Right around the time this is posting, I'll be landing in São Paulo, Brazil, to join FASTPORT's Brad Bentley in watching the Eagles take on the Packers in their season opener. Much to the chagrin of the people who love me, I don't really plan vacations. I just sort of stumble into them, grab a bag of stuff, and go. This often means other people have to catch up.
It's only possible because of my colleagues at RadioNemo. Their extra efforts are why the coming week has newly recorded content, packed lineups, and capable broadcasters in my stead. Meredith scheduled a number of the upcoming weekend guests for recording sessions last week, Dave will be handling the Hiring Our Heroes remote from Fort Campbell on Thursday, Tim will hold down the other fort that same day by taking the first two hours of The Dave Nemo Show, and Dan Ronan is hosting Freaky Feisty Friday and The Weekend 34. Got all that?
But one crucial person pulled all that together. Andre Thibodeaux (aka Phone Master Dre) made himself available throughout it all to make sure that it all went off and will go off without a hitch. In short, I am fortunate that I have people who care about me enough to step up when needed.
Since travel is very much on my mind, I thought I would use this post as an opportunity to give you a preview of what is to come over the next few months. Dave's attendance at the Fort Campbell event with Donna and Tarrah ties in nicely with our "The Last Ride of the Road Gang" campaign. With Dave transitioning into a vital but more flexible role at RadioNemo beginning next June, we thought we would use the upcoming months to not only celebrate his individual 55-year-career in broadcasting but also the history of trucking radio.
Because of the generous sponsorship of Drivers Legal Plan, JobsinTrucks, and United Axle, Dave and the RadioNemo folks will be attending a number of events where, along with Nemo telling tales of the old days, we'll be handing out a limited edition "The Last Ride of the Road Gang" pins. If you happen to find yourself at any of these upcoming events, come by and see us, congratulate Dave, and maybe sneak onto the broadcast.
In the second to last week of September, we'll be heading over to Columbus and Chillicothe, Ohio, for FASTPORT's Transition Trucking: Driving for Excellence. It's there we'll introduce you to the remarkable semi-finalists and find out which ones will be going to Washington, DC, for a chance to win that Kenworth. It will be followed immediately by a quick and wild scramble to Anniston, Alabama for a golf tournament, a broadcast and a celebration with CDLLife and the Hiring Our Heroes gang. It's possible we'll throw in a football game, because it's the same weekend a pack of Bulldogs will be growling at an approaching Tide.
October sees us begin in Nashville with the ATA Management Conference and Exhibition before wrapping up the month in Kansas City for a full week. In the City of Fountains, we're going to have the equipment set up for both OOIDA's seminar "Truck to Success" and the ATHS' Hall of Fame Induction. It wouldn't be a November in transportation without a trip to Dallas for the Women In Trucking "Accelerate Conference." After that, we'll refuel before driving into what should be a memorable December.
For the first time, Dave will be attending Wreaths Across America's signature ceremony at Arlington, and it will come after spending a week in DC for both the Veterans Ready Summit and the award ceremony for Transition Trucking. We're hard at work trying to ensure his presence the week before in Maine at the Wreaths' Columbia Falls driver's lounge and will have details coming your way as soon as we do.
If you pay close attention to both the order and purpose of these trips, you will see we are telling a number of important stories about trucking in America.
The first is one of service, sacrifice, and celebration. The veterans community's connection to the past, present and future of the industry has been featured in many of our remotes from earlier in the year. That tale continues to build momentum as we move forward. Our attendance at Wreaths' Stem-to-Stone along with FASTPORT's previous sponsorship of our travels to military bases were prelude to those two organizations' respective culminating events in the DC area: National Wreaths Across America Day and the Vet Ready Summit.
Wreaths reminds us of the importance of the past remaining present for those who remain, and FASTPORT takes point in making sure a bright future awaits those ready to serve the country in a civilian role. Essentially, that December week in the nation's capitol is a celebration of trucking's unique role in preserving the traditions of service while ensuring veterans continue to live a purpose driven life. In both their personal and professional life, Dave Nemo and Tim Ridley have lived up to that mandate on the air and off.
But when you include our travels outside the scope of those military focused events, an even larger story about the continuum of the profession emerges. I find it appropriate that Dave will be attending the events in Nashville, Kansas City, and Dallas. RadioNemo sits as a bridge between where trucking was and where it could be in the coming years. That trio of towns tells that story.
The ATA conference falls very much into the spirit of his mantra "the future was yesterday," as it attempts to connect those leaders who are established with both the energies of the new technologies and the up-and-coming players in the industry. The Hall of Fame induction serves as a reminder to all of us moving the profession forward to look down and see whose shoulders we stand upon.
Finally, if trucking is to have a bright future, it must continue to make room for a genuine diversity of viewpoints. WIT's "Accelerate" event thinks and looks outside-the-box to make sure that diverse communities have access to the American Dream that trucking represents. Women, people of color, immigrant communities, and dreamers-and-schemers of all backgrounds often get a hearing and opportunity on the Dallas convention floor in November they might not get elsewhere. If you've actually followed Dave's career, you would know few things have been more important to him than folks getting a fair shot. I think I speak for us all when I say, the wide world of trucking must really be wide and must truly include the world.
If you want to join the gang, what are you waiting for? In case you haven't noticed, we've already saddled up. So, tune in, wear the pin, and take the ride.
Talk to you when I get back.