The theme of the last four “Boot Camps” at the Parking Industry Exhibition has been an “Industry in Transition.” At PIE 2018, we wanted to update the theme, and after careful planning, decided to maintain the “Industry in Transition” theme, but change much of the content and how the day’s information can be more targeted to the different groups in the room.

The most difficult period of time to manage is during transition. At the end of 2017, parking was still very much an industry in transition, so we feel strongly that for new people coming in, it is still vitally important to discuss the key transition items.

The format at PIE 2018 will be divided into three sections: one, traditional industry-in-transition discussions; two, the five most important challenges of managing in each industry segment; and three, putting it all together — what we learned about transition challenges each industry segment with the basics.

No matter who we are or what industry segment we are in, our job is still about getting our customers into a clean, safe, well-lighted, and correctly priced space; charging them for the time they are there; and accurately reporting the income.

The industry has many segments, and PIE boot camps in the last four years have had representatives, new and experienced, from all industry segments, including a large number of vendor representatives. Every industry segment – medical, airport, university, commercial, office, event, etc. – has parking requirements that are unique to them, and vendors that supply these industries have to be able to address the uniqueness and the commonalities.

While all of the segments have their unique challenges and requirements, one commonality brings us all together. We all have the responsibility of providing a safe convenient, clean, appropriately priced parking space for a period of period of time; collecting all of the revenue; and physically or electronically transporting it to the owner’s account.

In this year’s boot camp, aka Parking 101, we will offer short presentations from top representatives of each industry segment talking about the unique challenges of that segment and then tying those presentations into the commonalities of the industry as a whole and the challenges of an “Industry in transition.”

The goal is to learn something — regardless of the segment you represent — from other segments that can help you as you wrap yourself around this exciting industry in transition.

People come to PIE boot camp with a wide range of needs. Some need more overall industry experience; some need specific information; and some just want to get a better feel for the changing requirements of the industry.

After PIE 2018 boot camp, a “scheduler” will be available to listen to your individual needs and schedule you for a session with an expert who can give more detail about your discussion topic.