In this episode of ADDcast, Megan Carr, AUG President and Director of Logistics at Paraco Gas, and Justin Bolus, AUG Vice President and Wholesale Fuel Director of Bumgarner Oil, discuss serving as AUG chairs. They explore the benefits of leadership, the power of networking, and how AUG committees drive collaboration and innovation among ADD Systems users.
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Brian Cohen: Welcome to ADDcast. I’m ADD Systems’ Multimedia Specialist, Brian Cohen. Joining me today is Megan Carr, Director of Logistics at Paraco Gas, as well as President of the ADD User Group and Interim Chair of the Best Practices Committee. Also joining me is Justin Bolus, Wholesale Fuel Director at Bumgarner Oil, as well as Vice President of the ADD User Group and Co-chair of the Wholesale Committee. Megan and Justin, thank you so much for joining me today.
Megan Carr: Thank you for having us, Brian.
Justin Bolus: Thank you. Glad to be here.
Brian: Megan, can you start by telling us a little bit about yourself and your role at Paraco?
Megan: Yeah, absolutely. So currently, I am the Director of Logistics at Paraco Gas for about two years now, which, oddly enough, is the department I started in 11 years ago. But the logistics team is responsible for routing and planning, dispatching, forecasting, and any type of on-road support for our bulk barbecue and motor fuel business segments company-wide, and as well as kind of everything else that goes into that behind the scenes.
Brian: Excellent. And Justin, same question to you. Why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself and your role at Bumgarner Oil?
Justin: So I’m the Wholesale Fuel Director, like you mentioned. I am in charge of the sales from the wholesale component, whether it’s dealers, farmers, anything that goes on a transport truck. I help manage the process from order entry to BOL, being processed and invoiced to the customer. That involves the dispatching of the trucks, and that involves the managing of the sales guys, picking up new accounts and making sure we service them to the top of our ability.
Brian: Now, Megan, believe it or not, it’s been a year since we last spoke here on ADDcast. Can you share an update for what the last year brought forth for the AUG?
Megan: Yeah. I can’t believe it’s been a year, but it’s been a pretty active year. You know, the past 12 months, we’ve seen a lot of activity, not just at the, you know, user level, but also at our leadership level. You know, we’ve seen quite a few new faces and companies joined the different committees this year. And the enhancement list is always kind of telling of the participation and dedication of the users. So we’ve had a lot of great enhancements suggested in this past year. So it was pretty difficult to muscle through those when it got to the leadership level and come up with the top 10, but you can absolutely see what the users are looking for. They’re vocal, they’re very engaged, and it’s been a really, really great 12 months.
Brian: Excellent. And Justin, can you talk about the last year over at the Wholesale Committee?
Justin: So the Wholesale Committee is really a microcosm of what Megan just explained. I’d say the Wholesale Committee is a relatively infant user group with ADD. You know, it’s probably the most recent thing they’ve added to their arsenal, if you will, for ADD Systems. It’s no secret that they’ve been working on a dispatch module that’s supposed to really enhance their ability to dispatch the transport trucks efficiently. So that’s always a big talking point. We’re always looking for the next demonstration on it in our group, it’s really kind of the main focus of our group. But what we’ve seen this past year, as we’ve gotten a few more participants, is just bringing up issues or best practices to use strictly for wholesale, and I think in years past, the group’s been pretty small. It’s been so centered around the dispatch module that that’s been the bulk of our conversation. So in this last 12 months, we’ve really been able to branch out and go over supplier cost, best purchasing practices, and some of this other stuff that we probably haven’t had a chance to spend time on the last 24 months or so.
Brian: Excellent. Now this next question is for you both, but Megan, we’ll start with you. Can you talk about the value of being a chair at the AUG?
Megan: Sure. So I know I’ve said this before, and probably, you know, similar podcasts, or even during our annual meetings, but you know, I encourage it here at Paraco, too. So anytime an opportunity to lead something arises, and it could be anything, but in this case, you know, to be a chair at the AUG, it’s always a great way to get yourself a little uncomfortable, but grow from it. And you being a chair in the AUG, it’s a very low-pressure way to do that. So, you know, oftentimes, you already know a good amount of the users jumping on the call each month, and those in the other chair positions have been around for several years. So we’re not just familiar faces that you might know, but everyone’s very welcoming and encouraging to all the new chairs. This group becomes more than just your industry colleagues. It becomes a network of friendships and support. So it’s not intimidating to join. There’s a lot of support, and like I said, encouragement that goes along with it. We kind of like to get new perspectives in and out too. So it’s just a great way to lead something. And like I said, just make yourself a little uncomfortable, but grow from it.
