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Chris Jones
Dennis Snow
Scott Mckain
Rockville, Md. — The Taxicab, Limousine & Paratransit Association (TLPA) has finalized its trio of keynote speakers for its landmark 100th Annual Convention & Trade Show in Las Vegas.
The impressive lineup includes the founder of a Silicon Valley technology company discussing the autonomous-vehicle evolution, a Disney executive speaking about customer service, and a marketing expert who wrote a book about lessons learned from a chance encounter with an exuberant, self-promoting taxi driver, “Taxi Terry.”
The speakers are:
- Chris Jones, co-founder of Canalys, will present the opening address, The Electric & Autonomous Vehicle Revolution. Canalys is the first autonomous-vehicle market analysis service. Jones’ address will be a master class in all things autonomous.
- Dennis Snow, a customer service expert and 20-year veteran of Disney, will present his keynote titled, Delivering World-Class Service: Lessons from the Mouse.
- Scott McKain, an author of Amazon bestsellers on expanding profits, increasing sales and engaging customers, will present the closing keynote address, Create Distinction: What To Do When ‘Great’ Isn’t Good Enough to Grow Your Business. For this presentation, he will draw on his latest book, 7 Tenets of Taxi Terry, which gives specific steps to help create and deliver high-quality customer experiences.
The speakers will kick off each of the convention’s General Sessions. Taking place this year from October 27 through 29 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, the annual event is the largest gathering of the for-hire fleet operators and vendors in the world.
Visit tlpa.org/Annual-Convention for more information.
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Reston Limousine President & CEO Kristina Bouweiri (left) with the Honorable Rep. Barbara Comstock
Dulles, Va. — On August 2, hundreds of the D.C. area’s most prominent women entrepreneurs and business leaders gathered for the 10th Anniversary meeting of Sterling Women, a monthly networking luncheon for women with a mission to showcase women in business and feature woman speakers.
Sterling Women, which has no dues to attendees, was created and founded by Reston Limousine President and CEO Kristina Bouweiri in 2008, and is still led by her each month. To help mark the 10th anniversary celebration, 10 of the original speakers were invited back to share their experience, wisdom, and successes since first speaking at Sterling Women.
One of the most impactful was that of Zarif Sahin, who told her story of being given away at only 13 as a child bride in her home country of Turkey. After moving to the US with her husband, she taught herself English from watching episodes of Sesame Street. After leaving her husband, Sahin worked as a daycare provider and hairstylist to support herself. Today, she is one of the top realtors in Virginia. Her Sterling Women speech led to a TED talk and she is now a global ambassador for women’s rights.
Another inspiring success story is that of Amy Dagliano. Though Amy had attended Sterling Women many times, she was particularly moved by the speech by Jaclyn O'Brien, the founder of KeyLyme. Like O’Brien, Dagliano also suffered from Lyme disease and the difficulties and roadblocks discussed in O’Brien’s speech really resonated with her. Dagliano was so inspired that after the speech she drove directly to her boss’s office where she promptly resigned to start her own business, Rowan Tree, the first women-focused coworking and co-growth space in Virginia.
Sterling Women’s 10 original speakers
Bouweiri is passionate about giving back to the local community, which is evidenced by Sterling Women’s numerous fundraising events and efforts. Two such examples include the Wine Cheese and Chocolate and Partini fundraising events.
Sterling Women raised over $200,000 for charities in Loudoun County through such fundraising events.
“I am moved by the number of women who joined us for our ten-year anniversary. Sterling Women has always been a place that businesswomen can come to be inspired, make connections and make lifelong friends,” said Bouweiri. “I am so proud of all the amazing things our speakers have accomplished since joining us for the first time!”
The positive and life changing effects of speaking at Sterling Women can be evidenced by the numbers:
- 12 speakers have become published authors
- 7 of the 10 original speakers have successfully sold their businesses
- One of the speakers increased her business’ value from $4 million when she first spoke, to $25 million by the anniversary
Honorable Rep. Barbara Comstock and Chair of the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors Phyllis J. Randall attended the Anniversary event as well. They marked the occasion by presenting Sterling Women with a Congressional Record and County Resolution respectively.
Visit sterlingwomen.org/sterling/ or restonlimo.com for more information.
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Operators taking part in Prevost’s training sessions
Sainte Claire, Q.C. — Prevost and Volvo training continues in full swing for the remainder of 2018. The comprehensive class schedule is a packed offering of Prevost and Volvo training sessions, regional seminars and online webinars that enable operators of its H-Series and X-Series and the Volvo 9700 coach to run safer, smoother and more efficiently.
“As we are now more than half way through the year, our remaining classes represent only a portion of the wide range of training we conduct year round,” says Prevost Customer Support Service Manager William Salluzzo. “We strive to make every event as interactive and hands-on as possible. We invite feedback from our customers and participating technicians to help us enhance their training experiences by tailoring our program closer to their specific requirements.”
Prevost invites its operators and technicians to connect and take part in the following programs, and to stay tuned to the e-media page at www.prevostcar.com for the newest training opportunities as the company plans an ambitious schedule for 2019.
“Prevost Commercial Training is our company’s biggest training event of the year after the Annual Factory Training we conduct at the Prevost factory in Quebec City,” adds Salluzzo. “Our customers have the opportunity to take 1- and 2-day classes on topics of their choice over four days in a given area of training for each session at a Prevost Service Facility.”
In addition, Prevost invites all Prevost and Volvo motorcoach technicians and mechanics to attend its tuition-free service seminars conducted throughout the year at their nearest Prevost Service Centers in the U.S. and Canada.
According to Robert Hitt, director, Prevost Aftermarket Training North America, last year more than 650 technicians and mechanics successfully completed one or more Prevost Training programs.
Prevost conducts and maintains online library of over 40 recorded technical webinars for viewing — no user ID or password required; attendance couldn’t be easier. In addition to monitoring attendance, Prevost can supply customers with tracking of their employees who have logged onto the webinars and eligible for a reward their initiative through incentive programs or tool allowances.
“We rely on our training webinars to prepare technicians and mechanics in advance of any the live Prevost training events they will be attending”, says Hitt, “When they register for the training sessions and seminars, they also receive our list of webinars we require for them to view in advance of the event. Everyone kind of comes prepared with an idea of basics so we can focus on the meat and potatoes of what we do.”
Visit prevostcar.com/training for more information.
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