As the Citylitics team gears up for the upcoming APTA conference in Orlando next week, I take a moment to reflect on the profound impact this event has had on our business. Our journey commenced in the water infrastructure market, a domain where we meticulously honed our data expertise. Over time, we embarked on a strategic expansion into various public infrastructure markets.

Our unique value proposition lies in our ability to empower business development teams by identifying cities with future infrastructure projects, often 1-5 years before the RFP stage. This foresight enables them to proactively shape and influence the RFP process rather than finding themselves in a frantic rush to respond to last-minute RFPs.
As customer requests prompted us to explore other infrastructure areas, we set our sights on the transportation industry. My visit to the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) underscored the importance of gaining a deeper understanding of this industry, and I now eagerly anticipate each APTA event for three key reasons:

1. Learning Industry Insights: APTA provides a unique opportunity to experience new mobility and transportation technology firsthand, gain insights into the latest developments, learn about different companies in the space, and stay updated on industry trends.
2. Inspiring New Product Ideas: Face-to-face interactions at events like APTA foster better idea exchange. I distinctly recall a customer requesting a feature to access all historic mentions of a specific project in one view, which we promptly implemented, and now have thousands of users on our platform benefitting from. APTA’s serves as an ideal in-person environment for brainstorming and innovation.
   
3. Expanding Our Customer Base: Meeting prospective customers in person is invaluable. It allows me to understand their decision-making processes as they consider adopting Citylitics, helping us position our company and platform effectively to meet their needs. It’s a real-time gauge of their priorities, and after 15-20 meetings daily, I gain a strong sense of the industry’s direction.

I eagerly anticipate another fantastic APTA event. However, I must offer one essential piece of advice: remember to wear comfortable shoes. With so much to see, learn, and experience, you’ll want to navigate every corner of the event with ease.

Thank you for joining us on this journey, and here’s to another successful APTA!