Brian: Justin, same question to you.
Justin: So to echo Megan’s point, it’s a very low pressure situation being one of the chairs. It gives me an opportunity, this is my first time around the sun, but it gave me an opportunity to talk to other people that are all working on the same thing I am. That’s wholesale, and then branching out in some of these other groups. But you get questions that maybe you haven’t thought of, or that maybe you already know, and it gives you an opportunity to help others. But just as much, you’re learning practices that other companies might do that you’ve never thought of. To speak on Megan’s point, I can’t tell you how often I have taken a relationship I’ve built as the chair going to these events, or being on these other calls and saying, “You know what? Megan’s talked about this in one of their meetings. We don’t know enough about it at our company.” I now am comfortable reaching out to Megan saying, “Hey, can you give me what you know about this? Here’s how we’re doing it. Here’s how you said you did it. Can you help me out here?” And I’ve done that with Megan, Scott Tucker, a few different people. They’ve all gotten emails from me like, “Hey, how can you help us just at Bumgarner Oil? So I think when you embrace that role, you get to learn yourself, and then as you get further along, you get really good opportunities to help others. And that’s kind of the whole point of the user group.
Megan: And I’ll just want to piggyback off what Justin said. What I find funny too is as you said, you come up with a question, and yeah, you reach out to the different groups, and you say, “Oh, I know these people that might be able to help with this.” What I find funny now is other people in leadership roles here at Paraco, come to me and say, “Hey, can you ask that user group? Or, you know, “Do you know anybody that might be able to do that?” So now it’s like growing, right? So people know about the power of the knowledge within this group. And they say, you know, “Maybe on the user group you could ask some people, some of your friends.” So it is kind of funny how it gets legs and it becomes a very useful and powerful network.
Brian: Now, Megan, can you walk someone through what a chair’s role involves? Maybe from a time perspective?
Megan: Yeah, absolutely. From a time perspective, it is a great question, Brian, because we are often asked that when someone might be interested in joining, but a little unsure. So what I’ll say, depending on the committee that you choose to chair, the meetings can run from monthly year-round, to monthly outside the winter season. And more recently, we had discussions about revisiting the cadences on certain committees where it might make more sense. So, you know, the leadership team, we meet once a month as well, and that’s really, you know, touch base. How is each committee performing? What support might be needed from the other chairs? And on these meetings as well, we also receive updates from Rob and Regina on what’s new from ADD – our sneak peek at what the newsletter content might look like. But they’re also asking for our input and feedback too. So it’s saved once a month for your committee, possibly even less, and then once for the leadership group.
Brian: Excellent. And Justin, what are some tips you’d offer someone who’s maybe stepping into a chair role for the first time?
Justin: My biggest advice is don’t be afraid of what you don’t know. We might be called super users, and I’m holding my hands up with quotation marks, but there’s so much I don’t know about E3, and when I signed up, it’s because I wanted to help. I wanted to learn more, and like Megan said, I wanted to put myself in an uncomfortable position because it’s going to help drive the best out of me. There’s always obstacles when you step into it, but you’ll find how informal the whole process is. It’s really just people helping people, and then you learn something here, you share it with a neighbor, or you learn something from a neighbor and you share it with your company. But it’s really a low-pressure situation that can have a lot of upside, especially if you invest time into it.
Brian: Megan, along with your role as the AUG President, you’re also the Interim Chair of the Best Practices Committee. Can you talk to listeners about the AUG best practice calls, and what the needs are for that committee?
Megan: Absolutely. The Best Practices Committee has been staple in the AUG for many years, and it ranges in topics from budgets to monitors to winter preparedness to you name it. It is open to suggestions. There’s always something to be, you know, discussed. So the goal each month is to just generate as much discussion as possible, right, share tips and tricks of how you and your organization maybe use the platform for these topics. But also, how does it impact the customer? Everyone’s goal, kind of coming into these meetings is how do we make everyone better? How do we make the system better? How do we make the industry better for our customers? So the more conversation we can pull out of everyone, the more robust and the more useful these best practices calls can really be.
Brian: Now, Justin, along with the BP Committee, are there other opportunities for chair positions in the AUG, and maybe, can you talk about what some of those needs are?
