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ABA’s Marketplace worth $78.7 million in booked business According to a new study, the American Bus Association’s (ABA) Marketplace 2012 in Grapevine, TX generated a total of $78,790,000 worth of booked business for show participants. The study was conducted by John Dunham & Associates (JDA). JDA arrived at the results by surveying more than 2,500 Marketplace attendees, representing all six delegate types (Receptive Operator, Lodging, Direct Marketing Organizations (DMOs), Buyer, Attraction and Associate.) Respondents were asked to list the amount of business they booked in three categories: business booked at Marketplace 2012, business booked immediately following
Marketplace 2012, and the total amount of business that the respondents’ expected to generate due to their Marketplace 2012 contacts. Those companies that booked business made a substantial return on their investment, with many respondents reporting that the income they expected to
generate from Marketplace 2012 would be thirty times what they spent on the show. The results of the survey showed that attendees across all member types had an enormous amount of sales successes at Marketplace 2012. Some members earned from $500,000 to $5 million in booked business as a result of the show. The study results also revealed that many companies expected to book a large amount of business after Marketplace thanks to the contacts they made at the show. Respondents reported that they anticipated generating an average of $58,065 worth of business after they left Grapevine.
MTA NYC honors first African American military airmen 100th Street Depot Becomes Tuskegee Airmen Bus Depot
Attending the rededication of the 100th Street Depot to honor the Tuskegee Airmen were left to right: Reginald T. Brewster, Esq., Dr. Roscoe C. Brown, NYC Transit President Thomas F. Prendergast, NYC Transit Senior Vice President Department of Buses Darryl Irick and MTA Boardmember Fernando Ferrer. Photo courtesy of MTA.
MTA New York City Transit has renamed its 100th Street Bus Depot The Tuskegee Airmen Bus Depot in honor of the World War II African-American military pilots and support personnel who made up the famed flight-training program at Tuskegee Army Air Field. Over the years, the New York City Transit system has employed 12 former Tuskegee Airmen and created an unbreakable link between the two organizations. A bronze commemorative plaque newly
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installed in the depot’s entryway lists their names and will serve as a living reminder of their bravery and dedication to duty. The plaque features a logo bearing an artistic rendering of three Tuskegee Airmen and the red-tail P-40 Mustangs they flew is incorporated in the plaque, while depot signage has been installed and decals affixed to each bus assigned to the depot. Former members of the illustrious 332nd Fighter Group attended the rededication ceremony in April at the depot along with
MTA Chairman and CEO Joseph J. Lhota, NYC Transit President Thomas F. Prendergast and Darryl Irick, President of MTA Bus and Senior Vice President NYC Transit’s Department of Buses. “The Tuskegee Airmen overcame so much to become one of the most highly respected fighter groups of the war, thanks to the numerous civil rights organizations that convinced the Army to create this iconic all African-American pursuit squadron,” said Chairman Lhota. “These heroes included pilots, navigators, bombardiers, maintenance and support staff. We see a very similar dynamic at the bus depot; bus operators, mechanics and other personnel all working together toward one common goal. That is what makes today’s dedication ceremony that much more special.”
May 2012
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