The American Traffic Safety Services Association (ATSSA) tried something bold and different during its recent 40th Annual Convention and Traffic Expo in San Antonio, Texas.
For the first time ever, a 90-minute forum called the “Circle of Innovation” allowed transportation agency officials a venue in which to bring their “wish lists from the field” to ATSSA manufacturers who were there to take notes and listen only.
Brought to the table was everything imaginable—from innovative ways to eliminate wind-driven snow from LED lenses to commonsense wrong-way detectors to cold-weather pavement markings to futuristic holographic signage.
The transportation officials positioned themselves in the middle of the “circle” and addressed a simple question, “What safety device or process do you wish you had that you don’t?”
The session was configured as a modification of a forum technique called “Park Bench.” Once transportation officials presented their ideas from one of the three available chairs to the discussion leader, they would leave the table. The now-vacant chair would be quickly filled by the next presenter from the audience.
The overall room setup consisted of a small circular table set in the middle of the room. General seating was on inclined risers—similar to high-school gym bleachers—positioned around the moderator’s table. Sections of the risers were designated for public officials, mostly from state departments of transportation. Manufacturers of roadway safety products, contractors who install products and other invited guests sat behind them.
The ideas generated were all over the place, but about 85% of those presented in the Circle of Innovation were relevant to the roadway-safety industry. Some of the “out-of-industry” ideas included the invention of a device that would clean snow from the top of an 18-wheeler’s trailer, preventing huge sheets of snow from being blown dangerously onto roadways, in-vehicle warning systems, and so on.
The session was an absolute home run, proven by many people telling ATSSA that the Circle of Innovation was the single-best session that they had ever experienced at any annual meeting they ever attended. And ATSSA manufacturer members, who were furiously taking notes during the session, already tell us they hope to have new or improved products developed by next year as a result of what they heard in the session.
Attendance to the Circle of Innovation was by invitation only. Invitees included manufacturers who were Traffic Expo exhibitors, all public official attendees and 50 contractors who came on a first-come, first-served basis. ATSSA will present a finer-tuned Circle of Innovation II in Phoenix during the 2011 Annual Convention and Traffic Expo. The Phoenix session will be improved through “lessons learned” during the 2010 session.
The ATSSA staff is currently reviewing the complete 90-minute recorded transcript of the Circle of Innovation. It’s going to take some time to pull all of the countless new ideas for roadway-safety innovation and products from numerous pages of detailed text. ATSSA members are eager to develop many of these products, and similarly, transportation agency officials are eager to implement them from coast to coast.
