TOP STORY
STN EXPO Games Offer New Opportunities to Learn, Network
By Sylvia Arroyo C
olleen Murphy couldn’t contain her excitement when she began talking about attending this year’s STN EXPO. “I feel like a kid in a candy store,” said the transportation supervi- sor for Austintown Local School District in Ohio.
Tis will be her first time attending the show and only her sec-
ond major industry show. Last fall, Murphy attended the NAPT Summit trade show in Cincinnati, about a four and a half hour drive from Austintown. She could finally justify the travel cost to her cash-strapped school district. In addition to receiving ap- proval to attend, she received another pleasant surprise on site. While walking the trade show floor, a friend encouraged
Murphy to visit the STN booth and play the game “Plinko,” pop- ularized in the 1980s by the television game show “Te Price is Right.” To her surprise, she was randomly chosen as the winner of an all-expense paid trip to the show, plus $100 spending cash. Murphy played just for fun. She had no intentions or plans
about attending any other industry show. But winning meant she now could, and neither she nor her supervisors had to worry about the expense. “I just feel so fortunate to have been the one to have won the
trip,” she said. “I’m so excited. I’ve never been to Reno, and I’m sure the expo will be great.” Murphy’s challenge is not unique. In this economic climate, it’s
more important for transporters like her to attend conferences to learn the latest efficiencies. Tey can also catch up on the latest issues and regulations, perform hands-on exercises and network. It might be easy for trade show attendees to pass on playing
games such as “Plinko” or STN’s online industry trivia game, Play- 2Win. But they might want to think twice. Murphy did, and now she’s headed to Reno. For those who may not know how “Plinko” works, players drop
a chip down a game board riddled with spikes. Te chip ricochets back and forth before settling into one of several slots that deter- mine how many tickets the player would receive to be entered into the drawing. NAPT attendees enjoyed playing the game, however, the game changes each year. STN began this contest at the 2010 NAPT Summit trade show in
Portland, Ore. Tat year, participants competed in small groups and were timed while they completed STN EXPO-themed puzzles. Dan Higbie, terminal manager of Mid-City Transit Corp in Middletown, N.Y., was strolling by the STN booth at the Portland
26 School Transportation News Magazine July 2012
STN Publisher Tony Corpin presents Colleen Murphy at the NAPT Summit trade show last fall with an all-expenses-paid trip to this month’s EXPO.
show and thought the puzzle game looked like fun. He decided to play, and he won. Higbie normally attends the NAPT Summit and the Transport-
ing Students with Disabilities & Preschoolers Conference, but winning the puzzle game enabled him to attend the STN EXPO for the first time. “I definitely learned a lot,” he said. “It was well organized, and the
(Nevada state) bus rodeo was one of the most organized rodeos I’ve ever seen. I have a better perception after seeing the exercise.” Higbie, the 10th person to receive NAPT’s Special Needs Train-
ing endorsement, was promoted in 2010 and began overseeing a lot more moving parts and people within the bus operating com- pany — 195 employees, about 140 school buses, a fixed-route transit system and a paratransit service. So attending as many industry events as possible allows him to tap into the minds of fellow student transporters and industry experts. “I thought the STN EXPO classes were great; a good mix for
whether you’re a contractor or a school district,” he said. Two-thousand and ten was also the year STN kicked off its Play-
2Win online game, giving readers who may not attend the NAPT show an opportunity to win an all-expenses-paid trip to Reno. Tis contest consists of multiple-choice questions on the school bus industry, the STN EXPO and the magazine. Te more questions an- swered correctly, the more entries into a random drawing held at the
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100