Justin: I get to take the easy way out on this one and say we are always looking for people to help with the AUG. If someone is interested, I promise you there’s going to be an opportunity. When I first started, we created a new user group because I thought there might be a need for it, and then we combined back to the wholesale group. So I like created my own chair, and then went to co-chair with JoAnn for the Wholesale Committee. If you are willing and you are able, there’s an opportunity. We have some chair people that have done it for a few years that it might be time to roll off. We have some committees that could use a co-chair, and there’s probably some committees that haven’t been created that are needed, and we just don’t know it yet. So I really encourage you, if you think you might be a fit, if you have a desire to serve on one of the committees, there is an opportunity for you.
Brian: Excellent. Now, the AUG Annual Meeting dates were just announced with a welcome dinner on May 6, 2025, and the annual meeting on May 7. Can you each share a little bit more about what users can expect from the annual meeting?
Megan: Sure. So it is every year. It is a great time to just sit in one spot or join via Zoom in one spot and hear a little bit about each committee directly from the chairs. So, you know, I know sometimes we talk about “is the commitment to join calls every month too much?” This is stuff that we talk about on the leadership level quite often, but joining the annual meeting gives you a real flavor for not just what the committees do, what they talk about, but the personality of each one behind there, right? So each one’s a little different. Each person leads a little differently. All the liaisons are slightly different, too. So the chemistry within each committee is slightly different. I think it just gives you an idea of what to expect when you click that link each month and sit there, and how to participate, and it’s just a great way to get exposed to a lot in one setting. So I really encourage people to join that maybe are slightly unfamiliar with what the AUG is about, and it just brings it to life a little bit more in one afternoon.
Justin: So I’m gonna piggyback off of the network we continue to talk about. But you get up there, whether it’s Zoom or in person, most of us on the leadership team go in person, and then you get to share what your committee is doing and all that it encompasses. I think a lot of times you see a committee name and you might assume, “Oh, this is only for this particular thing, because that’s what their name says. Our wholesale only covers wholesale transport dispatch.” But then you hear, “Here’s what we did this last year; here’s what we’re focusing on. Here’s all the different projects,” and you learn something about that, and then it might trigger someone that’s listening for the first time, “Hey, I can join that committee.” And then there’s also a component of when you’re in person and you’re talking to people before the meetings after. It goes back to the theme you’ve heard numerous times of networking, those business practices to be learned just from talking to other users at a different company. And it’s a time that I always cherish. I always try to make sure I’m there in person, and I’m looking forward to do another one again this year.
Brian: Now, Megan, expanding upon that, can you give listeners a little preview of what to expect from the AUG as a whole over the next 12 months?
Megan: Absolutely. You know, we touched on it earlier. AUG is constantly striving to be better, more impactful. We’re currently bouncing ideas around right now regarding structure and format and cadences, so that everyone who is interested in joining can really get the most out of these meetings. I know Regina recently sent out the newsletter with the survey as well. I cannot wait to see the results, and I truly encourage folks, please take a few minutes and fill that out for us. You know, we want to hear the honest feedback from this group because our goal as the AUG leadership team is to make this user group better and better each year. Right? You want to leave it better than you found it. So we really take that feedback seriously. It’s got a lot of good material in there that I think is, maybe we just haven’t heard it. Sometimes people are maybe a little apprehensive to speak up or suggest an idea because they aren’t on the leadership committee. The AUG is for all of us. So please take the time, fill it out. You can always send direct feedback to us as well, but I’m really excited to hear what the survey results say and how we can bring this AUG to the next level.
Brian: Excellent. And Justin, if someone’s interested in joining or just getting more information about the AUG, how would they go about doing that?
Justin: I created a cheat sheet for this one so I will not butcher it. My official answer is, look, you can contact anyone on the leadership team. That’s me, Megan, or one of the other various ones out there. You can visit the ADD client portal that’s always going to have information, the ADD forum. You can sign up for notifications on specific topics, specific committees, anything that interests you, and just getautomatic notifications. And then you can subscribe to the ADD News, AUG email. That’s the official wording, unofficially. Look, you can email Regina. You can email me. I am the committee chair for membership. So email me, Regina, Megan, or talk to someone at your company. “Hey, how do I get signed up for a committee? I have no idea.” They will guide you in the right spot. So there are ample ways to get involved and to learn about the different things going on in ADD. And those are just a few of them.
Brian: Well, Megan and Justin, I thank you both for taking the time to speak with me today.
Megan: Thank you for having us. Always a pleasure.
Justin: Yes, thank you. Thank you.
Brian: To keep up with the latest happenings at ADD Systems, visit addsys.com/blog, or connect with us on social media by following ADD Systems on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, or X. If you have any questions about ADDcast, feel free to reach out to us at addcast@addsys.com. Thanks for listening and have a great day.
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