuss how ITS and parking can better work together more seamlessly. We will explore many opportunities for collaboration. If you are interested in participating in the IPI-ITS Task Force, please email Henry Wallmeyer. Those interested will be contacted within the next few weeks, and a first conference call is anticipated before the end of the year.
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Participate in IPI's First Parking Job Analysis Survey |
 Parking Professionals:Make your voices heard! Complete the first, IPI Parking Job Analysis Survey and contribute to the long-term benefits in advancing the parking profession. This is important and we need you. A piece of your mind and a bit of your time is what we're after. The survey will take less than 15 minutes to complete. And, as an added incentive to complete the survey, you'll have a chance to win one of five 64GB Apple iPad Minis!
Take a moment to review the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document here and then complete the survey here! Surveys must be completed no later than Friday, December 14, 2012.
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Registered? Latin Parking Conference, Dec. 9-12, Featured in Caribbean Business Journal |
The Caribbean Business Journal recently featured the first of two articles about the upcoming Latin Parking Conference & Expo set for December 9-12 at the San Juan Ritz-Carlton in Puerto Rico. Reporter Alexander López wrote about how parking is important to transportation and government, and making Latin cities more livable. Read more. Discounted registration is only available through November 23. Use code EBET to earn the discount on the conference website. |
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IPI's Next Webinar: Credit and Debit Swipe Fees: Combating Invisible Costs |
Credit and debit card swipe fees are an enormous (and growing) cost for parking facility operators and their customers. Swipe fees are hidden and fees are largely unpredictable for those who accept credit and debit cards, and business managers' abilities to negotiate rates or terms of card acceptance are limited, resulting in excessive per-transaction fee increases over the past decade.
To help combat this, IPI recently joined the Merchants Payments Coalition (MPC), a varied group of businesses fighting against unfair credit and debit card swipe fees to foster a more competitive and transparent card system.
MPC views the passage of debit card fee reforms -- often referred to as the Durbin amendment -- that were included in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act as a major step forward to creating a more fair and reasonable payments marketplace despite poor implementation by the Federal Reserve in their final rulemaking, which provided the major card brands latitude to increase rates on small ticket debit transactions.
MPC experts will host an IPI webinar on swipe fees, what they mean for parking operators, and the best ways to combat unfair practices. This webinar will cover:
- Background on the MPC and on swipe fee issues for merchants and customers.
- A legislative, regulatory, and legal overview.
- Small-ticket debit issues: how they affect the parking industry and what's being done to address them.
- The next steps: how parking professionals can get involved and make the most of their card acceptance programs.
Instructors:
Liz Garner, director of commerce and entrepreneurship, National Restaurant Association
Douglas Kantor, partner, Steptoe & Johnson LLP
$35.00 for IPI members; $50.00 for Non-members
Wednesday, December 12 at 2:00 p.m. EST/ 11:00 a.m. PST (60 minutes)
For more information and to register!
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Enter by December 31: IPI Awards of Excellence Competition |
Entries are now being accepted for the IPI's 31st Annual Awards of Excellence Competition, recognizing outstanding achievement in parking facility design and architecture.
The complete Awards of Excellence entry forms are now available at www.parking.org/aoe.
Past winners have included notable parking garages in cities, retail complexes, corporate headquarters, airports, commercial buildings, public institutions, universities, and sports complexes, among others. The awards are open to public agencies, jurisdictions, institutions, organizations, or corporations that own parking facilities completed or renovated since January 1, 2010.
The top award honors architectural achievement. Other categories honor sustainable parking and transportation design excellence and noteworthy design and implementation of a surface parking lot. The competition offers seven categories:
I. Parking facility with fewer than 800 spaces
II. Parking facility with 800 or more spaces
III. Surface parking lot
IV. Innovation/sustainability in an existing parking operation or program
V. Parking facility rehabilitation or restoration
VI. New parking facility incorporating sustainability
VII.Award of architectural achievement
Entries may be submitted online no later than Monday, December 31, 2012. Entry fees, rules, regulations, and judging criteria are outlined in the official entry brochure at www.parking.org/aoe.
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New Parking Jobs Posted | |
View more job listings |
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Nominations Sought For 2013 Parking Professional Recognition Awards |
Nominations are being accepted for the IPI annual Professional Recognition Awards, honoring the parking and transportation industry's outstanding contributors in four categories.
The Parking Professional of the Year category has been renamed to honor the late James M. Hunnicutt, a founding father of IPI and parking and transportation industry pioneer, who was Parking Man of the Year in 1976.
