Once again the association has greased the NASC with uplifting keynote speakers, hot-spot technical tours and informative general sessions. A preview of the event follows.
Personal triumph
Jeff Tobe (Sunday, April 14, 3-4:30 p.m.) and explorer/entrepreneur Jeff MacInnis (Tuesday, April 16, 3-4:30 p.m.) will talk the talk during NASC. Both are the featured keynote speakers.
Tobe, with his “Color Outside the Lines” approach, will help participants tap their innate creativity to enhance both their professional and personal lives. As budgets shrink and the public’s demand for services increases, public employees not only should but must develop creative approaches to ordinary and new problems. Tobe challenges the individual to step outside the comfort zone, grab the crayons and meet the challenges of public service.
MacInnis achieved a 400-year-old challenge when he led the first team to sail the Northwest Passage. This endeavor covered 2,500 miles over 100 days in an 18-ft boat named “Perception.” The expedition survived an ice-choked passage that has claimed more lives than Mt. Everest.
MacInnis also was a member of the first team to journey over land from London to New York. The Overland Challenge was a grueling 15,000-mile trek around the globe.
In his presentation, MacInnis will show that accomplishing dreams is possible if you trust yourself and others.
Tour the area
The conference breaks out the map for a pair of technical tours on Sunday.
A trip to the Transportation Research Center (TRC) is scheduled for 10 a.m.-2:30 p.m. The TRC conducts programs designed to test for safety, energy, fuel economy, emissions, durability, noise, braking, off-road mobility, crash simulation and performance of vehicles. The facility features a 7.5-mile track for durability and endurance testing, an ATV course and an impact laboratory for evaluating the effects of high-impact accidents.
Those in attendance also can venture over to the City of Columbus’ Maintenance Facility and Emergency Management Operations (11 a.m.-2:30 p.m.). At the new maintenance facility participants will see the entire operation. The tour will then move to the Ohio Emergency Management Operations Center and Joint Dispatch facility, which is used during all statewide emergencies and features state-of-the-art equipment.
Lots to learn
Thinking about trips will be out of the question starting Monday, when the snow fighting show turns serious with the first of 35 educational sessions. Here’s THE list of topics.
Monday, April 15
9:45 - 11 a.m.
Taking Care of Winter Operations Equipment is Big Business; What Did We Learn From Canadian Environmental Assessment of Road Salts; Selecting the Right Anti-Icing Chemical For You; How to Be a Dynamic and Memorable Speaker.
2 - 3 p.m.
Combat Winter Maintenance Nightmares; Sleep Deprivation and What It Costs; Not All Streets Are The Same—Plowing Techniques for Different Applications; Fixed Automated Anti-Icing Systems; How to Be a Dynamic and Memorable Speaker.
3:30 - 5 p.m.
(Roundtable Discussion Topics)
Specification Writing for Deicing Chemicals; Winter Maintenance Performance Measures; Snow Fighting Equipment; Outsourcing Road Maintenance; Weather Forecasting; Environmental Effects of Abrasives and Chemicals; Which Chemical Works Best Under What Conditions and What Expense?
Tuesday, April 16
8:30 - 9:30 a.m.
Effective Resource Management; Salt Brine Successes for Both Anti-Icing and Pre-Wetting; A Leader’s Role in Snow and Ice Operations; Safe Plowing—Applying Intelligent Vehicle Technology.
9:45 - 10:45 a.m.
The Slippery Streets of Cincinnati; ITS & Winter Operations Management SCAN of January and February 2002; ODOT Roadside Surveillance; The History of Snow and Ice Removal.
11 a.m. - 12 p.m.
Effective Communications; Become a Weather Forecaster; Assembly of State Trucks; Snow Elimination in Montreal—Solving Problems and Implementing a Strategy; Improving Services and Reducing Costs in Winter Snow Management.
1:30 - 2:45 p.m.
Selecting the Right Anti-Icing Chemical For You; Taking Care of Your Fleet; Avoiding Winter State of Emergencies; Customer Driven Benchmarking.
