Please join us for Session 651, The Six-Minute Pitch: Transportation Start-up Challenge

Tuesday, January 14, 2014 3:45PM – 5:30PM, Marriott Salon 3

Sponsored by the TRB Young Members Counci

In this exciting session, young professionals pitch their ideas for the “next big thing” to a panel of successful transportation industry entrepreneurs and investors in just 6 min or less. Following each pitch, the panel will provide immediate feedback on the market potential, business model, and the incorporation of innovative technologies or techniques and the latest research in the pitch. An honorary winner will be declared at the end of this fast-paced, interactive session.

Event Date & Time: January 15, 2:30PM-5:30PM

Venue:
Organization of American States
Padilha Vidal Meeting Room (Terrace Level)
1889 F Street NW
Washington DC 20006

GTFS in the World, a follow-up to the GTFS for the Rest of Us event in November 2013, kicks off on January 15th during the Transportation Research Board annual meeting week, and you’re invited to take part. Everyone is welcome and this is a free event.

To facilitate entry into the building, please RSVP, arrive a little early, and bring ID.

At the event’s end, we will continue conversations at an establishment close by TBA.

Click here to RSVP

Date & Time: Tuesday, November 19, 2013 

• Seminar 3:00 PM – 6:00 PM
• Reception 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM

For the United States, Japan is the fourth largest market in bilateral passenger air services. More than ten million people fly between these two countries every year.

Unfortunately, while other Asian aviation markets, such as U.S.-China, have rapidly developed, the U.S.-Japan market experienced a downward trend during the last decade. This may reflect the difference in economic and social circumstances among the U.S.-Japan and other bilateral markets. Some might argue that the U.S.-Japan market has and will continue to exhibit relatively softer demand than in the past.

However, conditions in the U.S.-Japan market are changing. The Open Skies agreement, airport expansion in Tokyo, and recovery from the recent economic downturn in both countries and the Great East Japan Earthquake could factor in the revitalization of the market.

In this seminar, JITI’s distinguished speakers will review the current dynamics of the U.S.-Japan aviation market and discuss whether it can be reinvigorated, including what the key to an eventual resurgence might be.

Click here to see the agenda, speakers line up and registration information.

In its 5th year, the North America Strategic Infrastructure Leadership Forum will present the top 50 infrastructure projects required for bringing the world back to growth and job-producing competitiveness. These projects offer tremendous business opportunities for financial, equipment and technology, engineering and construction firms as well as for the public sector. Projects presented include surface transportation, water and wastewater, new and traditional energy, urban mass transportation, oil & energy, ports & logistics and digital infrastructure.

Transportgooru is excited to be a media partner for this important event that brings together practitioners and policymakers engaged in the infrastructure conversations.  Hope I can get to meet some of you at this event. Here is what you get for registering:

• Short, clear, project presentations of the Top Infrastructure Projects
• Pre-scheduled private meetings with project presenters and event sponsors
• Topical workshops and round tables
• Multiple networking opportunities
• Participant contact information
• Cocktail opening reception

Dates: OCTOBER 29 – 31, 2013.

Location: MAYFLOWER RENAISSANCE HOTEL, WASHINGTON, DC

Registration:  Click here to learn more and to register for the event.

Now that I’ve returned to my office after a week long transportation nerdery (is that a word??) in Washington, DC, I thought of quickly registering a few observations I made during the week.  What I call the TRB Week has three back-to-back transportation events that happen in a week:  it all began with the 3rd Transportation Camp (Jan 12) then followed by the 2013 TRB Annual Meeting (Jan 13-17) and concluded with the Transforming Transportation (Jan 17-18).  As I stated earlier, these are mere observations and shared with the hope that it benefits the attendees heading to DC for future Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting and events planned around that conference.

