| :: Initiatives |
| :. Mexico Tourism Board |
| :. Identifying Potential Showcase Communities |
| :. US/Mexico Travel and Tourism Data Improvement Initiative |
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| :: Projects |
| :. Coach Connect Launches First WiFi Enabled Rest Area in Texas |
| :. Texas Education Vacation Strategy Deployment Workshop |
| :. World Class Reservation System Deployed |
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| :: Team News |
| :. Andy Skadberg and Travis Nance Join AGX Full Time |
| :. Dr. Rick Giardino Joins Board of Directors |
| :. New Executive Advisory Board Members |
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| Initiatives |
| Mexico Tourism Board |
| AdventGX is in discussion with the Mexico Tourism Board about possible collaboration with AdventGX to support Mexico’s recently restructured tourism development model. A number of meetings are scheduled for the coming months to discuss possible engagements and determine plans for moving forward. |
| Identifying Potential Showcase Communities |
| We continue to identify possible showcase communities for the AdventGX tourism development model. Among the emerging possibilities are Brownsville, TX; Marshall, TX; Uvalde, TX; Van Horn, TX; Parral Chihuahua; and Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico. |
| US/Mexico Travel and Tourism Data Improvement Initiative |
| AdventGX was invited to participate in the US/Mexico Travel and Tourism Data Improvement Initiative at the beginning of August. Dr. Joe O’Leary, head of Texas A&M’s department of Recreation, Parks & Tourism Sciences, hosted the event aimed at identifying and resolving data gaps in travel and tourism flows between the U.S. and Mexico. A select number of participants attended, including Helen N. Marano, director, Office of Travel and Tourism Industries, International Trade Administration – U.S. Department of Commerce. Mr. Jose Casa, General Director of Information and Analysis for SECTUR, headed the group of Mexican officials. AdventGX was fortunate to be the only private sector participant. |
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| Projects |
| Coach Connect Launches First WiFi Enabled Rest Area in Texas |
| On November 29, Coach Connect officially launched the Road Connect program, offering WiFi at the Medina County Safety Rest area near San Antonio. Medina County is the first of more than 100 safety rest areas throughout Texas that Coach Connect will equip with WiFi Internet capability under contract with the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT). Coach Connect’s experience with WiFi installation, and AdventGX online information technology tools combined for a winning project that will leverage wireless internet to provide traveler information, and local community tourism promotion to highway travelers. This new offering from Coach Connect, called Road Connect, is an exciting public private partnership debuting in Texas, and other states are already expressing interest in similar programs. During the coming weeks, AdventGX and Coach Connect will focus on procuring sponsors to offset the costs of the wireless installations and information systems. |
| Texas Education Vacation Strategy Deployment Workshop |
| September 23-24 AdventGX hosted the AdventGX Strategy Deployment workshop for the Texas Education Vacation program. Partially Funded by the Texas Education Agency, and commissioned by the Texas Travel Industry Association (TTIA), Texas Education Vacation will establish a central clearinghouse of educational venues in Texas and make them available to children and their families as they travel the state of Texas. The program will involve development of venues, web portals, searchable databases and much more. The workshop proved very fruitful, as participants established a complete matrix of project stakeholders and tasks and set priorities for moving forward. Carson Watt, Andy Skadberg and Jose Quintana participated in the workshop along with TTIA’s Paul Serff, Erin Kerley and David Teel. |
| World Class Reservation System Deployed |
| AdventGX recently developed and deployed the top online RV registration management and point of sale system in the nation. This new Coach Connect product was first installed at Palm Creek Golf and RV Resort in Casa Grande, AZ. Palm Creek currently boasts 2,000 sites, and will have 2,500 by year’s end, making it the largest resort of its kind in the world. Interest in the reservation system has been tremendous, putting AGX on track to deploy a customized version of the system at five sites for Coach Connect’s premier client Diversified Investments by the end of January 2005. |
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| Team News |
| Andy Skadberg and Travis Nance Join AGX Full Time |
| Andy Skadberg came on board full time on November 1st as Chief Knowledge Officer. He comes to AdventGX from Texas A&M University’s Recreation, Park & Tourism Sciences Department, where he remains an adjunct faculty member. In the department he worked to expand and develop nature tourism resources and leverage the Web as a program delivery tool. In his role as Chief Knowledge Officer, Andy will oversee a number of projects, including our Road Connect effort with Coach Connect, the Texas Education Vacation program and other emerging initiatives.Travis Nance also recently joined the AGX team as Director, Special Projects Division. Prior to joining AdventGX he was a Corporate Recruiter and liaison to Texas A&M University for Universal Computer Systems. He has also worked with Westcar Consulting Group and with Texas A&M’s 12th Man Foundation. As Director of Special Projects, Travis will help guide fundraising, marketing, prospecting and business development initiatives. |
| Dr. Rick Giardino Joins Board of Directors |
| Texas A&M University’s Dean of Graduate Studies Dr. Rick Giardino recently joined the Board of Directors. Dr. Giardino is also the founder of Camp Planet Earth®, an academic outward bound-type of environmental camp for middle and junior high minority students. His professional career has focused on studying the changing surface of Earth through extensive field work and the use of satellite imagery and GIS. His experiences range from the Canadian and European arctic to the tropical regions of Latin America, Africa and Southeast Asia and the arid regions of the Middle East. Through his research he has been involved in the search for Columbus’s caravels in Jamaica, studies of rainforest deforestation in Sumatra, and sustainability of national parks in Africa. |
| New Executive Advisory Board Members |
Craig Tutor of Oregon Travel Information Counsel, Patrick McMillan of Toxey/McMillan Design Associates, Linda Smarzik of Austin Community College Craig Tutor of Oregon Travel Information Counsel
Patrick McMillan of Toxey/McMillan Design Associates
Linda Smarzik of Austin Community College
Patrick McMillan of Toxey/McMillan Design Associates
Linda Smarzik of Austin Community College |
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