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tower’s life is filled with the relationships of local community: police and fire, town council, local businesses and motorists. It’s not surprising that tow business owners who chance to break away from it all to attend Tow Expo Int’l in San Antonio, Texas, talk about their experience on the River Walk as a revelation. “I know the towers from my town and market area,” said Bill Johnson, owner of Hampshire Towing in South Hadley, Mass. “But when I went to San Antonio, I found myself really opening up to other attendees because they were not my competitors. We shared ideas, talked issues facing our companies and how we got into this business in the first place. Just had a great time.” Tow Expo Int’l is engineered to feed the business owner’s need to network with one’s peers, be it on the exhibit floor packed with industry suppliers, or inside the Jerr-Dan Diner, or during one of the special events on the River Walk. The towers themselves are as great a resource as the exhibits and the seminars. That’s why certain events tend to take on a life and character of their own. The Southwest Chili Cook-off, hosted by the Southwest Tow Operators and sponsored by Miller Industries, is a good example.
The Southwest Chili Cook-off is perhaps the only food event in the towing industry catered by towing professionals themselves. They bring their cooking trucks, wagons and carts, smokers, grills and pots, not to mention their secret recipes, and everyone gets to sample the outcome. It’s food with personality. And while they eat they get to talk shop, swap recovery stories, share tips on collection practices and you name it, as well as plenty of good jokes. Towers are gathering at many different spots on San Antonio’s enchanting River Walk. The Big Smoke, taking place at the historic Menger Hotel across from the famed Alamo, is as much big Pow Wow as a moment of glory for cigar aficionados. The Casino hospitality at the Convention Center, also on the River Walk, is a great opportunity to meet new friends around the Lone Star State, from across the nation and from south of the Rio Grande. Whether barbecue, Mexican, or cosmopolitan, there’s great food on the River Walk. But the best nourishment a tower can find is the kind that fills mind and spirit. There’s tremendous value in the trade show on the exhibit floor and in the seminar rooms of the Municipal Towing Conference, but the most memorable times will be shared among fellow towing professionals.
advance register at towshow.com/towexpo
