Dedication to customer service, caring nature, and professionalism earn praise from staff and customers
(Anaheim, Calif. — June 2019) — The International Parking & Mobility Institute (IPMI) has named Melonie Curry of ParkHouston as its 2019 Parking Staff Member of the Year.
Since joining ParkHouston as an administrative assistant in 2006, Curry has garnered three promotions and countless customer and staff accolades. As staff analyst, she now oversees customer engagement, marketing, social media, and neighborhood outreach. She fields the more than 3,000 annual parking questions and concerns received by the mayor’s office and ParkHouston each year, using her in-depth knowledge of ordinances and customer empathy to ensure swift resolution and a positive customer impression.
She has developed numerous customer educational materials, including a brochure on parking regulations and violations and neighborhood outreach materials. She manages ParkHouston’s social media, responding to concerns seven days a week.
Collaborating with its pay-by-phone vendor, she helped increase adoption from three to 16 percent via coordinated social media messaging and marketing materials. As coordinator for the city’s Residential Permit Parking Program, she helped foster its 200 percent growth.
Curry actively gives back to the industry and her community, serving the Texas Parking and Transportation Association’s Host Committee for five conferences and managing social media. She represents ParkHouston on the city’s Social Media Advisory and Research Taskforce (SMART), which fosters greater interdepartmental coordination to improve engagement with the public, and works on its Cultural Change Coalition to effect close collaboration across departments citywide. She has donated one percent of her salary since 2006 to community non-profits.
“Melonie’s colleagues applaud her drive to ensure that customer concerns are addressed, and to be an advocate for change,” said IPMI CEO Shawn Conrad, CAE. “Also notable have been her efforts to update the city’s Volunteer Enforcement program to help ensure ADA parking for valid placard holders.”
The award, part of IPMI’s annual Professional Recognition Program, was announced at the association’s 2019 Conference & Expo in Anaheim, Ca., June 9-12.
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Media contact:
Helen Sullivan, 703 606 7622, sullivan@parking-mobility.org