Connecting With NATSO Members At The NATSO Show

For two and a half days, the industry gathers to find knowledge, solutions and connections at The NATSO Show. Just like The NATSO Show, The NATSO Show Magazine is your source for improving your travel plaza business operations. Unlike The NATSO Show it is year-round. 

Connecting With NATSO Members At The NATSO Show

The best thing about The NATSO Show was seeing our travel plaza members in action! It was their desire to educate themselves, learn new things and gain industry knowledge that was most impressive.

I saw them networking with their fellow members and developing great ideas in the process. They were striving to better their businesses, and herein lies an important part of the NATSO mission! We exist to serve our members by facilitating that learning process at The NATSO Show and all year long. What great partnerships we have and how lucky we are to have such supportive members.

We had long time members, members who were new to the industry, industry partners that came to network with old friends and international members that came a very long way to see how a travel plaza operates in the USA. Old or new, these are the leaders of our industry – the best of the best – all come to do business under one roof.

I was impressed with all of our engaged members, but one discussion stands out.

It was with Sam and Jasmine Hudda of Yellow Rose Travel Plaza in Normangee, Texas. They are new members of NATSO and this was their first NATSO Show.

I sat next to them at dinner one night as they talked with pride about their travel plaza.

Sam told me how he used to sleep at the travel plaza when it first opened. I asked him why, to which he replied, “There was so much work to do so it was easier just to be there instead of having to drive back and forth to work each day and this way I could be there to manage and oversee everything." It speaks volumes about his commitment to improving his business and I realized that it’s more than that to him. It’s personal.

We ended up discussing their QSR and we batted around ideas about different kinds of food options that could bring more customers into their location. We discussed how they could find a niche that would distinguish their location from other locations.

Not surprisingly, they were very open to new ideas. In the end, the dinner was good, but the company was much, much better!

If you are interested in gaining knowledge and improving your bottom line, NATSO can help you. Please fill out a NATSO Travel Plaza Membership application. If you have questions about membership, please contact me at kroberts@natso.com.