UMA Motorcoach Expo Goes West

Jack Forbes of Prevost (left) with Tom Taylor of Lakeland Bus Lines, who won Prevost’s giveaway of an autographed Bruce Springsteen guitar San Antonio — The 2018 UMA Motorcoach Expo called San Antonio, Texas, its home from January 6-10, where CD’s Business Development Manager Rickie Roberts was among the nearly 2,000 industry professionals and vendors on hand for the United Motorcoach Association’s annual multi-day event.

Other familiar faces in attendance included ABC Companies, Access Commercial Capital, Advantage Funding, Bitimec Wash-Bots, Blue Bird Body Company, Executive Coach Builders, Lancer Insurance Company, MCI, Prevost, Protective Insurance Company, and REV. In fact, Prevost gave away a guitar autographed by Bruce Springsteen, which was won by Tom Taylor of Lakeland Bus Lines.

The Expo consistently offers a confluence of educational sessions, networking opportunities, and a show floor featuring an array of services, technologies, and vehicles available to those entrenched in luxury ground transportation’s motorcoach side. This year was no different, with the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center hosting not only the expansive exhibit hall but also the majority of the expo’s events, from receptions to sessions. The show floor itself was filled with familiar faces like

One of the MCI buses on display Appealing to a wide range of attendees is always a top priority, and UMA reflected that in its five-pronged concurrent “Solutions Seminars,” where sessions focused on financials, marketing, operations, technology, and the specific needs of small operators. Topics ranged from trends to regulatory mandates, from hiring practices to looking toward the future.

There was education of another kind when author and entrepreneur Les McKeown took the stage as UMA’s keynote speaker on the expo’s second day, when he spoke to attendees about his work as a consultant to everything from small companies to Fortune 500 powerhouses, as well as his experiences with identifying business lifecycles and adopting practices to grow and prosper at those stages.

The AmeriFuel team was among the vendors discussing their services on the show floor "UMA chose Les McKeown to keynote because his theme of predictable success aligns perfectly with UMA's continuing focus on supporting our members to achieve prosperity and growth," said UMA President and CEO Stacy Tetschner. The following day, McKeown offered a 90-minute session on the show floor to help company decision-makers not only identify their own challenges but also outline their next steps to meet those challenges head-on.

Check out the February issue of Chauffeur Driven for expanded coverage of the expo.

Other 2018 events for UMA include its Capitol Hill Days in Washington, D.C., from April 10-11, and the annual Safety Management Seminar in Ashburn, Va., December 5-6.

Visit uma.org or motorcoachexpo.com for more information.

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