1. Transportation Camp: My TRB Week began at Transportation Camp here in DC (awesome facility support provided by co-host George Mason University’s Transportation Policy Program) and offered a glimpse of things to come.  This annual unconference is one of my favorite events in the Transportation Calendar for many reasons and continues to remain on the “MUST Attend” category.  As usual, I learned a lot about how much interest there is for biking among the Transportation planning community. Yes! A lot of bike-related sessions.  And the organizers, esp. OpenPlans, did a fantastic job keeping the event pace along.  For some odd reason, there are fewer sessions involving technology, technologists and hacks and more attendance from Transportation planners. My favorite session at this event featured a discussion on safety and security for women riders on Delhi’s Metro rail.
2. 2013 TRB Annual Meeting:  Like in the years before, this conference continues to be at the center stage  for many of us in the Transportation Community and its importance has only continued to grow with more and more participants and innovative programming ideas tested by the organizer (Transportation Research Board).  This event offers a great chance to meet, learn and network with fellow researchers from around the world.  It is also an opportunity for me to catch up with many of my friends and colleagues whom I’ve known for years when they arrive in town.   Coffee breaks, lunch hour and dinner are always booked for me during this conference.  A few notable nuggets from TRB this year:
   • TRB smartphone app –  This was an awesome addition to the slate of conference planning tools, despite having some glitches/difficulties syncing the sesssion information across the platforms (phone/tablet/PC).  I’m hoping this app will be better and much more user-friendly as TRB continues to fine-tune the product in the months ahead.
   • Wifi access –  Internet connectivity during the conference continues to be a big pain but TRB staff noted that relief is on the way when the conference moves from the hotels (Marriott, Omni and Hilton) to the Convention Center in 2015.  This also would render more opportunities to attend sessions that are currently not accessible to many of us due to the logistics involved (riding shuttle buses between hotels is a big deterrent when it comes to planning my sessions at the different hotels though it doesn’t take much time to travel between them).  Thanks to my employer (Citizant, Inc) I was lucky to have had a Verizon MiFi hotspot that allowed me to stay connected to the web at 4G speeds and allowed for a seamless support for my clients throughout the conference.
   • Food – Continues to remain a major sore point as all the eateries around the conference hotels, esp. Marriott, get jammed up quickly with conference goers during lunch times.   The Lobby bar at Marriott continues to be a major attraction for coffee breaks and post-dinner drinks as it can be a great venue to schedule meetings.
   • My first audio podcast interview – Got interviewed for an Audio Podcast by Andy Boenau, a Transportation planner who also does very interesting podcasts with experts engaged in transportation. We discussed various issues randing from social media  in transportation to the evolution of driver-less cars (vehicle automation).   Yet to see the final product and I’m hoping to see it available on Andy Boenau’s website soon (urbanismspeakeasy.com)
   • Social Media – I cannot stress enough the role of Social Media in bringing people together during such large gatherings of people.  The presence of twitter is undeniable as the volume of tweets continue to swell year after year during the conference (and also in the weeks leading up to the conference). Don’t believe me? I recommend you check the hashtag #TRBAM and you will know what I am talking about.   And this shows you how popular Twitter is:  tweet from @TRBofNA today says “3,968 tweets using #TRBAMSun. Jan. 13-Thursday, Jan. 17, 2013. In 2012, we had 2,830 during the same#TRBAM timeframe”. One of the major highlights of the TRB Annual Meeting is the impromptu tweetup I planned with a few fellow Twitterti. This tweetup held at Open City Cafe on Jan 16th  was conceived, planned and executed via Twitter.  We had a great turnout (about 85 people) and full sponsorship from @Uber_DC, the best hi-tech Taxi service at your fingertip.
   • Innovative Programming: TRB staff are testing different formats to keep the audience engaged.  One such effort was the Pecha Kucha style presentation, a 1st for TRB, that I happened to be a part of.  Though the event was slated at the tail end of the conference (Yeah. Wednesday evening 7:30PM start), we had a great turn out.  The moderator (and friend Shin Pei-Tsay) did an awesome job mixing up the line up, alternating between U.S. and European presenters to keep up the tempo.  Each presenter had 20 slides and 20 seconds per slide to tell their story, mostly with visuals (and a sprinkling of text).  I couldn’t have imagined a better format for a tired audience who have endured death by powerpoint all through the week.
   • Networking: I cannot stress enough the importance of networking during the TRBAM Week.  Here are a few words of wisdom for the new and young attendees:
     • Stuff a ton of business cards in your coat/jacket when you arrive at TRB.
     •  Always be willing and ready to tell your story. If it is not too much work, I recommend that you prepare a two minute “elevato r pitch” that tells your story. You never know who will be in that hypothetical elevator with you.
     • Looking for a job? Prepare and print a few copies of your resume and keep it ready for sharing with people interested in your story.
     • Attend as many networking events as possible.  Often you will see many Happy Hours, Receptions, Sponsored Events, etc held along the sidelines of the Annual Meeting. These are great venues for meeting and interacting with cool people.
     • Get a lot of sleep if you can can. That’s one of the toughest things to do when you are in town for just a few days catching up with people and attending sessions.
     • And stay connected on Social Media:  Are you the shy one?  No worries. If you are not so social in person, you may want to start by chatting with your target audience on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. This virtual interaction should definitely give you the confidence to interact with them in person when you are at the event.  Also, from a civic sense, the conversations in the community will only get better when more people start talking. So, don’t hesitate to send out a tweet or post a note on LinkedIn.
     • Do not hesitate to signup for volunteer opportunities, especially at the TRB Committees. If you are under 25yrs old, the committees would be glad to have you added as a Young Member.  Also, a few notable forums that you should consider checking out during the Annual Meeting – Young Professionals in Transportation (they host an awesome reception every year. MUST ATTEND for us transportation professionals), Young Members Council, Womens Transportation Seminar, etc
3. Transforming Transportation – Right on the heels of TRB Annual Meeting, the World Bank and World Resource Institute’s EMBARQ hold this annual event, Transforming Transportation, at the World Bank building, bringing together experts from around the world to discuss sustainable transportation issues.  This year was a bit more special than previous years with the addition of a Keynote by New York City Mayor Mr. Michael Bloomberg, who has a great interest in supporting sustainable transportation initiatives not just in his city but also across the globe. The amount of knowledge sharing that happens in this event is unparalleled and I always walk away with a ton of new ideas that I could easily implement in my world of transportation and communications.  This event also serves as a reminder for me as a professionals practicing the craft in the Developed world, that there are so many challenges that remain unsolved in transportation domain in the developing world.

There are so many more things I’d like to write about but in the essence of time, I’m going to stop here.  Should I find the time and energy in the next couple of days, I’ll do a follow-up post.  If you think I have missed something or should have addressed a few more points, do not hesitate to drop me a note in the comments sections.  I’ll be happy to respond to your comments/suggestions/etc.  Also, do not hesitate to share this article with your fellow Transportation professionals if it will help prepare them for the next year’s event.

Related articles

• TRB 2013 Annual Meeting News: Revolutionary Change Cometh – Transportation Practitioners See Industry Transformation with Mobility Data from AirSage(TM)

(Source: via Young Professional in Transportation (YPT) Blog)

Cambridge Systematics is hosting two recruiting sessions in Washington, DC during the TRB Annual Meeting. This is a great opportunity to learn more about transportation consulting careers!

Image Courtesy: Yptransportation.org - Click image to enlarge