Moving and Improving

Written Monday, February 08, 2010 by Trippin'

Doesn’t 2010 just feel better? Although the after effects of the recession still linger, there is a definite feeling of relief in the air. Stewart Transportation Solutions attended the Professional Conference Management Association (PCMA) Annual Meeting in Dallas, Texas January 10-13 and boy were things hopping! Convention and meeting planners from association and corporations across the country came together with their industry suppliers to discuss the state of the meetings industry. John Folks from Minding Your Business was the outgoing 2009 PCMA Chairman of the Board and Kati Quigley from Microsoft is the 2010 PCMA Chairman of the Board. And get this; both Microsoft and Minding Your Business are clients of STS! Pretty nifty we think! After several days of sessions, networking events and receptions it appears our industry is alive and well although a bit changed from 2009. But, the 2010 forecast looks to be mostly sunny!

The STS Complaint Free Living challenge is still in full swing! After 50 some odd days (and some days were indeed odd) not one person on the team has reached the 21 day mark of complaint free living yet! But doggone it, we’re a diligent bunch. A few bracelets have popped off, some have gotten lost (yeah, right) and some wrists are sore from constantly switching the band but guess what? We knew this would happen so we ordered extra bracelets. HA! Gotcha! I must admit there have been some mighty complaints launched (mostly due to technical issues like smart phones) and general whininess about the impossibility of picking a lunch spot for the day, but for the most part, we’re diminishing those little complaints right out of our lives and we’re still hooked to the purple piece of rubber around our wrists. Someone, okay, all of us, will get to that 21 day mark before the year is through! And our first large scale conference of the year is coming up next week – the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association Annual Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia. The Nashville office will join with a few of our travel staff for the first time since becoming a band of purple brothers and sisters. We’ll see who is coming closest to the 21 day mark and how many of us have to start over during the week. Stay tuned!

February is American Heart Month and STS supports the American Heart Association Go Red for Women Campaign! STS is committed to fighting heart disease in 2010 and beyond. We’ve provided all of our employees and staff with a personal pedometer to track their program miles for the year. At the end of 2010 STS will donate to the Go Red for Women based on total program miles walked/ran/cycled/swam. We do a lot of walking and running on show site. It takes powerful legs to keep up with so many buses, sedans, SUV’s and staff but our team is committed to the cause! A great newsletter I just read from the Bicycle Club of Pennsylvania (shout out to STS travel staff Brandi Ebright for providing the info!) talks about the importance of our interpersonal bonds and heart health. In the book, The Most Effective Ways to Live Longer: Play More, Love More, Do More, Jonny Bowden, PhD gives us examples of how to strengthen our connections with others: 1) Acknowledge someone--do something as simple as thanking a restaurant waiter for excellent service, 2) Practice Forgiveness--harboring past hurts and feelings of anger are toxic to your health, 3) Volunteer in your community and 4) Start and Keep a Gratitude List. Surrounding yourself with joy on a regular basis with cheerful friends and associates can contribute up to a 25% higher measurement to your overall wellness. Fantastic advice!

We’re geared up for several events in February so our program miles will really start to rack up. We’ll be busy shuttling folks around in Atlanta for the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association Annual Meeting, in Seattle for the Microsoft MVP Summit and Eddie Bauer, in Weston, Florida for State Farm, and in Phoenix, Arizona for Event Services of America. STS is getting around and we’ll keep right on moving and improving throughout 2010. Join us!

“Hop on the bus, Gus,
You don’t need to discuss much
You just slip out the back, Jack
Make a new plan, Stan
you don’t need to be coy, Roy
Just get yourself free?

Paul Simon – 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover

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