The James M. Hunnicutt Parking Professional of the Year award recognizes management-level professionals who direct an entire parking/transportation operation, or manage multiple units within a department.
The four award categories are:
- Parking Staff Member of the Year (for front-line staff)
- Parking Supervisor of the Year (for those who supervise one or more employees within a parking/transportation department or unit)
- Parking Organization of the Year (for public or private parking organizations, departments, consultants, suppliers, commercial operators, etc.)
- James M. Hunnicutt Parking Professional of the Year (for those management-level professionals who direct an entire parking/transportation operation, or manage multiple units within a department)
Additional entry criteria and packets can be downloaded here.
Nominations will be reviewed by IPI's Professional Recognition Committee, made up of industry peers appointed by IPI's Board of Directors. Entries must be submitted by February 1, 2013. Awardees will be honored at the 2013 IPI Conference & Expo in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., May 19-22, and in the July 2013 issue of The Parking Professional.
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RFPs Posted on IPI's RFP Portal |
 These are the latest parking RFPs available at the IPI RFP Portal. Access to complete RFP details is a benefit of IPI membership.
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The Parking Professional: Green is Good | |
The December issue of The Parking Professional explores parking sustainability and much more through these feature articles:
The Forest for the Trees
Colombia's City Parking offsets its carbon footprint through an innovative forest adoption program.
Greening Your Garage
The positive effect on your bottom line.
Shining Beacon
NREL's high-tech parking garage showcases energy efficiency.
Parking Pricing & TDM
Combining two strategies proves brilliant in Boulder.
Calming the Storm
Managing stormwater runoff the green way makes sense for both the environment and the bottom line.
Parkaholics Anonymous
Addicted to adding parking facilities? A recovering addict offers 12 steps to recovery.
Parkapalooza
Understanding best practices for big events can help guarantee success.
To advertise in the award-winning The Parking Professional, contact Bonnie Watts at 540.371.7535.
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Learn from Your Peers at the Parking Matters® Blog |
 Sign up to receive Parking Matters® Blog posts as they are published (about two to three times each week). Recent posts:
- Sandy Side Effects: Where Do We Put All The Cars? by Brett Wood, P.E.
- The Emotional Costs of Parking by Wanda Brown
- BO-GOA by Isaiah Mouw, CAPP
- A Day in the Life of a Parking Professional by Shawn Conrad, CAE
Join the conversation and sign up for free.
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Industry Headlines From IPI's Social Media |
Did you know that IPI provides an easy way to follow the latest news and trends in the parking and transportation industries? Just join us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and the Parking Matters® Blog. Here are just a few examples of the stories you may have missed:
Parking Experts Offer 10 Tips for Stress-Free Holiday Parking http://ow.ly/flFLI
Fort Lauderdale and Streetline Launch Smart Parking App Parker in Florida http://ow.ly/fp2f7
WA park volunteers can earn annual parking pass http://ow.ly/fp2Fe
Mission Bay garage's architectural edge http://ow.ly/fp52g
Telefonica and Streetline to Offer M2M Smart Parking Solution http://ow.ly/fp5xd
City's parking study shows Portland's low-car potential http://ow.ly/fpg9m
Minneapolis To Complete Parking Meter Switch http://ow.ly/fr4xa
Parking Ticket Leads Police to Kidnapper http://ow.ly/fr7hu
Pittsburgh Parking Authority sees increase in revenue http://ow.ly/fr7Sh
Sacramento To Try Letting Developers Build Parking Spaces If They Want To, But Not Otherwise http://ow.ly/fr8if
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Submit Your News to IPI's Parking NewsLINK |
 Got news? IPI members have a new, cost-free way to share their news about parking, people, products, and services, thanks to IPI's Parking NewsLINK, a new section at parking.org.
Parking NewsLINK is links to unedited member news releases; they are viewable to all, but only IPI members may post news. To upload news, members need to submit the name of their organization, the date of the news release, and a link to the information via an online form available on the site. Read recent member news here.
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IPI Industry Survey on Disability Parking |
IPI is soliciting feedback from parking professionals through informal monthly surveys to better understanding trends in the industry and learn what others are experiencing in parking operations and management. The first survey explores an issue that faces every parking professional: disabled parking. Please take a few minutes to complete the short survey here. The results will be shared in the next IPInsider.
If you have a topic you would like to get feedback on please email the questions (5 to 10 preferred) to T.J. Cantwell.
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Read a Parking Matters® blog post about Thanksgiving here. |
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