Utilimarc at NAFA: Day One Conference Recap | Utilimarc Fleet FYIs

Gretchen Reese (00:24):

Hey there, welcome to the Fleet FYIs podcast, the weekly podcast by Utilimarc that reveals how you can make the most of your data for smarter fleet management. My name is Gretchen, and every week you'll hear from me or some of the industry's finest in candid conversations that will not only shed some light on over two decades worth of fleet data insights, but also some of the industry's hottest talking points and key metric analysis with the aim to help you better understand your fleet from every angle.

(00:52):

But, before we begin, if this is the first time you've heard our show, thanks for stopping by. I'm so glad you decided to come along for the ride with us. But, I've got a quick favor to ask you, once you finish today's episode, if you could take a few minutes to leave us a review on your favorite podcasting platform, we would really appreciate it. Give us a rating, five-stars I hope, or tell us what you liked, or leave us a comment, or a question about what you've heard in today's episode. If we haven't yet covered a topic that you're interested in hearing more about, let us know. We would be happy to go over it in detail in a later show.

(01:34):

Hello, everyone, and welcome back to another episode of the Fleet FYIs podcast. If you remember from last week, I had mentioned that the Utilimarc team and I are here in Columbus, Ohio this week for the NAFA Institute and Expo for 2022. We are so incredibly excited to be here for the show, and I hope, if you're in town that is, that you'll stop by booth 943, just next to the food court in the lunch area. Personal favorite spot of every conference of mine. Just to say hello. But, similar to the last few conferences that we've covered here on Fleet FYIs, I'm in the mood for a bit of a daily recap. So, let's dig in and jump straight to day one.

(02:42):

So, day one, at least for me, had everything to do with the EV education seminars. Now, we all know that I have a bit of a soft spot for sustainability on this show. And if you didn't know that already, just listen to a few of our past episodes and you'll get the gist. But, anyways, one of the things that I absolutely love about conferences, and this is true for any show, not just the NAFA Institute and Expo, um, but I love the fact that so many people can come together for these education sessions and share opinions and be able to have this massive, almost round table-style, discussion, after listening to a keynote, of course, to be able to really delve into these topics and learn even more about them. And, it comes from every perspective, whether it's utilities based, municipalities based. It even comes from the vendors or the providers themselves.

(03:31):

I mean, there are so many aspects to this topic of electrification, whether it's, like, when one of the sessions covered today, the hidden costs and basically all of the costs associated with electric vehicles and the transition to this new technology. There was one that was speaking about the challenges of electrification and how to lead the implementation efforts. And then, also one about how to actually just understand the data that's coming from OEMs that are supplying EVs to the market today. There is so much information that's coming out, and conferences like this are really the best place to get it because you're able to speak with like-minded professionals, that hopefully they know what they're doing, um, or at least as much as, you know, we all do. But really, it's about that trading perspectives and really being able to understand it from that first-person perspective to be able to dig a little bit deeper into a topic, which we all know what... that's what I like to do. I mean, that's why Fleet FYIs even originated in the first place. 

(04:29):

Now, the conference, for those of you that have never been to NAFA before, it is based basically in a convention center. At least, in Columbus, Ohio it is based in the co-... in the convention center here. And, it's almost laid out like The Utility Expo. Um, if you remember last year, I believe it was in late September, early October. No, later September was The Utility Expo from last year. Uh, but basically this huge exposition hall, there was a ton of booths, ton of vendors. You got to walk around and meet who you wanted to, avoid who you wanted to as well (laughs). Could be very important, depending on who you want to see. Um, but, my point is, is basically you have the ability to interact with all of these folks, but there's also specific session timings for if you would like to listen to industry experts speak about what they know and share their knowledge, and be able to experience the event in another way. And, those are the types of events that I really like because, in my mind, it's very similar to this show overall, right? Because you have the perspective of, "Hey, I want to learn more about this topic," and the speaker's perspective of, "I'd like to share what I know about this topic." And you're able to blend the two quite nicely.

(05:42):

Now, for a bit of transparency, NAFA day one is always a little bit slower. The education sessions do take the front center stage. Sorry for the bit of a bad pun there. Um, but when it comes to the expo hall, the expo hall actually officially opens tomorrow. So, I don't have much of an update for Utilimarc booth 943 until tomorrow. But, make sure you stay tuned for our daily recap tomorrow and I'm sure I will be able to fill you completely in. And who knows? I may even get Michael Carr or Paul Milner back on the show. Fingers crossed. Wish me luck there. But, um, I'm just excited to see how this conference really turns out because this'll be my first NAFA show and I think if day two and day three goes anything like day one did, it really only can get better from here.

(07:04):

I'm curious to know though, have you ever been to the NAFA Institute and Expo? Have you ever been to a NAFA conference in general, or any of the fleet industry conferences? If you have, I'd love to hear which is your favorite show, why you love it, and what you tend to take away from these exposition halls, um, or exposition halls [inaudible 00:07:23] massive knowledge share conferences. Whatever it is, let me know what you like to take away from it, what your favorite part of these conferences are. And, again, if you are in Columbus, Ohio for this week, make sure you stop by the Utilimarc booth, which is 943, just to stop by and say hello because we all like to chat. We're a team of chatty folks. But, anyways, if I don't see you in Columbus, you can always send any questions you have about the fleet industry, or even about the show itself, you can send me an email, you can tag me on LinkedIn, you can use the hashtag Utilimarc Fleet FYIs, or you can even send me a carrier pigeon. We all know that I don't judge. But, that is all from me today. I will be back tomorrow with another daily recap of the NAFA Institute and Expo day two, so make sure you stay tuned. Ciao. 

(08:08):

Hey there, I think this is the time that I [inaudible 00:08:34] the virtual high five because you've just finished listening to another episode of the Fleet FYIs podcast. If you're already wanting more content, head over to utilimarc.com, which is Utilimarc with a C, U-T-I-L-I-M-A-R-C.com, for this episode's show notes and extra insights coming straight from our analyst to you. That's all from me this week, so until next time, I'll catch you later.