News Release
FOR RELEASE - February 21, 2007
Contact: Aaron Ellis, aellis@aapa-ports.org
703-706-4714

American Association of Port Authorities
Phone: (202) 792-4033
www.aapa-ports.org

Port Association’s ‘Spring Conference’ set for March 19-20

D.C. Event To Include Trade/Transportation Policy Experts, ‘Washington People Luncheon,’ Canadian Embassy Reception

A host of international and U.S. trade and transportation policy experts, an embassy reception and the 61^st Annual “Washington People Luncheon” promise to make the American Association of Port Authorities’ 2007 Spring Conference—slated for March 19-20 in Washington, D.C.’s historic Willard Inter-Continental Hotel—as prominent an affair as the venue in which it will be held. 

Following a keynote presentation on the first day of the conference about prioritizing (“scorecarding”) responses to port management challenges, the afternoon will branch into a pair of concurrent sessions featuring a task force discussion on port sustainability and a team of Congressional staff members discussing the top legislative issues facing U.S. ports this year.   Beginning at 6 p.m., the Virginia Port Authority will hold a reception for invited guests as a precursor to its hosting AAPA’s 2007 Annual Convention in Norfolk,Va., Sept. 30-Oct. 4.

The second day of AAPA’s “Spring Conference” will offer even more content. Beginning at 8:30 a.m., the top executive for the agency in charge of the Panama Canal and a principal with Washington, D.C.’s Global Insights Inc.—a world leader in economic and financial analysis, forecasting and market intelligence—will take the stage to give the audience a hemispheric perspective on trade and transportation trends.  Following that, leaders for intermodal freight policy in the U.S., Canada and Mexico will take turns in a 90-minute segment to give their perspectives on what is happening now and what must be done soon to address freight congestion, particularly in and around ports, that has the potential to create bottlenecks of cataclysmic proportions.

After the morning’s transportation-charged agenda, a special guest will take the podium to present the annual Washington People Luncheon address.  Last year, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) delivered a fiery luncheon speech, which was shown live on C-SPAN, on the need for increasing facility and cargo security at U.S. seaports.  In 2005, then-Transportation Sec. Norman Mineta outlined his agenda for improving freight mobility in America’s transportation system.  Other recent luminaries have included Department of Homeland Security Sec. Tom Ridge, and Asa Hutchinson, DHS’s Border & Transportation Security undersecretary.

The two-day ports program will wrap up the evening of March 20 with what is being billed as the “Reception of the Americas” at the Canadian Embassy, 502 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.  Hosted by AAPA’s Canadian port members and led by AAPA Board Chairman Capt. Allen Domaas, PPM®, of the Fraser River Port Authority in British Columbia, this event will recognize the growing economic relationship among all Western Hemispheric ports in the global economy.  Attendees will include senior port authority officials and port service industry leaders throughout the Western Hemisphere, as well as members of Congress and their staffs.

More information about AAPA’s Spring Conference is available at www.aapa-ports.org (click on the “Programs & Events” tab) or call AAPA’s Ed O’Connell at 703-684-5700.