So Thankful

This time last year, I was planning our little family of four’s first Thanksgiving on our own. I ordered a chicken instead of a turkey, made more potatoes and fewer green beans (and zero sauerkraut in open defiance of my Baltimore upbringing), and we ran away for a few days to, as my next-door neighbor said, watch a lot of movies and stare at four different walls. 

What a difference a year makes. Last year was so different from any year before it and this year, we’re grateful to be back to a relatively normal holiday celebration, which is both wonderful and weird. We’ll be home with our extended family again and while I’ll probably crack a window or two and try to keep a little distance between us in the kitchen, spending a day of thanks with the people we love the most will be wonderful. 

Soon after the dishes are done and the leftovers are gone, I’ll board a plane—an actual plane!—for the trip to Tampa to see many of you for the first time in two years. And we’ll wear masks and maybe hug less that we did before, but I’m so looking forward to the reunion with my friends in parking and mobility. It’s another thing to be grateful for and I can’t wait.

We’re offering plenty of room for social distancing and you’ll be able to pick up a color-coded wristband at registration to tell your friends whether you’re hugging, fist-bumping, or waving from six feet away, but some early plans have been relaxed. Enjoy whatever education session strikes your fancy—there’s no need or process to register for those in advance. And the same is true for the Expo; it’s open for two days and you are welcome to spend time there whenever you have time. General sessions are open to everyone and we can’t wait for all the networking that’s sure to happen throughout the event. 

If you haven’t registered for the 2021 IPMI Parking & Mobility Conference & Expo, you can still do that. Visit IPMI.parking-mobility.org to sign up for the show and optional events (like the William Voigt CAPP Classic Golf Tournament) and get all the information you need about hotel rooms and accommodations. Gathering together after so long is exciting and we welcome you back. 

Enjoy this issue. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving if you’re celebrating. And know how thankful we at IPMI are to be a part of this amazing community of professionals—you make our worlds go ‘round. Just a few weeks left until we see you in person. What a great thing!

Until next month…