I recently had the honor of representing our WSRO members at the International ACT Conference held in late July in San Antonio, Texas. 

First, I want to say it was my first trip to Texas.  I was amazed at how green it was there (I thought it was a desert like Arizona) and how HOT it was.  Over 100 degrees and humid.  But, despite the heat, it was absolutely beautiful.  The River Walk was amazing and the Alamo incredible!

The conference theme was Deep in the Heart of TDM, and all the sessions I attended did get to the heart of what we all do everyday.  Here’s a brief description of a couple of my favorite sessions.

LEED and TDM: New Opportunities to Provide Value to Developers and Property Managers

This session explored how TDM professionals can help developers and property managers to achieve a significant number of LEED points just for implementing TDM.  This great workshop showed how to create new outlets to sell and market TDM services while helping property owners and developers obtain green certification. 

Making the Case for TDM

This session explored case studies for the successful implementation of TDM in Mexico City, Chicago and Embarq, Mexico.  Each had a very different experience, but they  all focused on developing partnerships and keeping their programs flexible to meet the needs of their communities.

Not All Things to All People – Social and Individualized Marketing

The speaker of this session was Aaron Gaul from UrbanTrans North America.  What a dynamic speaker.  He took us through strategies from implementing individualized marketing, selecting target areas and best practices.  We learned simple, cost-effective and targeted social marketing techniques that establish measurable and long-term sustainable travel behaviors. 

The entire conference was simply amazing!  The speakers were very knowledgeable and engaging.  It was great to see and hear all the great things being done around the world. 

If you would like more information on any of the sessions I attended I’m happy to share.  Or, you can go to the ACT Website for more information. Thank you for the great opportunity. 

Debbie Anderson
2013 Chair