Summer is over, but don’t you still feel like going to the beach?

Lucky for us, the National Association for Pupil Transportation (NAPT) will hold its annual conference and trade show in Myrtle Beach, S.C., later this month.

So maybe you won’t find yourself floating on a surfboard in the Atlantic, but the event will offer an abundance of opportunities for learning, networking and even entertainment.

The NAPT event is the industry’s biggest, which means more educational sessions, more colleagues to converse with in the halls and more products and services to peruse on the trade show floor.

Listen and learn
NAPT prides itself on covering a diverse selection of vital topics in its workshops. This year, subjects include homeless student transportation, special-needs information, internal auditing and shared services. And there are two in-depth educational programs that run throughout the conference and beyond: the Leading Every Day Initiative and the Professional Development Series.

One of the highlights of the conference each year is the lineup of speakers, and this time around is no exception. Among the featured orators in Myrtle Beach will be longtime industry advocate Dr. Cal LeMon and Jon Gordon, author of the appropriately titled The Energy Bus: 10 Rules to Fuel Your Life, Work and Team With Positive Energy.

If you attended the awards banquet at the NAPT conference last year in Grand Rapids, Mich., you saw me being grilled onstage by a witty gentleman named Mack Dryden. In a clever twist, he turned the program into a classic nighttime talk show (think Johnny Carson), doing his best to extract funny stories and even a bit of singing from award winners and presenters.

So I was glad to hear that “Mack is back” this year. In addition to hosting the awards banquet, Dryden will deliver a daytime keynote speech that will surely inspire us as much as it entertains us. After all, this is the guy who wrote a book called Laugh to the Top: A Hilarious Guide to Achieving Your Goals.

Time to get away?
In addition to all that I’ve mentioned, you really can’t go wrong in a place that considers itself “The Capital of East Coast Golf.” Perhaps you’ll take some extra time off before or after the conference to test some of Myrtle Beach’s finest fairways. I hear that there are about 120 courses in the area, so it will be hard to avoid them.

Sure, I know it can be difficult to get away from the office for even a day. Just because we’re out doesn’t mean our work stops piling up. As a publisher, I’m frequently out on the road attending industry events and meeting with suppliers and manufacturers. Traveling with a BlackBerry helps me stay on top of things — even if its presence is a bit of burden.

I encourage you to get out to the NAPT conference and trade show for as much time as you can. The array of opportunities it provides is well worth the investment.