The Enid News and Eagle, Enid, OK

Local news

Discussion

July 11, 2009

Enid is site of Oklahoma Transit conference today

“Transit 2.0” is the 2009 Conference on Oklahoma Transit, which opens today and continues through Tuesday at Cherokee Strip Conference Center. The conference is being hosted by Enid Transit.

A Tuesday morning session on how to implement social networking through the Internet to further public transit services will highlight the gathering. The COT is produced by Oklahoma Transit Association, a non-profit organization representing the 23 public transit systems in the state.

The keynote session will focus on how public transit systems can utilize Facebook, Twitter, Web sites, blogs and other social networking tools to further the business of public transportation, communicate with riders and further the system visibility.

Going hand-in-hand with this session is a primer on time management. Kathy Sneary and Dana Roark, both Northwestern Oklahoma State University professors, are instructors for this segment.

“Having our state conference in Enid and Garfield County is significant,” said Stephen F. Lalli, OTA executive director. “Enid Transit is the state and regional leader in developing fixed-route system for rural communities (less than 50,000 population). Garfield County is home of Garber-based Cherokee Strip Transit, which was named the 2008 OTA Transit System of the Year in January.”

All sessions are part of the Oklahoma Transit Institute training, a certification process for transit professionals.

This afternoon’s sessions include early-bird training on professional appearance in the workplace headed by Kathy Harris of NWOSU. Enid artist Curtis Tucker of Shaggy Duck Studios also will teach a session. Tucker designed the OTA logo and is the artist who has designed more than half of the souvenir T-shirts for the annual Oklahoma Bus Operators Roadeo competition.

Delegates will enjoy a morning golf scramble at Meadowlake Golf Course today. The evening out social event Monday includes a tour of historic downtown Enid with a reception at Scribner’s Art Gallery and a visit to the Simpson Mercantile store.

State Sen. Patrick Anderson and state Rep. Mike Jackson, both of Enid, will address the Monday and Tuesday luncheons respectively.

Congressional field office representatives Michael Lee, representing U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe, and Stacy Buck of Rep. Frank Lucas’ office will speak on a Tuesday morning panel.

Enid City Manger Eric Benson also will address the conference.

Transit industry vendors will display the latest bus designs and technology programs inside Cherokee Strip Conference Center.

Text Only
Local news